Landlord charging $300 to move furniture that's left

I read it all and this is my first post--


Verdict:






For the landlord. 300 owed to the landlord!

You can protest under the "it's the principle of it" concept all you want, but you owe $300. Either pay it or pay a lot more fighting it in court. Choose your battles.

Yes, Ms. Paranoid, I am the landlord. I somehow knew you would come post your problem here on this particular forum out of all the other millions like them and instead of facing you head on, I am choosing to write about it on a message board. What a lucky coincidence I actually found you in this vast internet world! Get real, or get help for your paranoia.

Tenants often do take advantage of landlords because the concept is as old as the hills. If it's not mine, I don't have to take good care of it and I can leave it a sloppy mess when I leave because, well, it's not mine to worry about.

Leaving any rented place in the type of condition you describe is unacceptable, and landlords end up absorbing the costs and have the responsibility of cleaning up someone else's mess hoisted upon their shoulders. Did you not teach your son to clean up after himself? Did you not teach him to clean his room? If he's this irresponsible, perhaps he should continue to live with you until you instill adulthood in him.

Keep coming here to gripe if it makes you feel better, but suck it up, pay the bill, and move on with your life. Is life really that long for you that you have to keep harping on something that is entirely acceptable considering the circumstances the condition the unit was left in?

[sammom]

To Mr./Ms. Unregistered:

Thank you for the time you took to reply.

My question has never been whether they should charge my son extra. My question is -- how does one determine what is a fair estimate? I've tried to determine a fair estimate by calling the dump, a local mover, and other apartment complexes. All this manager has done is handwrite a note that lists the items that were moved and $300 next to it. She could have just as well written $100 or $1,000.

The off-campus connections office at the university disagrees with you. You never addressed that.

Also, you never addressed why other apartment complexes in the same area do not act in the same way, and actually were appalled at the quote I received. But -- this particular apartment complex I'm dealing with has a reputation of being shady, especially when it involves their maintenance staff.

Not sure why you stoop to making personal attacks -- I thought this was a forum that dealt with law.

And not sure why you don't register like the rest of us.

But -- I do appreciate your response. Thank you.

First, let me say I am not the unregistered person above. Personal attacks are never warranted or appreciated. This forum is for law advice only, not personal opinions. However, there are many reasons people choose not to register on this or other sites including not being registered to practice law in other states, not wanting to be identified or tracked, receiving unwanted email reminders of posts to any thread they answered, the necessity of registering and logging in each time, and so on.

Fair estimates would be obtained by:
- Getting written estimates from the dump (how much do they charge to dump a large truck with this much stuff)?
- Getting a written price on renting a dump truck (you can't assume they have one large enough for all of this or that it would be available).
- Getting written estimates for how much the maintenance men at that complex probably make per hour (those are the men who will be paid to move it, not any moving men).

The university office has no power in reality over off campus housing. LLs register with them, but they cannot discipline a LL for failing to follow any procedures they consider proper. The LL is still on his own to determine his own policies. University offices only have power over university functions. The most they could do is to refuse to list any properties for this LL in the future.

What other apartment complexes do is also not relevant. He didn't rent from one of the other companies. Each LL is free to make their own procedures and policies. They can choose to go against what is standard in the industry if they like. The free market economy will decide if any tenants want to rent to them under those conditions. If this LL chooses to charge for disposal of furniture left behind, that is his policy and is allowed.

Suggestions: The son should check out apartment complexes before he rents from them. Had he done so, he would have learned of this LL's reputation before he rented there. Make sure he understands that a LL is free to charge him for failure to leave the place in the same condition (without leftover furniture and in clean condition). Make sure he learns from this mistake.

His choice: If he chooses to appeal this deduction, he needs to write a challenge letter to the LL detailing the above cost estimates and why he should not be charged this amount for removing the furniture. He needs to mail this by certified mail, return receipt requested to the LL, and request that the LL respond within a reasonable amount of time. If the LL doesn't agree, he can file against the LL in small claims court with the same evidence. (Be aware: This will cost some money - he can call and ask how much it will cost. Usually over $100. And the LL may countersue for other damages though.) At the hearing, he may present the evidence to the judge or magistrate and allow him/her to decide. If it is decided in his favor, he will get the money back. Only he can do these things, not you Mom. I know you love and want to protect him, but he has to do this for himself. You have no vested interest in the case and cannot be a party to it. He has to decide if it is worth the money to file vs. the chance of how much he could get back. Good luck.

It looks like mommy doesn't want her son to grow up and pay his own bills. MOM, it's called responsibility.

I'm amazed at the amount in question. If this had been my rental unit and my tenant had left that kind of mess for me to clean up, I would not only have kept his security deposit, I would have charged more than a paltry $300. The time and money it takes to clean up after a tenant who leaves so much behind and trashes the place causes the landlord to hold off on re-renting due to delays in having the unit ready for move in condition at the end of the previous tenant's lease.

I would be feeling lucky to get off with only a $300 charge, pay it and be done with it. And chalk it up to a learning experience for the next time he rents a place.

And it does not matter who else charges what. Those people are not the particular landlords the OP's son is dealing with. None of the other people mentioned have the contractual rental agreement the son had with this particular landlord. So the mom needs to get over that part of it. Would she anymore go get a haircut for $20 and then afterwards call all over town and ask how much everyone else charges and then go back to the person who cut her hair and raise a stink, claiming other people in town didn't charge as much? Get real. Pay the lousy $300 and get over it already.

In summation to the question of whether $300 is reasonable. Yes! More than reasonable!

I just want to add that it's not worth the risk of damaging your credit, especially if it is fairly good, over a lousy three hundred bucks. In these economic times, our credit needs to be as clean as we can get it, and if you have good credit, and you allow something this silly to ruin it, you will be looking at the item on your credit report for seven years. Is it worth it?

Considering the number of items left in the dwelling, charging $300 is reasonable. So far, the consensus of the replies have been yes, it's reasonable. Why do you still argue the point? You have your answer.

Even if you reduce it to 200, is it worth all the time and hassle?