Unless you agreed to it in the original lease, they cannot charge you an arbitrary cleaning fee on move out. They can only charge you if the place needs cleaning.
But… cleaning fees are probably one of the biggest areas of dispute when it comes to deposits and its largely subjective. A tenant might consider the apartment clean when everything is wiped down and swept, but the LL probably expects a deep cleaning with carpet shampoo, cleaning heat registers, oven, etc. The point being that if they charge you a cleaning fee, you'll have to fight it out with them. It could ultimately be taken to small claims court, and a judge would decide. Take good pictures when you move. I hope you have pictures from move in...
Compare the cost of cleaning fee to renting a carpet cleaner and doing it yourself. Unfortunately if you subleased to the transient roommates you would be responsible for the messes they left behind. If they went through the landlord, you may have a case.
If your lease has expired, you are a month to month tenant and the conditions of renting can be changed with a 30 day notice. That means he can require you to pay a cleaning deposit or move within 30 days.
depends probably on if you did it or not, im dreading inspection time in my apartment myself, i got sick one day and threw up on the carpet, tried to clean it up as best as i could and its stained now, wonder what they'll do to me when they see it
I was only required to pay first and last month's rent when I moved in but my landlord now wants me to pay a cleaning fee. Is this legal? I may have it written in my lease that my deposit was fully refundable pending no damages but I only signed a year-long lease and I have lived there for 2 years, with the majority of my transient roommates never paying a cleaning fee. I was agreeable to paying it but my landlord moved a family friend into the house and now wants me to vacate asap so my new housemate can fill the house with his friends -_- (I had told my landlord a month ago that I had begun house hunting but now it looks like an eviction may be on the horizon)
