Apartment Charges

[njplesmid]

My husband and I recently moved out of an apartment in which we lived for 2 years. I just received my move out report that says I need to pay $325.00 for pet damage done to the carpet. They provided pictures of the under side of the carpet that showed stains. I asked them to provide pictures that the under side of the carpet did not look like that before, the manager just explianed that pictures proved I caused the damage.Also one of the pictures of the stains is where my 47" flat screen and TV stand sat for 2 yrs i even have a video showing that 2 mos after we moved in that is where is was. On the move out report it even says the carpet is clean then off to the side they wrote in pet damage. The complex has now given me two stories one that the reason they pulled the carpet up was due to a smell (which I dont know how since I had just shampooed the carpets) and 2 that they were unable to get the carpet clean.The carpet was no where new when we moved in. I had a cat for one of the 2 years we where at the apartment. I called and spoke with the manager and explained that I have had the cat for 5 yrs and have never had her urinate on the carpet. I am not at fault for these damages and want to resolve this matter as quick as possible. What are my options?

 

[Gail_in_Georgia]

If you disagree with the amount that was kept from your security deposit, you write what is known as a "demand" letter requesting that the rest of the security deposit (or what you consider a fair amount) be returned to your within a certain number of days.

If management does not respond (or refuses to do this) then your next option is to consider whether you wish to file a lawsuit for this amount. Typically these lawsuits are handled through Small Claims court (or the version of such in your particular state) as they represent a fairly small amount of money being disputed and one does not have to go to the expense of hiring an attorney to present the case.

Remember that a "move out" inspection is not the end all to finding damage. This is why most states have a certain amount of time to return/respond to the tenant regarding their security deposit. It's not unusual to find additional damage (above that of normal wear and tear) after the move out. Thus, in the event that there was urine damage from a cat, the odor would not be present immediately after the carpet cleaning but would soon show up as the days passed.

Gail