By UHLSucksSTL - 06/10/2016 15:50 - United States - Saint Louis

Today, I found out that I spent 3 whole days cleaning my apartment thoroughly and paid $100 to get my carpet professional cleaned to not get my $950 deposit back because the carpet smells like dog. I don't have a dog. FML
I agree, your life sucks 11 297
You deserved it 761
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Top comments

Dat_Class_Tho 26

They are keeping the WHOLE deposit because of the carpet? I'd check the fair housing/rental guidelines for your state to see if they can do that legally. In California, they can only keep enough of the deposit to fix whatever you messed up. For instance: if they have to spend $200 on a heavy duty carpet cleaning company with special deodorizing treatments, they would keep that amount and you'd get $750 back.

160 1
RichardPencil 30

By the process of elimination, you, my friend, must smell like a dog.

107 6

Comments

RichardPencil 30

By the process of elimination, you, my friend, must smell like a dog.

107 6
zeffra13 31

More likely that the cleaning product the professional cleaner used smells like dog, or the landlord is just hoping OP won't contest it & they can keep the money.

10 0
tounces7 27

More like the Landlord is just a greedy Pig.

4 0
Nats4444 11

$950 deposit? You must live in a penthouse. In my state they can't charge you for the carpet if you've been in residence for longer than a year.

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piker117 11

Where I live an efficiency apartment sometimes has a deposit of around $1,000

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VampObsessed 16

Wow, I was thinking 950 was actually low. We just rented a one bedroom and plopped down a security deposit of 1450. Our security deposit for the two bedroom we're currently leaving was 1800. I wish we lived in a penthouse but not even close.

0 0
arstef90 5

Deposit amounts depend on where you live. In Boston, where typical rent for a 1 bed is around 1600, the deposits are around there, and lots of times even more than that.

0 0
Catdragon 40

That's way too much. How can the people on disability afford to live?

0 0
Dat_Class_Tho 26

They are keeping the WHOLE deposit because of the carpet? I'd check the fair housing/rental guidelines for your state to see if they can do that legally. In California, they can only keep enough of the deposit to fix whatever you messed up. For instance: if they have to spend $200 on a heavy duty carpet cleaning company with special deodorizing treatments, they would keep that amount and you'd get $750 back.

160 1
cocacola999 27

Some letting agencies are really bad. I've never lived in US, but the ones in UK are often awful. A friend lost part of her deposit because she cleaned the oven better than it was when she moved in and thus it "no longer matched the before-photos". I lost 30 pounds of my deposit because I threw out the white polyester curtains (worth maybe 50p) that were mouldy when I moved in and bought new ones, which I left there. Additionally, I wanted to leave some cleaning products there so that I'd have to carry less to my new place and the new tenants wouldn't have to buy everything immediately. Luckily, the lady working at the agency was nice and gave me a heads-up - they would have charged me 6 pounds per every bottle that I left there. But losing the entire deposit sounds illegal.

20 0
KatyMarie 7

I lost my $575 deposit on my old place because I'd spilt red hair dye on the carpet (which I admit was my own fault, but it was only in one tiny spot, smaller around than a tennis ball! And I'd attempted to clean it when it happened....but red dye on gray carpet) but they claimed that it took the entire amount to attempt cleaning then replace the carpet....I was PISSED

3 11
Seeya55 31

I would have asked what company they used, and asked for the bill. If you don't get the bill, call the company and ask what they charged for that clean! (They may remember the room and bill, or they'd give you the price to fix it) Then you'd go to small claims court! Well, go after telling the landlord's you have proof of cost!

13 1
caterfly 14

Wet carpet smells very much like wet dog. Not really fair of them to penalise you so heavily based on a smell though.

10 1
aruden 25

I don't know the exact rules in your state but you can take them to small claims court. Depending on the age of your apartment and how long you lived there it could be considered normal wear and tear that they should be responsible for. They could be using your place as an excuse to replace the carpets with your money. Most people don't challenge shady land lords. $950 is extreme for a smell. Best of luck to you.

18 1
Seeya55 31

Definitely this! It does not cost that much, and you have proof of paying for a carpet clean too!

6 1
XxfrenchyyXx 12

Wish we knew this. My family lost their deposit to a shady land lord because he claimed the carpet smelled so much that nobody could live in the house. We've professionally cleaned it, people have visited many many times and said everything was fine and then out of nowhere the land lord stated that he used our money to replace the carpet. We took him to court but dropped it since my parents and I were scared of what could happen due to us not being citizens and not knowing much.

1 0
nider 19

In my state if the rent is $250/week or over then bond is 6 weeks rent. I wish I had a bond as low as yours (currency conversion taken into consideration)

0 5
writerchic85 25

Landlords will find any excuse to keep that deposit. When I moved out of my place i went over every day for a week to scrub. They only returned $50 of my $700 because the $5 blinds were dusty and they spent "4 hours soaking them" but had to throw them out.

10 0