Hello to everyone. I just came across this website as I was looking for some advice in regards to a situation I'm having with a now ex-landlord. I'm hoping someone can give me some advice.
Here is the situation:
Throughout the course of our previous 2 year lease, our landlord would take virtually every opportunity to charge us extra for something. It should be noted that all utilities were included in the rent. However if his gas bill was high for a given month, he would charge us an extra 25 or 30 bucks. If the grass wasn't cut often enough (no terms were ever set for how often the grass needed to be cut) we would get charged another $25. These extra charges happened quite frequently during our 2 years there, which was a main factor in our choice to move.
Due to our unhappiness with our situation, we moved out in July and found a new place. We did some cleaning of the apartment, but didn't bother having the carpets scrubbed and we certainly didn't go out of our to make the apartment look perfect. We cleaned the kitchen, patched all of the holes in the walls from nails, cleaned the walls, cleaned the bathroom, did a basic cleanup.
About a week after moving out, I received a phone call from the old landlord threatening to give me poor credit and threatening to take me to court if I don't pay for the "damages" we caused to the apartment. He said that he would be sending me a bill with all of the charges for repairs needed. He also said that he wasn't an unreasonable man and that if we needed several months to pay off the costs, that could be arranged. To my knowledge, he didn't have anyone in to inspect the apartment after we left and he has only taken pictures of the "damage".
I haven't seen any bills or pictures as of yet and I haven't agreed to anything. I don't believe that anything other than the carpet needed any sort of work. The landlord still has my deposit from back when we signed the lease. I have no idea what my rights are, and how I should continue with this situation. Any advice anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.
Here is the situation:
Throughout the course of our previous 2 year lease, our landlord would take virtually every opportunity to charge us extra for something. It should be noted that all utilities were included in the rent. However if his gas bill was high for a given month, he would charge us an extra 25 or 30 bucks. If the grass wasn't cut often enough (no terms were ever set for how often the grass needed to be cut) we would get charged another $25. These extra charges happened quite frequently during our 2 years there, which was a main factor in our choice to move.
Due to our unhappiness with our situation, we moved out in July and found a new place. We did some cleaning of the apartment, but didn't bother having the carpets scrubbed and we certainly didn't go out of our to make the apartment look perfect. We cleaned the kitchen, patched all of the holes in the walls from nails, cleaned the walls, cleaned the bathroom, did a basic cleanup.
About a week after moving out, I received a phone call from the old landlord threatening to give me poor credit and threatening to take me to court if I don't pay for the "damages" we caused to the apartment. He said that he would be sending me a bill with all of the charges for repairs needed. He also said that he wasn't an unreasonable man and that if we needed several months to pay off the costs, that could be arranged. To my knowledge, he didn't have anyone in to inspect the apartment after we left and he has only taken pictures of the "damage".
I haven't seen any bills or pictures as of yet and I haven't agreed to anything. I don't believe that anything other than the carpet needed any sort of work. The landlord still has my deposit from back when we signed the lease. I have no idea what my rights are, and how I should continue with this situation. Any advice anyone could provide would be greatly appreciated.
