I’ve only lived in Anne Arundel, Cecil and Balto City. I had rentals in BC, my parents had them in AA and I handled rentals in Balto County. and I have never heard of a county/city inspection unless somebody calls to complain or you want to accept Section 8. This was years ago though, so some things may have changed.
My bf does live in Montgomery County so I will ask him when he is in a better mood, he’s a little pissy right now. He rents and the house was just inspected but only because his aunt called and complained. The landlord wasn’t too happy because he hadn’t registered the house as a rental and a few repairs were needed but the bf says in Montgomery County the rental has to be inspected every time a new tenant moves in. I’ll ask him later about ‘dirty fines’.
Sounds weird to me unless things are so bad a neighbor complains.
From your OP, it seems to say you gave 1-month notice 2 months ago, meaning that you’d be moved out 1 month ago (end of September?). And the re-inspection, apparently, was going to happen after you moved out. But from the above, it sounds like you’re still living there? If you’re already out, it’s not clear why the alleged inspection would require them to give you any 24-hour notice.
It all sounds phony. But if you don’t have that letter, then it didn’t happen. You should do some serious house-cleaning if only to see if you can find it.
I imagine the landlord has concerns and called for backup. Landlords don’t wish to be sued if future tenants fall ill due to exposure to filth, or have leases broken because new tenants suffer allergic reactions. This isn’t a privately owned house; it becomes a public space each time a renter moves out. Pet crap isn’t outside a litter box isn’t a normal amount of clutter or dirt, it’s a disease concern and also potentially damages property. The OP didn’t say whether this is subsidized housing or not, but if it is, special consideration is made to ensure that everyone has an equal chance at clean, safe housing.
Concerns need to be based on evidence that the occupant is not keeping the apartment sanitary. He can’t use the county health inspector as CYA, and call them up to check that his vacating tenants are compliant. Inspectors aren’t there to help landlords keep tenants in line. The landlord has a responsibility to ensure that the apartment is habitable before he rents it to someone. The landlord. Not the county, the landlord.
What? It’s a privately owned apartment building, I can’t just waltz into a vacant apartment because it’s now “public”.
The lease required 60 days notice (which is seems unreasonably long, but it’s on the lease we signed so we honored it), which we gave 49 days ago. The re-inspection was to occur yesterday, 10/18. The apartment is still ours for another 11 days, and we are still living in it as we can’t move into the next place until at least the 28th.
This is not subsidized housing. It’s the top unit in a 3-unit building, with the basement as one apartment, the ground floor as another, and the 2nd floor and finished attic space as the third, and it’s relatively expensive (which is why we’re moving). There are no shared spaces.
You can argue all you like, but clearly Montgomery County has established a legal method of insuring public health in rental housing. And apparently this landlord is using this resource to reinforce the lease terms. Reducing disease and other health hazards is in the public’s best interest. The OP may bristle at the intrusion, but subsequent renters will benefit from this process. Do you or your frail, elderly grandmother want to move into a rental unit with pee soaked floors and parasites embedded in the carpet? Me neither.
It’s not personal, DCnDC. Your cats may shit plates clean enough to eat off of, but there is no guarantee that other pets are disease free. Also no way to determine if damage has occurred to the floors until the place is clean enough to inspect. I have had pets in and outdoors my whole life, but many people are allergic or disgusted, or just plain find the smell objectionable. One tom cat can ruin a house, but pet owners quickly get used to the smell. But non pet owners can smell it, and in my experience they hate the odor and might refuse to move into a stinky rental.
In the world of rentals, pet ownership is a liability. If it weren’t, every apartment building, hotel, and rental house would allow pets.
Okay, then how would the inspector enforce and collect fines if it’s not done prophylactically? Renters skip town all the time. Landlords frequently show apartments before previous tenants vacate. Seems like it’s in the landlord’s and future tenant’s best interest to tour a clean apartment and also hold the current renter responsible for keeping the lease terms while he or she is still on the premises. It may inconvenience the current tenant, but I bet the same tenant hopes to move his cats into a clean apartment. Yes?
The landlord owns the property. It’s pretty obvious he has a legitimate interest in what condition the property is in. And being as he is the owner, the grounds a landlord need for inspecting a property are minimal.
The inspectors come when there is a complaint. 95% of which are going to be tenants complaining that their landlord isn’t providing them with a habitable space. They also come as part of a specified program of inspections, or a referral from another agency.
An otherwise acceptable tenant moving out is not grounds for filing a complaint. Yes, the landlord can come and inspect, but bringing a government agent along with him is going way off the deep end.
Situation where the landlord could file a complaint. He gets the moving out notice and schedules an advance inspection, just to help smooth things over for the move out. He arrives and the place is a complete shithole. He says, I’m filing a complaint, the county inspector is going to be by, you need to get this straightened out before he arrives, or you’ll have a fine on top of losing your security deposit.
A pile of cat shit in the corner is not ideal, or evidence of an otherwise acceptable tenant. It’s the opposite.
Do you want to pay a hefty pet deposit and move into a place that is already pre-shat? Then, when you attempt to vacate, landlord takes your deposit and claims the stench is your cat’s fault?
The landlord needs to know this before filing a complaint. That’s how filing a complaint works, you complain about something you have witnessed. The OP suggests that the landlord is hands off and hasn’t inspected the apartment lately, how does he know there is anything to complain about?
Maybe the landlord should check out the apartment before renting it to me. Are you actually suggesting that the landlord rent out an apartment unseen, trusting that the prior tenant left it in rentable condition? In what world does that make any sense?
Cheesesteak, I have no idea what you are getting at. The answer is apparently yes, an outside agency exists to serve the interests of renters, landlords, and the public health. And either clutter, cat chair, or cat shit in the floor of an apartment in Montgomery County warranted the attention of said authority. The recourse isn’t a lawsuit, a boycott, or an online argument. It’s clean that shit up.
The thing that screams “suspicious” to me is that the letter makes no mention of the cat feces out of the litter box. In most counties that would be the only thing that would be mentioned.
Everyone arguing that this is probably legit because owners have a right to make sure their property is not pee soaked and crusted in dried feces is ignoring that the supposed county inspector didn’t even mention any cat urine or feces problems. If this is an actual county inspection it was done by a slacker government inspector.
Was the letter from the county inspector addressed to you, and mailed directly to you? Or was it a letter to the landlord that he passed along to you?
It would make sense if the landlord needs to have the apartment inspected prior to every new tenant, and to save time usually does this before the prior tenant moves out. It would also make sense for the inspector to have sent the letter to the landlord, as he will ultimately be responsible for the apartment being clean for the next tenant.
The bit about fining the tenant was from the landlord verbally, and may be inaccurate, or an excuse for withholding the deposit. Does your lease say anything about the apartment having to pass the county’s inspection in order to receive your full deposit back?
I’m not sure anyone has argued that proper procedure was followed by landlord and/or inspector. The information available indicates there is a system in place to guard against leaving a health hazard or property damage in a renter’s wake, and a penalty may be assessed. Maybe it never came up before because the renters were neater. Maybe previous landlords were more trusting or more lax. I don’t understand why anyone finds the threatened action suspicious when county ordinances and offices outline the process online. The existence of the inspector serves the same renter who houses messy cats. It ensures the next place the OP moves into is clean and free of biohazards. It isn’t persecution, it isn’t harrassment; it is a warning that something easily fixable needs to be addressed in order to avoid a fine.
Can someone please explain to me what is so outrageous or suspicious about a landlord protecting an investment?