I have to side with the OP on this, there is a principle involved. My family and I just moved to Florida at the end of a 30 month rental, and we worked hard to keep that as much of that deposit as we could. We hired a professional cleaner to come in to shampoo the carpets and clean everything properly, replaced a cracked window in the shower even though we weren't sure if it was broken or not when we moved in, patched and repainted walls where we hang hangings, everything. Our current home we went through with a fine tooth comb on a pre-move in inspection and took more than 100 photos to document existing conditions. We've been screwed by too many unscrupulous landlords with stupid cleaning and maintenance fees that weren't fighting for just a couple hundred dollars, but to hell with that going forward. Maybe we can afford to walk away from $2-300 every few years when we move again, but why should we? We are honest people and we treat the homes we have been forced to rent as though we owned them, why should we bear the cost of maintenance and repairs that we weren't responsible for? That's just lining another guy's pockets.
Fight the good fight, man, I've been there. Read your lease, get a good attorney if need be. Housing is something that, like wage stagnation, is contributing to the divisions in society. If we take it the hard way now, we'll keep taking it until society suffers a breakdown.
You sound like you were the ideal tenant. Unfortunately, that's not always the case despite the extensive screening process. Not all landlords are "slumlords" either. I have great tenants in my rentals right now but I have had to suffer losses in the past that I will NEVER re-coupe. (That's the risk you take with investment properties, but that's also what taxes are for.)
Just for giggles I've attached a snapshot of an itemized list from a tenant back in 2008 that I was never able to get a red cent from. So consider this scenario as a landlord - The tenant decides to move out and fails to pay you the entire rent due for October ($995, only pays $700) but never tells you they're moving. They bail and leave you with unpaid utility bills, carpet that is trashed, holes in the sheet rock from door knobs because they took the doorstops off, a kitchen that is trashed, plugged up toilet, tub, unpaid rent for October etc.
So I still have to make my mortgage payment every month which was short in October by $300. No "notice to vacate" left me high and dry to try and get someone in there for November. I knew I was going to have to eat Novembers mortgage payment. Because it was winter, that place was vacant until after APRIL. Yea, that's right six months. In our case, the rent we receive goes from the tenants hand to mine, directly to the bank. Zero profit. As a matter of fact I was upside in this one because of the market.
No song and dance here or the worlds smallest violin crying me a river, it's just the plain facts of being a Landlord. There are a LOT of expenses that most tenants are not aware of. The notice to vacate is SO CRITICAL! It gives me time to screen prospective tenants. From what you said, you are CLEARLY an awesome tenant!! Always remember, signed paperwork is binding.
You mentioned one thing in your statement that I completely disagree with you on and that's "why should we bear the cost of maintenance and repairs that we weren't responsible for?" You live there so it's your responsibility. The landlord doesn't live there. You entered into a lease agreement. If the garbage disposal goes T/U because you were watering a plant and a stone fell in there and jammed it. Why should the landlord pay for that? (happened to me). Or the heater element in the dryer decides to check out, who should be responsible? I'm not using that dryer - the tenant is. I've repaired washers and dryers in my units MANY times at my cost!! I had to rip up the sub-flooring due to a leaking dishwasher that over time ruined the floor. I didn't discover it until after the tenant moved out. You know what caused it? A damn chicken bone! Seriously, who puts dishes in the dishwasher with chicken bones still on them? The cost...OMG.
As a landlord the units I have belong to me (actually the bank) but it sounds better if I say they're mine. Haha. So I take care of the siding, the roof, the heat pump, the water heater, furnace etc. It's still my investment. Because I provide all appliances for my tenants, I also take responsibility for repairing them if they break. That's how I keep my tenants. I provide them with a
home.
Just to close, carpet cleaning is EXPENSIVE but the alternative is even more! I've attached an invoice of the cost that I incurred when I had to eventually replace the carpet in of my units due to neglect. I also replaced the carpet in on unit at one applicants request. They loved the place but not the carpet. So I told them I would bring them sample books and they could choose the carpet they want if they sign a two year lease. I replaced the carpet with some very gorgeous carpet and they've been in there for ten years. Win/Win. I have no vacancy, advertising or screening to deal with. I have done everything I could to take good care of them.
As for the OP, the filter should be the landlords expense, but the carpet cleaning should be his IF it's in the Lease Agreement.
I don't want to drag this thread on and on but I thought you would appreciate a landlords perspective. I would take you any day as a tenant if you decide to move up here to Washington!! I would have given you 100% of your deposit back and if we agreed that the carpet cleaning company you used was professional and you had a receipt, the fee would have been returned to you as well. Sorry, right now, no vacancies.
Unfortunately, in many cases the tenant/landlord relationship is like the employer/employee interview - two people lying to each other. I'm the best employee you'll ever have and we're the best company you'll ever work for.
