Property Managers--What do you consider to sufficient "cleaning" of a rental by tenants? RealEstate

I ask because my mother-in-law, cousin and I spent HOURS scouring my empty two bedroom apartment days before we were set to officially be out. We cleaned the toilet, bath tub, refrigerator, oven, stove top, etc in addition to cleaning the floors. I literally used a steam cleaner inside all of the cabinets, on the counter tops, etc. Today, I received part of our deposit back with $110 deducted. A $75 cleaning charge was listed for "baseboards, floors, and air filter." I was charged $35 for the electricity to be turned on for this to be done. When I contacted the property manager, I mentioned how hard we had worked to clean it, and that I didn't understand how the floors needed to be cleaned after we had went over them with a steam mop, or why he paid someone to change the air filter that I had paid for and left behind when I had specifically asked him to let me know if there was anything unsatisfactory about the apartment and that I would come take care of it. I bought a house (the seller's agent was the owner of the real estate company) that is literally right down the street from my old apartment, and as a teacher I had plenty of time this summer to wipe down the baseboards, install an air filter and clean the floors again.

Is it standard procedure to hire someone to change an air filter and wipe down what was cited as "some hair" on the baseboards of the Master bedroom (which I won't argue--I'm sure that could have been overlooked. I won't even argue about the floors, because perhaps dust settled after the AC unit was turned off) if the tenant has made it clear that they are willing to take care of any additional cleaning? Perhaps he simply had the mindset of "Well, if they didn't do it flawlessly the first time, how can I trust it to be perfect this time?"

While we were scrubbing, we kept saying that we doubted most people cleaned a rental that well before leaving it (I'm just cheap and wanted all of my deposit). But apparently, we aren't very aware of the standards held for rentals.

I'm really curious as to what constitutes a "clean" rental and would love to hear some feedback.

Submitted July 28, 2015 at 02:03AM by dorkella http://ift.tt/1JLUGUC RealEstate