Property Manager sent a bill for 7K + for smoke damage in unit

[Penny T.]

We've rented from the same property management company since 2006, and were in our last unit for 7 years.  Smoking was not prohibited, in fact when we specifically asked if there were smoking/non-smoking units, we were told they had no non-smoking units.  We had no problems with the management until the most recent property manager took over.  Happy to give more background, but suffice it to say we got off to a bad start and it's been downhill ever since.   I firmly believe that this manager has a personal grudge against us as a result, and we were given a 5 day notice to vacate for violating the "noxious odor" section of the lease.  We moved, and just received (at day 31 after move out) a certified letter stating that we had $7100 worth of smoke damage in the apartment "pending additional charges to be determined".   

Happy to give more details of all the issues we put up with while living here just to avoid having to deal with the manager, but really wants some perspective from the landlords and experts here.  This amount seems completely ridiculous for the unit in question.  What options do I have to fight this?  I'm in Louisiana.

[Frank Chin]

I can't tell how strong the odor and where it came from. I had several tenants through the years on vacating had such issues. It's mostly South Asian tenants and their cooking. At times, the odor was so strong you can smell it walking in the main entrance into the lobby.

There's been some discussions here on remediating it with chemicals. In my case, after steam cleaning the carpets, and a fresh coat of paint, it was mostly gone after the painting and all gone some weeks later when I came back to check with new tenants in place. In your case with a management company, get an attorney to write them a strong letter.

My tenants got the full deposit back as I normally do this after each tenancy anyway.

When I was a tenant, a had an apartment and my deposit was withheld with some BS excuse. I wrote and called with no success. I bought and moved to a condo, and when my closing attorney wrote them a demand letter, I got the refund in a week.

I watch court shows on TV where landlords try to keep deposits with pictures of garbage left behind and damages, and usually the judges are not sympathetic attributing it to wear and tear. I never seen one on odors and would be curious on how they can prove it. Here, I think they hope to cite a large claim hoping you keep quiet and let them keep the deposit.