This is never going to END!!!!

mekiakoo

AHHHHHH!!!!

Back story: FI and I were renting a house that was a part of a contract for deed in Minnesota. The real landlord (who bought the house via contract for deed) is in California, but we were to go through the owners of the house (in MN) who is still taking care of the house for the landlord who bought the house. FI and I went to the owners and asked if it'd be okay for us to break our lease early since we found a house to buy. The owners said it was not a problem at all as long as we found new tenant. All good.

We've been waiting to see if we'd get our deposit back ($700), but we thought we might not be able to since we broke the lease. We were okay with that.

Today I get a letter from the actual landlord in California with all of the charges that we have NEVER discussed in the past. The charges include:

1. Propane filling at $687 (for 300 gallons of propane for a 500 gallon tank which is incorrect, it was at 55% when we left and they are NOT allowed to fill it more than 80%))

2. Pet cleaning fee at $150

3. Refrigerator cleaning 2 hours at $30, total of $60

4. Stove cleaning 1 hour at $30, total of $30

5. Garage cleaning & Yard clean up 3 hours at $30, total of $90

6. Replaced screens- 3 screens at $50, total of $250

7. Storm door replacement- 2 doors at $50, total of $100

8. Microwave replacement $50

Which brings the total to $1,417 and he told me to send him $717 (he kept our deposit of $700).
 

I am in shock. This has never happened to us before. Nothing was agreed- it was not even on the agreement nor in writing. The microwave, screens, and storm doors were already damaged when we moved in and he knows this. Never told us about shampooing the carpet, cleaning the refrigerator, stove, garage, and yard. We cleaned up very well. The owners know nothing about this and they said it may be how people do this in California? Huh?

It looks like he hired people to go over to the house and do a deep cleaning or something. During the final walk through of the house with the owners- nothing was mentioned. If we knew we were supposed to clean up more, we would have done it ourselves.

Is it our responsibility to pay him back? FWIW the letter is typed on a simple paper- not certified or anything.

Melissa.hylton

Im sorry it does NOT take 2 hrs to clean a refrigerator and by your appearance you look very clean and well kept. 

Here in california there are set rules and regulations. I rent. Out deposit of $500 covers everything except MAJOR DAMAGE! 

Nancy00714

Wow, Mekiakoo that sounds absolutely horrible.  I'm sure if it isn't in the original contract then you are not respnsible for it.  If you left the house in liveable, move in conditions for the following tenants and he didn't agree with your cleaning that's his business. Did you break the microwave?  It's his business if he feels like buying a new one.

I personally wouldn't pay it.  If you showed the house to the people they had in charge and they ok'd it then that will have to suffice.  He put them in charge so they should have told you this, this, this and this will cost this.

IMO. This sounds INSANE.  Sorry

mekiakoo

We broke nothing. Actually I think we left the house in a better condition than when we moved in. The previous tenant did some damages and the landlord knows this- he sent people to come over to fix it up.

I'm just worried that he's going to sue us. I went over the agreement and there's nothing there except for "Within 30 days after Tenant has vacated the premises, returned keys, and provided Landlord with a forwarding address, Landlord will give Tenant an itemized written statement of the reasons for, and the dollar amount of, any of the security deposit retained by the Landlord, along with a check for any deposit balance."

If we were to sue us for this, he'd need to be at the court, right? That means flying here from California. Which is probably unlikely.... ugh... I get intimated by "big" and "mean" people

lvissers

I would ask to see receipts for each of those items, they legally have to supply you with those. I'm a realtor and have experience with property management. This guys is trying to pull a fast one on you. I don't know what your lease looks like, so I can't help interpret it for you or tell you if he's able to charge you for those items or not. I would start with just request a copy of the receipts for the cleaning and items and see what he is able to provide.

ajmom2two

That is CRAZY!  I dont see how you are responsible for yard cleanup at all!  Also, if the microwave was not broken than you should not be responsible for paying that.  Also 3 screens at a cost of $50 each is only $150 not $250.  And it seems a bit odd that the screens would cost the same as storm doors which I dont think you should be responsible for unless they were broken.  I would ask for itemized receipts as well as for before and after pictures of what was done!  That is outrageous!  When we moved out of our apartment a few years ago we didnt clean our oven well enough so they took $25 from our deposit which pissed me off bc when we did the walk thru with the manager he said it was fine.  If it wasnt we would have cleaned it more.  I am so sorry you are dealing with all of this. 

mekiakoo

I'm not sure if I should ask to see the receipts because it shouldn't be our responsibility in the first place. We did not cause any damage and we cleaned up everything very well, including the oven!

