>that's about what i figured but would charging to clean a carpet that
>was
>replaced be considered 'reasonable' by a judge or whomever, other than
>the
>landlord?
WARNING: snit bitch-0-rama ahead:
landlord's rationale: the replacement charge for the carpet is considerably higher. $250 for "cleaning" wouldn't be considered unreasonable. the reason why he replaced it is that, after three years, cleaning the damaged area will just look like crap and make it harder to rent the place, presumably. Animals in an apartment can considerably smell up the joint. Esp. true for someone who is not used to them or for someone who is allergic. Cleaning a carpet--getting the dander out--isn't a matter of calling on the local fly-by-night carpet cleaning service that charges $100 for three rooms/750 sf. Our new neighbors looked into getting the dog smell out of their rental house. It was going to cost _more_ than installing a new el cheapo berber.
You could have done what I did: clean the hell out of the place with my own and my son's labor power. There wasn't a fleck of spaghetti sauce on the kitchen ceiling (I luuuuuuuuurv kids) or piece of lint on the carpet.
They tell me that, even if your apartment is rated "good" upon move out, they'll still charge $25.00 on top of the $250 nonrefundable "redecorating fee" you already forked over when you signed the lease. When I asked them to specifically define good, they looked at me like I was insane. I had to carefully explain that I budget my money, I don't want to rack up $25.00 charges if I don't have to incur them, since that's half my grocery bill for a week, simply because I missed a cobweb on the ceiling. If a missed cobweb will mean forking out $25, then I'll be sure not to miss them.
This place was HUD subsidized, which is nice because it's mixed income. In spite of the nonrefundable redec fee I paid, they still charge folks money for carpet cleaning, oven cleaning, etc., including things that I consider design flaws. For instance, they used metal bifolds in bath, AC closet, and laundry room. Like duuuuuuhhuh. After four years, metal rusts. If you were stupid enough to install metal instead of laminate, ain't my problem. Oh yes dear it is, was their answer. So, I had to sand them down and paint them with appliance paint. Good thing I'm handy-chick, have my own belt sander, and know what i'm doing. Bad thing: on a windy, humid day Kelley gets appliance epoxy in her face more than a few times and nearly collapses that evening from heart palpitations b/c I inadvertently "huffed" the stuff. OK, so maybe I should have invested big bucks instead $5/ for dust masks.
Let's see, they install $5 toilet seats and .25ct switch plates which break easily. I replaced them. The cheap ceiling fans were easily scuffed--how? what can one DO to a ceiling fan to scuff it? dunno!--so I had to paint the fan arms. AC/heat vents rusted. Oh, and the cheap MDF/laminate kitchen cupboards in every apartment I've ever visited in that joint are all peeling off at the bottom. The moisture seeps into the MDF, it expands, laminate peels off. I had to repair that, too. The el cheapo refrigerator also costs some cash. The brackets that hold the goods in the doors? They bend under the slightest pressure, KA CHING!
All the walls had to be painted since, according to the manager, the Home Owners Assoc says that the average home is painted every three years. Live there 4? Then you should have painted once. Thing is, by law, they have to come in and paint everything themselves anyway! Nonetheless, if I don't paint, they charge. Hello?
Apparently, HUD, complicit with the mgmt outfits that build these places, want to shove it up po peeps asses: pay or engage in honest labor which, apparently, we don't otherwise have an opportunity to do. All for the joy of living here.
Also, since it's run by a corporation, as far as I can tell (contacting former residents), there's no "selective" application about it. Because it's HUD funded, they have Feds breathing down their neck and ours at least once a year. They check out the books and look under our beds to make sure we're not hiding any men. Oh, wait, I'm gonna guess it's selective insofar as the stool pigeons around here--the people who rat others out to the apt complex management--will probably find management smiling on them when they move out. I overheard the apt complex manager talking to one of her staff, telling her to get in good with the daughter of a friend. Apparently, they think my friend's daughter can be relied on as a direct pipeline into the neighborhood grapevine.
The thing about not paying it is that it will just go on your credit history which is how they bend you over in this situation.