Originally posted by @Chris DeTreville:
I've seen a lot of apartments that tenants claimed were clean where cleaners had to go back in and it could be for a variety of reasons. The landlord should have given you a specific set of instructions on what they expected. As for it being cleaner than when you moved in, hopefully you had some sort of move in checklist or inspection where you documented where it was dirty. I'm not sure about the drip pans.
I recently met my former neighbour from the same building and same rental agency, she said she moved out BEFORE the end of the lease, left her apartment in complete mess and even with damages and she was not charged for anything! But she is a native American.
Therefore I believe this has nothing to do with how well I cleaned the apartment. They simply know that I am not native speaker, recently in US therefore don't know the law and hence its going to be easy to cheat me.
So to sum up the current state is: I have sent certified mail to them and ready to go to a court in case it does not help but still have no idea how to build my position.
I think more or less clear is only for with stove drip pans: the law says a landlord cannot charge for normal wear and tear, hence they will have to prove that all 4 pans are in need of replacement and still it is going to be prorated depending on average pans life and cost, which is also can be disputable. Am I right?
If yes, how do show the average life of pans in the court? With price is should be easy I could bring a picture from some shop.
