Landlord added new charges upon moveout

[BenjaminCarter]

I moved out of my apartment in good standing when my lease was up. About a week after moving, I received a letter from the apartment complex saying that I owed for cleaning and minor repairs to my apartment. There was an invoice(see attached) for these charges included in the letter.

While I did dispute some of the items listed, I decided to let them keep my $300 deposit to apply to the $264 charges. I replied to their letter stating this decision.

In their reply, they said the $300 had already been applied, although there was no mention of that on the original invoice they sent me and they didn't send me a record of any charges they had before the $300 was applied, only after.

They said I have 10 days to pay the balance or they will turn it in to a collection agency. What should I do?

 

[mightymoose]

Do nothing.

If they have already applied your $300 deposit then they need to provide an invoice that accounts for where that money went.

Before a collection agency can collect from you a judgment must be obtained from the court. Based on this invoice it appears you are owed $36.

I am suspicious of the $4.31 charge for carpet stains... it just doesn't make sense. Besides, the carpet stains would likely fall under ordinary wear and tear after 3 years in the apartment.

Anyway, you have already let the $300 go. Unless they send you a complete invoice don't pay another dime.

 

[BenjaminCarter]

Do nothing.

If they have already applied your $300 deposit then they need to provide an invoice that accounts for where that money went.

Before a collection agency can collect from you a judgment must be obtained from the court. Based on this invoice it appears you are owed $36.

I am suspicious of the $4.31 charge for carpet stains... it just doesn't make sense. Besides, the carpet stains would likely fall under ordinary wear and tear after 3 years in the apartment.

Anyway, you have already let the $300 go. Unless they send you a complete invoice don't pay another dime.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure what they're trying to do. I spent two days cleaning the apartment from top to bottom so I know it was clean. The leak they're talking about was from the a/c unit which is behind a dead-bolted door that only the maintnance guy has a key. So if it was leaking, there's no way I could've known.

Anyway, I afraid to just let this go. If they turn it over to a collection agency, won't it affect my credit? I can't just keep checking my credit score everyday just to see if they turned it over to collection agency or not.

 

[mightymoose]

If there was no way you could have known about the leak then you are not responsible for the damage.

The only way this will effect your credit is if the landlord sues you and you do not respond. If the landlord does sue you, you could make a countersuit and likely get a significant portion of your deposit back.