Landlord overcharged for repairs and took unreasonable amount from the deposit

[hwkim5814]

Hi, I lived in 3 beds and 1 bathroom house with 3 people for 4 years in Texas. We kept the house relatively clean. Living in a house for long 4 years, we indeed caused some small damages which we expected to be taken out of the deposit. Expecting to get more than $500 out of $685 deposit, we only received $145.56 of it. We were charged $162.36 for Cleaning Needed and $135 for the prlaced 9 blinds, and $81 for broken window. The house did not need any big repair and was cleaned pretty clean when we moved out from my perspective. I understand that the house needed to be cleaned more meticulously because of the new tenants but I could not reliquinsh the feeling that I was overcharged with the unreasonable amount. So I have done some research of the charges that were and felt that listed items were overcharged. Another absurdness which incents me is that when we moved in, only 4 blinds were renewed and others 5 were in bad conditions and even broken. We have requested for the change of the blinds when we moved in but the landlord refused to do so (obviously we had no choice but to let it go because we signed the contract already). Adding to that,the window was broken when we moved in but we unfortunately do not have a photo to prove that. I have made a 5 hour trip back to the old house to talk about it, the landlord agreed that the some of the blinds were not replaced when we moved in but it is still our responsibility to pay for the 9 renewed blinds. Then I asked for the receipts for the purchases of the blinds, window, and charges for the cleaning, the landlord has told me that she does not have to provide the receipts for those payments. What action should I take to receive reasonable amount of money back?

 

[army judge]

You could try prayer. Perhaps a deity or a wizard could be of some help to you? You have no basis on which to bring a lawsuit. Even if you did prevail in small claims, you do know that you get a piece of paper and not a check. You then have to collect on your judgment.

You should have requested your landlady to do a checkout walkthrough with you when you vacated the premises.


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[Ctryder]

Basically, you have no case. What is clean to you is not clean to me. A typical charge to clean a two bedroom apartment is about $135.00. Blinds can vary in price depending on size. The window sounds cheap. To replace a window would run around a $100.00, depending on size. If you do not have pictures or did a walk through at the beginning of lease, you lose. Next time, take pictures before signing lease.

 

[MorgansDaddy]

Basically, you have no case. What is clean to you is not clean to me. A typical charge to clean a two bedroom apartment is about $135.00. Blinds can vary in price depending on size. The window sounds cheap. To replace a window would run around a $100.00, depending on size. If you do not have pictures or did a walk through at the beginning of lease, you lose. Next time, take pictures before signing lease.

Agreed, It is always a good idea to take pictures before you actually move in, and always a GREAT idea to take pictures and/or video when you are moving out.