Poll of the Day > Is it even worth it to clean an apartment before moving?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I'm buying a house soon. When I left my last apartment to move to my current one, I brought some friends over after the furniture had all gone and we spent a few hours scrubbing, wiping down, vacuuming, etc. to make the place more or less move-in friendly for the next tenants.

And then later I only got about 10% of my security deposit back because the management "had to hire cleaners" and attached a summary with all sorts of things that were clearly totally redundant to what we had already done, because we had taken good care of the place. Not sure if that was just a scumbag move from my old management or if that's standard practice to keep as much money as possible. The management at my current place are definitely better people but if they're going to pull the same move and eat my entire deposit I'd rather just save myself the time and effort and not bother cleaning at all on the way out. Anyone have any similar experiences or perspective?

Always take pictures of everything (carpets, appliances, rooms, etc) before you hand over the keys to the landlord so when they try to pull that you can sue their asses for your security deposit. Did that with my last apartment, but the landlord was actually really good and only docked me $15 for not cleaning the inside of the microwave.

But, to be fair, when I moved my mom out of her apartment she pretty much trashed the place because she was a hoarder, so I just made sure not to provide them any contact info since I knew it would cost them 3X - 5X the cost of the security deposit to repair everything.

I wouldn't go all out and make it move in ready but make sure its clean. Most leases will state what needs to be done, like my last one we needed to replace all light bulbs.

Doesn't matter how much I clean; the cats have torn some of the carpet

I say fuck em. Two times I've cleaned the fuck out of a place before moving out... one time they bitched about dusty blinds and withheld the deposit and the 2nd time the guy claimed we did this and that and tried to say we actually owed him money on top of the deposit even though the place was damn near immaculate when we moved out

Metalsonic66 posted...

Doesn't matter how much I clean; the cats have torn some of the carpet

Depending on local laws, how long you've been there, and whether or not the carpet is going to be replaced anyway, you may not be responsible for it, or just a portion of it.

> Is it even worth it to clean an apartment before moving?

Pride?

Ive been in a few places where you need to hire a professional to deep clean it before you leave. Its part of the contract.

My last couple of places came with their own cleaners though so its really on them if the place is a state. My current one comes three times a week.

Depends on the state. Depends on the management company (if one) and depends on the amount of deposit.

In my rental apartments I used to always just tell the landlord to apply my security as the last months rent.

I never left a place trashed but at least that way never got nickel and dimed for missing screws.

it would cost them more to take you to court than the cost of anything (unless you trashed the place).

that doest work w commercial tenants where there are nearly no lease restrictions and a mere one months security is rare.

At least make it look presentable the best you can.

I would just in case I had end up moving back there at some point.

If you combo that w/ pictures and ideally a walk through w/ someone when you leave, absolutely to get your security deposit back.

That said, when I moved out of our last apartment, I wish we had cleaned less.
We lived there so long they had to replace the carpets and all sorts of other stuff by law before they could rent it out again anyway. They barely even inspected it during the walkthrough and we ended up wasting a lot of time/energy. Did get the full deposit back, at least.

It depends. I lived in my apartment for about 3 years before getting a house, and I basically left it more or less spotless. I didn't even hang decorations on the walls. Honestly, other than a bed, dresser, card table, small couch, and tv stand there wasn't any other furniture I brought in. I got close to 80% of my deposit back if I recall when I moved out.

Now one of my friends, just literally dumped all his trash in the middle of the room when he left, under the assumption the deposit was gone. Obviously he got none back, but he made a huge mess for the apartment to clean up.

Worked in landlord tenant law for years. It varies state by state, and of course, non-refundable deposits are not ...well refundable lol.......but many states don't allow you to doc a deposit for basic cleaning, and more is added the longer you have lived there (or even the longer since rugs etc were installed).

Painting the walls, cleaning or even replacing the carpets and other things like that are often included in "normal" wear in an apartment and you can't be docked for them.

What is more, in many states if a landlord withholds a deposit when he shouldn't or legally couldn't they can be charged 3x the amount if you bring them to court, and in states like CA, WA etc....that usually is a very fast process that can be done without even going into court (zoom call etc).

Just make sure you take pictures of anywhere you move when you move in, and then when you move out, as proof. You can sue for your deposit back in small claims court and if the landlord doesn't respond you automatically win (you can sue for 3x the full deposit amount), that being said you can also sue for anything else at the same time, up to an amount of $10,000, so if the landlord did anything wrong, might as well add that to the case.

Again it all varies state by state.

In CA you can't have non-refundable deposits anymore (although people still get away with it cause not everyone knows that), but you CAN rent a place as "furnished" which pumps the max security deposit up from 2x the rent to 3x the rent (just requires having a few pieces of furniture in the place, even just cheap desks and a chair etc).

