Quote from @Sunny Rajvansh:
Hello,
I have been thinking about this a lot. When a tenant moves out, they usually clean as per what they think is clean. There is always some things left behind. things like inside stove, refrigerator, inside the Owen, corners, some cabinet shelves, window frames some residue on the walls etc. I always find lot of things that could be cleaned better. And I always end up calling professional cleaning service to get a deep cleaning to ensure the tenant moving in does not complain about the property being not clean.
I am wondering is it really landlord who need to bare the cleaning expenses between the tenants? I have tried to deduct some amount from deposit to cover the cleaning fees, but some tenants were bitter about that. They say, they already spend so much time cleaning the place and now they don’t want to lose the cleaning fees from deposit. But again, its never in a condition that a moving in tenant would be ok. How do you tackle this situation? I am now thinking to include in my lease that the property has been professionally cleaning before the lease, so I recommend to have a professional clean the property before moving out. I am not enforcing to get professionally cleaned but I am only recommending. Your input and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
One thing my property mgmt. company recently implemented was something we market as a concierge service. We say something like, "if you would like to skip the cleaning of your home at move out, as we know you are very busy, we offer a cleaning service to help reduce the stress of moving out, it's $150.00 and includes all the cleaning, so long as the home is free of any over sized items." This is exactly what are cleaners charge us. If a couch is left behind, we need to have a company discard it, that would be a fee billed back to the tenant. In CT you can't make money off a move out, you have to provide a detailed breakdown of charges when returning the deposit. If your cleaner charges you $250, you can charge that back to the tenant, but you can't bill them back $350 and make $100, it's just to cover your cost. Take a look at your lease, typically the home is to be returned as provided "broom swept". If your cleaners however need to spend extra time on the stove, fridge, tub, etc. and they charge you back for additionally cleaning time beyond normal wear and tear, those are also charges you can bill back.
Be sure to return the security deposit within 30 days of move out.
Here is a great info link on CT deposits https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DOB/consumer_help_nonHTML/Rent...
