Tenant issues

M

Mariamicasa

Guest
Jurisdiction
Georgia
My daughter lived in an apartment with a room mate. The room mate moved out to live with her boyfriend a few months after. Another room mate moved in. She had financial issues and moved out 2 1/2 months before lease ended. Neither did a walk through with management. My daughter moved out and got a bill from apartment for 3200.00 to replace carpet/ pet odors / etc. What is the best route to negotiate lower price? Letter said if not pd in 45 days going to collections. What to do?
 
Did your daughter also move out prior to the lease ending and part of this "etc." include owed rent because of this?

A landlord does not have to negotiate a lower price and often in large apartment complexes bills for damages are simply turned over to a collection agency (as opposed to going through the legal system). Unfortunately, the last person residing there (your daughter) is often the one who gets the bill.

Did your daughter take pictures of the rental unit at move out to dispute any claims of damages?

Gail
 
First things first, did they have pets? What condition was the place in when they moved in? Did they take any photos when moving in or out? Is your daughter named in the lease? Is anyone else named in the lease?
Contact the property owner and attempt to negotiate something agreeable. If you don't come to terms the property owner will have to sue in small claims and convince a judge the amount requested is reasonable. Your daughter will be able to explain why it is unreasonable. You don't have to pay a penny until a judge orders it.
If your daughter believes a security deposit has been withheld that she is entitled to then she can initiate the small claims action to recover it.
 
"You don't have to pay a penny until a judge orders it."
Unless mom is on the lease she wouldn't be the one paying for this in the first place (or negotiating with the property owner; it would be her daughter.

And many apartment complexes skip the court route and simply turn over bills to a collection agency.

Gail
 
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