The time between Dec. 29 and today feels like an eternity. Mostly, I have my lingering Christmas cold and an evil former landlord to thank for that.
I returned to San Francisco to discover my former roomie hadn't done ANY cleaning. Nothing. She didn't even sweep under her eight-foot-long couch. So, I embarked on a two-day cleaning frenzy. At the end of it, the landlord and another tenant (she used to be his girlfriend) came to do the final inspection. To say it was a disaster is an understatement. The landlord walked into the unit angry and spoiling for a fight. He yelled, criticized, accused us of not cleaning and causing damages we didn't cause, pointed out everything that wasn't finished (using a white cloth and Fantastic spray to check if we'd washed the windows) and got into a shouting match with my former roomie that I was concerned would turn physical.
This was one of the worst experiences I've ever had, and I left shaking. It took several hours to calm down, but I'm still really, really angry. Not only was all my cleaning for naught, when he'd expected a professional job, but he was just out of control and completely unprofessional. And we don't even have any say in how much of our security deposit he deducts for cleaning expenses.
The good news is that I've been in touch with the tenants' union, and it turns out he's operating illegally in the agreements he makes with tenants regarding the interest on security deposits: California renters, be warned - your landlords are required to invest your security deposit in order to get a return equal to the current interest rate. They must return that interest to you yearly, regardless of whether or not they raise your rent in that year.
Hopefully, somebody will prosper from my mistakes. In the meantime, I'm out for blood. Happy New Year!
Running lately
22 minutes ago
Eeeeek!!!!
ReplyDeleteAren't landlords required to have the apartments cleaned/re-painted inbetween tenants anyway? Your job as the exiting tenant is to remove all belongings and personal property and basically make the place look like what it did when you first moved in, which is empty, not spick n' span. (sp?)
Anyway...at least you can go home to your lovely new apartment, just think of the poor fools who will be moving into your old place. Yikes!
Wow what an awful experience. I'm so glad to be free of the renting experience.
ReplyDeleteNo stress!
Jackie, you have no idea of the agony this has caused. But Steph (not my sister) is right. I can go home to my great new apartment and pity the people moving to 48th Ave. It's a fab new apartment. Come on over. Just watch out for the boxes. They attack.
ReplyDelete