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I was renting a room, which is about 150 sf, in a 30+ yrs old house with 4 bedrooms. I just moved recently and cleaned up the room after I moved out as per the contract. My landlord was not happy with the results. He asked me to come back to clean it again before certain date, which I couldn't make it. Then my landlord said he'll hire a professional cleaner to do the job and have me pay the cleaning cost, which I agreed. Here comes the problem. The charge for cleaning my room was $99. My landlord explained the cleaning company he hired has a minimal charge policy, which is $99. I was ready to pay even though I wasn't expecting to pay that much for cleaing a 150 sf room. I then called the cleaning company to verify the cost and the work being done. I then found out my landlord cleaned the entire upper level and the basement, which is about 1600 sf in total, for $160. Basically he paid only $61 out of his own pocket for cleaing 1450 sf of area. My landlord didn't mention a single world about the cleaning of the place outside of my room. If I didn't call, I would never the truth. Is it fair to ask for paying only my portion of cost in this case? My room is about 1/10 of area he cleaned on that day.
Here are the WAC's for the Landlord Tenant laws. And This is your responsibilities as a tenant. If I were you, I'd ask to see the receipt of cleaning. I know I moved out of an apartment and didn't take down a paper towel holder of all things and the removal of that was $25 and I received an itemized receipt in the mail that had the description of the charge, the charge, and the requested payment date.
I'm pretty sure your landlord cannot arbitrarily give you a number, I wouldn't pay anything without seeing a receipt.
I got the receipt, which is $99. My landlord has another one which is $61. Basically he asked the cleaning company to split the cost on two seperate receipts. The question here is my landlord is taking advantage of me. Just like buy one get one for free. I was the one to pay and he was the one the get one for free. What make it worse is he is trying to hide the truth from me.
If he didn't clean anything else other than my room, I'll willing to pay whatever the cleaning company charged for cleaning my room. But now I am asking for just my portion of cost. Would it be fair?
If you are confident the landlord overcharged you... you could send him a check for the amount you believe appropriate and see if it is cashed. I might add a note stating you spoke with the cleaning company to arrive at the tendered amount and it is offered as payment in full on the disputed charge.
Or, you could do nothing and wait to see if the Landlord files against you leaving the decision up to the Judge.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The landlord would be nuts to bother taking $99 to court, even more so if the OP sends him part of it. The real problem is getting a reference for another rental in the future. I would not be surprised if the cost to come out and clean just that one room was $99, and he would not have had to hire the people if it had been left clean. Professional cleaners are going to have a minimum due to travel time, and probably charge $40/hour or more to make profit after paying their employees, with overhead. Whether he got a deal on the other rooms is not really your concern. I'd just pay it and be done with it.
I thought i was overcharged. Btw, the payment of $99 has been deducted from my deposit.
@Hemlock140 - I am wondering why "he got a deal on the other rooms is not really your concern", can I say that my landlord wouldn't be able to the same service with the price he paid without my payment of $99 first? if that is the case, then these are are not isolated issues anymore. If he choose to clean his rooms on a different day, then yes, it is not something i need to worry about.
Regarding the minimal charge, I've got quotes between $50 - $75. Not sure why my landlord picked the one starting with $99.
Call it a lesson learned and move on. This time when you move out, you make sure you CLEAN the place. If you're asked to come back and clean it again, SHOW UP!
I also find it a bit odd that the cleaning company would talk to you ( a stranger) so freely about your landlord (their client). Most companies don't discuss clients with other clients and never with stangers who just call and ask for specific information. I know we don't, we keep client information private.
Do a cost benefit analysis.... is it really worth $30.00 to spend more of your time on this?
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