I am sad that we did not take photos or anything. We have never had something like this happen to us in the past so we didn't see any reason to take pictures.

Or am I thinking about this wrong?

In the letter it also states we never turned in the keys nor the remote garage opener. HUH? We turned them in the day we left. I'm scared of this guy. He sounds so mean We took very good care of the house, always made sure to notify the landlord if something was wrong, always paid everything on time. This is just a shock to me.

Good catch ajmom- I knew the $250 seemed off in the letter.

penny12986

This sounds awful!! Do all the research you can regarding tenants rights in MN. He probably knows that you're scared of him and uses these tactics because people have been too afraid to speak up in the past. Do you have any pictures that were taken during the time that you lived there? Start gathering them. If he sues you, you can countersue for your deposit. Bring any witnesses with you who would attest to the way you kept your house. Did he give you a deadline for paying it? I would definitely bring up the fact that this was not discussed during the walk through.

michelle11988

I agree with PP ask for receipts and details as you were under the impression everything was fine when you did the walk through.  Did you get the person who did a walk through sign anything that everything was okay?  This does not seem to be adding up since you can't just lose the house keys, sounds like something happened between your move and him doing an inspection after.  I would definitely read up on tenant law in MN and don't pay him anything until you are positive you owe him or else it will be a bigger headache.  Also stay calm it sounds like some scare tactics and he is hoping you'll just pay for his maintenance.

bridetobe71412

I don't have anything new to add to what PP have said (sorry I didn't see this earlier; I would have made similar suggestions!). Generally, I think it would be extremely helpful if you had documentation of 1) the damage that existed at the time of your occupancy of the premises, and then 2) any repairs or repairman visits that occurred during your tenancy. Sorry that's not very helpful but I don't know ANYTHING about landlord/tenant law in MN. I know NY is very tenant-friendly, but that may not be the case in MN.

I do agree not to pay ANYTHING and do not agree to pay anything until you get further information from him. I would absolutely ask for receipts for the work that was done.

Just throwing something else out there (not sure if it would work): If you can't prove that the damages pre-dated your tenancy because you lack documentation, maybe your best bet would be to get a quote for those services/repairs/materials from someone else? Maybe if you could counter with a separate quote for the cost of repairs, you could come to some agreement about how much you'll pay much less than he's quoting. That's my only suggestion other than contesting it outright.

Sorry that's not very helpful!

LinaRCole

My Uncle is a landlord and lawyer, I once had charges to dispute and he simply told me to write them a letter explaining the problems with the charges and threatening to retain a lawyer if necessary.  Always helps to explain specific detailsl like the amount of gas you had or exactly what was stated in the lease or verbal aggreement.  Laws are very strick on landlords and my uncle said that most of the time if you disput the charges they will drop the claim.  It is not worth hiring a lawyer and possibly losing for the landlords.  Hope this helps and good luck!

butterflyjumper1

oh my gosh....this is crazy!!!! ditto what all the others said. Don't pay anything and ask for documentation. My guess is, if you write him a long letter and ask for more details, receipts, and an explanation of where in your lease/contract this type of situation was explained....I am guessing that he will give up and not fight it.  That is hat you can hope for, anyway. good luck! 

mekiakoo

Update: Called the propane company today and discovered nothing was even filled after we moved out. So the $700 charge is a lie. I can't believe this.

Thanks for your advice, ladies- we are working on writing a letter.

owengirl996

Ugh I am so pi$$ed for you!! I don't have anything to add...I'm just sorry you're having to deal with that We took pictures of our place when we first moved in of any damages...now I know we will need to take them when we move out too!