rental duplex is dirty - can I back off?

Question

I got into my rental duplex last night. Before signing the lease, I asked one of my wife's collegue to check for it. (I was in MI, now I am in WA.)
He said it looked OK, and the landlord said the duplex would be professionially cleaned before move in. What I found was dirty floor, dirty oven, dirty bathroom (walls with molds and strange orange/brown color stuff), not working blinds, window screens with many holes, front porch with lots of spider webs, holes (punched in) in a bedroom door, etc. (I am in a college town.)
What is my choice?
I already paid the first month and the last month rent. I still need to pay for the security deposit. 
Can I back off and ask for a full refund? This landlord seems to be a typical one that would give tennants a headache after headache.
Can a landloard legally rent a property not cleaned?

Thanks for your help,.

Greg B. · Answer

Not sure what your rights are at this point but I sure would be taking a lot of pictures and videos.  You sure don't want to be blamed for this mess when you leave.

Account Closed · Answer

Good point here.  :idea:

Account Closed · Answer

Once you sign that lease you that is a binding document and you are legally responsible for the months of rent you signed off on. You should have inspected the property right before signing. Your wife's colleague is not responsible for seeing how clean the property is. He ain't signing the lease.

Here is another option. Ask the owner if you can sub-let the unit. Maybe there is a way for you to lease it out to someone else and you live elsewhere. It is risky because if your tenant moves out then you are stuck paying double rent. Good luck.

Account Closed · Answer

It might be possible to back out of a lease, if the apartment was severely mis-represented.

It was NOT mis-represented to you, Your agent, acting on your behalf, accepted the condition of the apartment.

To not accept the apartment, you would have to refuse to move in and refuse to accept the keys, plus make your protest in writing. Then you might have to go to court to get your deposit back.

Your landlord has bent over backwards to try to make it right. He paid for 2 days in a motel (which you misappropriated, by the way), and he had his cleaners back in. What the heck do you still think is owed to you?

You signed the lease, you accepted the condition, the condition was remedied. Just clean up and get on with your life. Move out as soon as your lease is up if you don't like the landlord.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. However, it was not a bad enough experience to ruin your life. Learn and do differently next time.

Account Closed · Answer

I'm not saying that what your landlord did was right. Nor would I rent a place out in that condition.

However, you DID accept the place in it's current condition. At least your agent accepted it, so you are pretty much stuck with it. (friend acting on your behalf accepted the condition, they were acting as your agent)

There is absolutely no reason what-so-ever that you must live in a dirty apartment. It's perfectly OK if you scrub the place clean until it meets your own standards of cleanliness.

Air freshener is not going to rid bathroom of odors. You are going to have to get down and scrub the floor and the base of the toilet. Aren't you doing that every week in any place you live in? Or do you expect to move in to a spotless place and then live like a pig and never clean?

Weekly cleaning should be routine, and that should take care of the dirt that was left for you.

If you expect to sub-let, the apartment is going to have to be spotlessly clean to show it to prospective renters. So you've got to clean it anyway.

Once you've cleaned it, why can't you live in it, since the dirt was your only objection?

Ask your landlord, in writing, if he will please remove his broken refrigerator so that you can purchase your own. A used fridge in excellent condition shouldn't cost you more than $100. You can re-sell and get that $ back when you move.

Account Closed · Answer

I really hope the landlord isn't a member here.  Almost feel like we are helping the wrong team.

Thank you for reminding me why I hate tenants.  They have WAY too much time on their hands.

Marc Freislinger · Answer

Unfortunately, once the lease is signed, you've accepted the condition of the apartment. It's always best to make sure everything is done prior to signing the lease, OR make sure it's noted in the lease what still needs to be done, and a time frame.

That way, if the items never get done, you can void the lease by taking the landlord to court.

Though, I agree with P NW, if you're going to have to get it ready to sublease it, you might as well just live in it.

Il-Hyung Cho · Answer

Yes, dirt can be cleaned. But when it is combined with many others -- punched in bedroom door, molds/mildews in bathrooms, greasy oven, broken/missing shelves in refrigerator, broken blinds, ..., some of you may just wonder why you have to live there at all. Of course, if the unit is still located in one of the best neighborhoods, with nice traffic, nice view, cheap rent, things may be a bit different.

Molds/mildews can be cleaned. Oven can be cleaned. Floor can be mopped. Broken/missing refrigerator can be fixed/reordered. On and on. That is pretty much what my landlord told me: with all those things combined, the apt is still legally rentable. I was curious if it is really true, and if there is anything tennants can do about it.

Josh Green · Answer

i get the impression that you were looking more for a way out of the lease for some other reason.

dirt can be cleaned.

Il-Hyung Cho · Answer

No place can be ever spotless clean, even for a brand new house cleaned by a professional cleaner. However, a rental unit needs to be in reasonably clean condition for new tennants. My agent/friend (?) said it was OK and also the landlord promised that it would be professionally cleaned before moving in. But it was not even close to move in condition, and that was probably why my landlord offered me to stay in two nights in a hotel until it gets cleaned. He admitted that he contracted a cleaner to do the cleaning job and did not check the condition of the unit.

The question is, when a rental unit's condition was so bad by time moving in, do tennants have a right to refuse to honor the signed lease without any penalty? 
Or, is it all tennants' fault to sign the lease? I don't think all tennants sign the lease after seeing the units are cleaned. Landlords would advertise their units long before current tennats move out.

rental duplex is dirty - can I back off?

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