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The property was listed for $1,850. We asked if we could get it for less and the owner agreed to come down $150. After we left we found out we wouldn't get our $200 security deposit back. We were shocked because before we left we vacuumed, cleaned the bathrooms, the refrigerator, stove and the microwave. Then, when we were leaving the cleaning crew arrived. Then when we received a report on what was supposedly wrong, we were flabbergasted by the inaccuracy and even ludicrousness of the claims. Here are the charges:
Claim: We left late, holding up the cleaning crew.
Fact: The cleaning crew arrived just as we were leaving.
Claim: Food was left in the refrigerator.
Fact: No food was left in the refrigerator, although two cups of ice cream were left in the freezer.
Claim: We left out dirty dishes and we put dirty dishes in the cabinets.
Fact: All the dishes we put in the cabinets were washed in the dishwasher. The dishes from the day we left were washed and left in the drying rack.
Claim: An open box of sugar cubes was left in a cabinet.
Fact: It was there when we arrived.
Claim: We left a bag of charcoals, indicating we grilled, which violates condo rules.
Fact: We didn't have a grill, didn't grill and didn't bring in a bag of charcoals. If there was a bag of charcoals it was there before we arrived.
Claim: The carpets were stained.
Fact: I vacuumed upstairs, my wife vacuumed downstairs and we didn't observe any stains. And, we never spilled anything on the carpet.
Claim: We broke slats of vertical blinds.
Fact: We didn't break any vertical blinds, and at one point the owner claims the broken slats were in the bedroom, and at another point she claims they were in the kitchen.
Claim: The curtain brackets in the living room were pulled out of the wall in two spots.
Fact: We didn't do anything to the curtain brackets.
It's very obvious that the reason the owner came down $150 in the rental was that she figured she could falsely claim that we left the condo in an unacceptable condition and more than make up the $150.
In addition, shortly after we arrived we had a problem with ants, so we called and they sent an exterminator. Now the owner claims that we were responsible for the ants, and that's one of the reasons we didn't get back the security deposit.
And we were woken up two nights in a row by the smoke alarm. (It stopped after a couple of hours the first night, after I vacuumed it so we thought it was O.K., but it started up again the second night.) We called and they came and replaced the battery. This should be done regularly, not just when it causes a problem. Also, the problem detector was hanging from the ceiling, and not connected to it, so it's apparent that something was amiss with it and was never corrected.
Date Added: Sep 12, 2009
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