We recently moved out of a corporate owned complex that was brand new when we moved in. We thoroughly cleaned everything when we moved, but on the move-out condition report that my roommate signed everything in the apartment is checked off as not clean. Additionally they are claiming that the carpets needed to be cleaned (we'd vacuumed them with a borrowed Dyson!!) After some back and forth with the leasing office they finally told me that they were recouping the cost of getting he apartment ready to lease again. This didn't sit right so I checked in the MGL and it looks like they can't deduct for that, even though they had us sign an addendum in the lease that says they can. They only ended up returning a small portion of our deposit and deducted for cleaning the whole apartment, carpet cleaning (even though it was just 13 months worth of normal wear and tear...no big stains), and small repairs like loose cabinets.
I sent them a demand letter to their corporate office and the leasing office, and a customer service person called me to ask what I wanted, so I told her I didn't think I should pay for them to clean an apartment that we'd already cleaned and that the addendum conflicted with MGL.
When I spoke to a housing specialist on the phone she brushed me off by saying "people usually read the law how it benefits them" but I think it's pretty clear about the whole thing. Still, am I wasting my time and money trying to pursue this in housing court?? Will they ignore the law and say I'm responsible for cleaning or say that cleaning counts as repairing damage??
Best,
Chris
Editor's Response
Read other posts. Take them to housing court.