Ripped off at move out

[Anu Ram]

We have been renting a house for a little less than two years and recently moved to another state. We had a professional carpet cleaning company steam clean the entire carpeted area of the house. Also, we had a local cleaning guy who works for a three star hotel in our town come for three days to clean the bathrooms, windows, kitchen, refrigerator, walls and stuff. Also, my husband and I also cleaned the house and we honestly believed that we left the house in better condition that what we had received and were naively thinking we will get our entire last months rent back. We were breaking our lease and as per the lease terms had to forfeit our security deposit. Also, we paid rent for the time when the house was empty after we left and the new tenants occupied it.

We moved out of state and the realtors know this. We received a statement where we are charged $1000 for cleaning the house. The realtor hired a third party assessment company ( I don't know how they are related ) and they gave a report that the kitchen is dirty and walls, bathroom are dirty, garage has some things in it and is dirty and so on. They video taped and took pictures of the house. My husband asked the realtor if she actually saw the video and the pictures and she says no. However, the stuff in the garage is left by the landlord before we occupied the house and it is in the move-in report filled by the realtor company. We told the realtor about this. They have a very bad reputation in town and reviews say some other tenants have had the same experience as us. My husband is a faculty in a university and we have maintained the house well. Two parties came to take a look at the house when we were occupying it to start a new lease and they both were interesting in signing a lease. If the house has been poorly maintained as per their report, is it likely for this to happen. Our monthly rent was $1250

My husband is mad with rage and feels so cheated. What are our options now. How can we proceed. This has happened in the state of Washington. Any insights will be greatly appreciated

[Dan Cleary]

HI Anu,

I too live in the State of Washington.  Sorry to hear about this.  I would contact one of the tenant or renter advocate groups in or near the county where you lived.  They maybe able to assist you in understanding you lease and building a case for free or minimal charge.  Typically your lasts months rent is collected up front and used to cover your final month.  A security deposit or any deposit for that matter is refundable and if it is held the landlord must notify you in writing as to why and have evidence of damage caused by you, which you can subpoena.  It's probably not worth trying to fight from Texas, but may not hurt to have a lawyer send them a certified letter.  They will maybe just send your deposit back.