Upfront cleaning fee?

[Rick Bassett]

During our recent wave of turnovers we are seeing that most of tenants have a rather lax view of what 'clean' really is. 

Our homes are cleaned top to bottom when they are turned over to our tenants but what they leave is usually a unit that requires us to send in our cleaning service for about $200 to clean appliances, bathrooms, floors, window sills and the like before we can re-rent. 

I'm thinking about to assessing a cleaning fee (much the way AirBnB does) of $200 to the move-in money which is refundable if they return the unit in the same state of cleanliness as they rented it. This would be above and beyond the security deposit. 

Thoughts?

[Al Williamson]

@Rick Bassett

I have a checklist that lists the cleaning fees for each component. For example, a stove cost $50 to clean. 

I give this list to tenants when they give me a 30 day moveout notice.

The fees should be a little more than the cost to actually do the work, that way you can make a little money and return less of their deposit.

Best to you.