Potential Renter asking for additional cleaning/painting be done

[Brian Garlington]

I'd like to get feedback from the forum as to this situation and how I've answered her.....I have a potential renter that has gone through the background check successfully, and I've talked to her previous landlords and it all checks out. 

The rental unit as of a couple days ago successfully passed the Section 8 Inspection......and the two different section 8 inspectors I've dealt with are very meticulous..............

Although the unit passed the inspection, these are the types of questions I am now getting from the prospective tenant.......

The questions she is asking I am putting down in Quotations "   "     My answeres back to her are in the lines right below it. Can I get some feedback from the forum as to your thoughts? 

"There were a number of reasons said in the rental agreement to keep all or parts of the deposit which are not supported by the Law in California. Including but not limited to legal expenses, cost of collection or loss of property, service fees, non sufficient funds, photos of damage, re-renting, ect..."

I'm not sure what you are asking here....can you be more specific?

"Liability & Insurance- Renters insurance is to solely cover loss or damage to the tenants belongings, so to name Landlord as additional interest on policy is not clear to me nor should it be required, as the lease agreement states Landlord will not be held liable for any damage to tenant property or injury to tenants, family, guest or employees while on the premises. My being responsible for damages in the event of a break in or force able entry is also odd."

If you do get renter's insurance you do not need to name me as additional insured.

As for the responsibility, what should be said in that part is if a tenant's own negligence somehow caused the break-in (i.e. like if a tenant left his door unlocked and wide open) - I can change that.

"End of Lease- Landlord cannot keep security deposit for failure to write intent to renew lease 30 days prior to end of lease agreement."

This is in the lease agreement because there was a tenant in the past that on the day the rent was due to cover the next 30 days, they simply moved out and that was their "notification". In that case, the security deposit ended up being what was utilized to cover the next month's rent. Does that make sense?

"Professional Cleaning of premisses w/ receipts upon move out- During the initial inspection with Section8 I noticedCarpets and walls throughout the unit, light-fixtures, baseboards, and windowsills were not cleaned... professionally or to move in satisfaction. If the carpets have been professionally cleaned since then I would like to be provided w/receipts, otherwise I plan on having them professionally cleaned immediately upon receipt of keys as I have a infant child who will be crawling on the floor and for sanitization purposes."

I am having the carpets re-done.

It appears that how the light fixtures, windowsills and baseboards look at present you are not satisfied and you would like those cleaned more thoroughly before you would feel comfortable moving in, is that correct?

"The walls were in need of a paint over due to dirt spots which again I don't mind doing if it hasn't been done already for the comfortability of my family."

That is understandable.

"For my protection I would still like to do a pre move-in inspection to take pictures and note unit conditions prior to any cleaning/painting I may have to do."

This makes sense. We both should take pictures of the unit at the same time to mitigate any misunderstandings on appearance as well as being able to make note of anything we should both be aware of. I will also do a video during the walk through and that is always provided via email or text to the potential tenant.

  "Below is a link to the Tenant/Landlord Rights and Responsibilities.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf "

This last part above she attached a link regarding tenant/landlord responsibilities....In a previous email she cited another source also for tenant/landlord rights and responsibilities......Is this a potential red flag that she is showing me these links or is this something I should look at as she is pointing me toward a resource?

Keep in mind she cleans houses for a living so i am understanding why she would have a focus on the cleanliness aspect of things.......I'm curious to know if the forum thinks these are potential red flags and i should simply try to find a different tenant to rent too?

Thanks for your feedback