Meanwhile you are also only ever required to clean the place back to the state it was in when you rented it. So always take pictures and then compare those pictures to the apartment when you are leaving, and you can ensure it's as close as possible. In addition, unless evicted you are entitled to have a walk through by your landlord up to 2 weeks before you move out, where they must list anything they plan on deducting from your deposit, giving you time to remedy it before moving out.

Considering many places require 2x rent now for a deposit, it's VERY worth it (with how high rents are) to ensure you get as much of your deposit back as possible. The laws do vary, but they are pretty similar in most cases and landlords are no longer allowed to just keep deposits because they like money lol. You have to have caused some non-normal damage...and been unable to fix it yourself before leaving.

This is a list of normal wear and tear on an apartment in CA. As you can see, even faded paint etc, or a worn carpet is not your responsibility. In general you need to have caused significant damage to something to be responsible for it. You are not responsible for making the apartment look as "new" as when you started renting it, that is the landlords responsibility. If you rent somewhere 10 years, the walls need to be painted (dirt smudges etc, the carpet is faded and worn out and the garbage disposal doesn't work, you do not generally owe any money for that, that all happens naturally over time and is actually your landlords responsibility. In fact, you may even be able to request they remedy such situations while still renting the place.

https://www.tobenerlaw.com/wear-and-tear-and-security-deposits-under-california-law/

Don't be a dick. You didn't move in the apartment fucked up why would.you leave it fucked up.

IceT posted...

Don't be a dick. You didn't move in the apartment fucked up why would.you leave it fucked up.

If the landlord's going to allegedly hire cleaners as a pretense for keeping your money regardless of how much effort you put into cleaning, why not leave it dirty enough for the cleaners to have something to do? That's not to say you should make a bunch of holes in the wall or anything else that goes beyond just not scrubbing the place down, but unless you actually get your deposit back, there's little point in putting real effort into making it perfect.

Then go to small claims court. Have your picture/video evidence of the place when you left. Easy win, no lawyer fees and you get your deposit back

wolfy42 posted...

Lots of great info, thanks. I think my biggest concern would be the carpets--the inevitable stain here and there that won't come out. If that's part of their routine wear in an apartment then I won't worry about breaking my back scrubbing them out.

adjl posted...

If the landlord's going to allegedly hire cleaners as a pretense for keeping your money regardless of how much effort you put into cleaning, why not leave it dirty enough for the cleaners to have something to do? That's not to say you should make a bunch of holes in the wall or anything else that goes beyond just not scrubbing the place down, but unless you actually get your deposit back, there's little point in putting real effort into making it perfect.

Precisely. The place is still in good condition and we haven't caused any damage or anything like that. I'm just paranoid about them "finding" a reason to withhold my security deposit no matter how much work I put into cleaning, etc.

In nj each county has a court which you can file pretty easily. A former landlord tried to pull that crap with me. Place was even better than when I moved to in. More people imo should definitely go to court over sleezy landlords these days. Security deposits being 2k plus is worth it. I guess if 2k is chump change people wouldn't want the hassle.

BoomerKuwanger posted...

but what I do know is that landlords are banking on your average tenant assuming it's not easy/worth the effort

That, and the fact that renters have a vested interest in staying on good terms with their landlords because of the potential for a bad/missing reference to keep them from being able to find a place in the future (especially where "my landlord won't give me a reference because I took him to court to get my security deposit back" is going to pretty solidly convince the new landlord not to sign a lease). The laws are there, but even when tenants know about them, the power imbalance in landlords' favour makes it pretty scary and potentially dangerous to take advantage of them.

Good lord people stand up for yourselves. Clean the place and demand your deposit back. I have lived in many places and always gotten my deposit back. I've had to pressure shitty landlords on occasion. But I always clean the place I'm leaving.

Clean it up to point of normal wear and tear. Sweep and mop, and of u went a little overboard on the wall decor, sparkle up the holes. If u just hung a few pictures, don't worry about it. If the carpet was jacked when u got there or worn from years of traffic don't bother cleaning, as it will likely be replaced.

I mean, they're just gonna paint over everything and rip out the carpet regardless lol

I just moved and the lady just wanted me to let her know when it got cleaned. She didnt even check. Got my full deposit back lol. Sorry.

When you move in, you and the landlord should each have a signed (by both) form indicating any material latent defects. The last apartment I was in tasked me with creating the list during my first few days there, so my ass was covered when it came to moving out years later and there were dozens of little nail holes in the walls.

At the end of the tenancy, fully clean the apartment, take photos (even better as a power move, do it with your landlord in the pictures as they are doing the final inspection), and keep professional cleaning receipts. Unless you caused other damage, you should get 100% of your security deposit back. If you don't, it would be an easy win in small claims court.