renter complaining about cleanliness

[Kundan Chand]

Hi 

I am 1st time landlord and chose to manage my home personally. We had signed a lease agreement with our renter which included deep cleaning of the home before they moved in. However the cleaner I hired did not do a good job and now the renter has sent me emails that they had to spend lot of hours to clean the home etc. and had to move around their work schedules to accomodate that. I am guessing they may be looking for some hefty compensation for house cleaning. How do I handle this?

Thanks

KUndan

[Mike Adams]

We had a tenant tells us the same a few days ago.  When this has happened in the past, usually a tenant tells us within a week or so.  We can then send out the crew again and make it right.  However, they moved in on January 1st, 2021; so there's little we can do eight months later.  We said we would hold it against them in their security deposit.  They also complained that they didn't like the paint job or color, it was satin white, so they painted it another color at their expense. Little we can do about about it now.  Tenants will complain about anything if you give them the ability to do so.  We're fair, but we're not fools. You need to do the same. Give them an inch, they take yard.