"Dirty Apartment" fines?

Factual Questions
41

The only reason I find is suspicious is because of the description of the amount of mess in the apartment seems to be far from out of the ordinary. Of course the OP could be a full blown hoarder/ slob and the apartment could have been way worse than portrayed.

I don’t doubt that a landlord can call the county and request an inspection but I find it hard to believe they would waste their time writing something up for every day messiness that seems within a normal range. I suppose the landlord could have been a huge PIA and the inspector wrote something up to keep him happy. Unless there are children or other vulnerable people living in the apartment the county usually doesn’t care if you’re a slob or a neat freak as long as the mess doesn’t endanger anyone. A spill on the stove and some pet hair on the floor is hardly noteworthy.

Either the apartment was a lot worse than we were told or there are some strange rules in this county.

42

The OP does not describe a normal amount of filth. Cat feces outside the litterbox in an open loft would make the entire apartment reek. I would bet the OP discarded the clothing the cats shit on rather than attempting to clean and wear them. The landlord can only launder and discard carpet with great expense. Animal feces can be a health hazard to future tenants. What may be “ordinary” and a minor nuisance to you devalues property, creates a public health hazard, violates lease terms, and could render the space uninhabitable by pregnant women, parents of young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems or allergies.

43

No, it isn’t. If the renter was living in unsanitary conditions which violated the lease, that’s between tenant and landlord. Once the apartment is up for viewing and renting to the public, it falls under the domain of county inspector, too.

44

The county inspector did not mention the cat feces or the loft, so how can we say that’s a factor. For whatever reason the inspector did not see or smell a cat problem. Without the catbox problem we’re back to can the county fine you for being dirty. I doubt the county can assess a fine for how a tenant lives. Damage to property is a matter between the landlord and tenant. The security deposit and civil court can take care of everything else. Unless the county has to remove garbage or do some other work I have never heard of a fine being assessed for being an interior slob. Possibly the landlord wanted to check for dangerous health conditions but apparently none were found or else there would have been a list of violations. I don’t think we know all the information we should about this whole scenario. Something’s missing.

45

The other problem with this story is that if a government entity is about to fine you, they tell you specifically what you need to do to avoid the fine and how much the fine will be. They don’t say, “you have to shovel your sidewalk more” they say " sidewalks must be cleared within 48 hours of the time the snow stops falling. If your sidewalks are not cleared and we have to clear them you will be billed $."

So, in this case I can’t see them just saying that things need to be cleaner. They would spell out that cat feces must be in the litter box only and that the box needs to be cleaned regularly, that clothing must be removed from the floor, bathroom floors must be clean and free from garbage and pet fur, spilled food must be cleaned from the stovetop, etc.

46

Scenario one:
Tenant gives 30 day notice to vacate. After moving all their stuff out, the tenant walks through the apartment with the landlord. The carpet is trashed, the whole unit needs to be painted, appliances are broken, etc. The landlord says “You destroyed the place!” The tenant says “I’m not getting my deposit back?! See ya!” The tenant is in the wind and can’t be found. The landlord collected $650/month for 12 months plus a $975 deposit, after spending $5,000 refurbishing the apartment he effectively collected $312 per month, which didnt even cover water/sewer/trash, property taxes, and that unit’s share of the mortgage.

Scenario two:
Tenant gives 60 days notice. Landlord inspects apartment with an uninterested party. Apartment is destroyed. Landlord comes up with an official sounding letter demanding the tenant clean the apartment to the best of their ability. Landlord reinspects a few days before the end of the lease with an uninterested party as a witness. Apartment is still trashed. Landlord calls his attorney and files a civil suit against the tenant for $10,000. Landlord serves summons and complaint on tenant at final walkthrough. Landlord spends $5,000 refurbishing the apartment and brings his receipts to court for a default judgement for $5,000 plus his court costs and legal fees. Landlord has tenant’s wages garnished and recovers every cent plus interest.
If you were a landlord, which scenario would you prefer?

47

The only way to test your theory is to have the OP clean the items listed and leave the cat shit unmolested and move out. If the OP gambles on your hunch and receives his full deposit and no county fines, I will owe you a heartfelt apology.

48

Why would you think you owe me an apology just because we think two different things about a situation on the internet. I really think there’s a problem with the story as told.

49

Except, some states, the ones I’ve lived in, have rules about carpet and paint. If the tenent has been there for more than 2 years, the space has to have new carpet and paint. The tenent isn’t responsible. Damage to old appliances can be considered normal wear and tear.
Of course, if the walls have been damaged or drawn on to the point that paint won’t cover, or the appliances are damaged intentionally, the tenent can be assessed.

50

If you need additional information I can provide it.

FTR, there is no carpet anywhere; hardwood floors throughout entire apartment. There are a few area rugs and mats, but those are ours.

The entire apartment has been cleaned and scrubbed down and will be cleaned again after we move our things out. If it were to be inspected again today there would be no pet issues, but again none of that was mentioned in the letter we received, unless that falls under “general housecleaning”. Some dust and furballs may have collected in places. The kitchen still displays signs of normal everyday use (because we still use it every day).

Our security deposit was a not-insignificant amount (>$1500).

51

My first thought was “scam”. Maybe they do things different in the USA, maybe some minor officials are way too self-important (I always thought that was more a european trait). But inspecting apartments at the request of landlords, without charging a significant fee, without grounds for a serious health or safety complaint, sounds very unlike your typical government office today.

BTW, impersonating an official is generally a “bad thing”. You could maybe lay trespassing charges, say you would not have invited the person in if you had not been told he was an official county inspector and you were obliged to let him in. Does your area have a landlord-tenant act or similar? They usually list what rights the owner has to enter a rental property. (if the county and police don’t go after him first)

Second - was the letter on official county letterhead? I would think if this is the normal course of events to have a regular inspection at the request of landlords, then the result would be an official form with checkboxes and a few boxes where comments for various items would be written - most likely during the inspection. Think how much extra work it is to compose a letter back at the office, especially if he was not writing notes at the time.(did he take notes on a clipboard?) How long was the inspection? Between travel, waiting for the landlord to meet up, inspection, and composing the letter the guy would be lucky to get 3 or 4 inspections a day done. This is hardly a good use of government time; especially doing it as a free service to landlords with no reasonable cause to inspect. I would complain to your city councillor or whoever runs the government that takes your taxes to pay this guy, if he is legit. In fact, I would raise holy hell. If this guy makes $40,000/yr he makes about $20/hr, the landlord is getting $40 to $60 of free service for no discernable value to the county.

If he’s doing an assessment of the home, did he check for hot water, check the fuse box, or anything else that would be included in a “fit for habitation” inspection? Did he check the smoke detectors to see if they worked? If all he did was concentrate on cleanliness, then I agree the major mention should have been the cat feces.

(An elderly relative had a few dogs and cats, and even the hardwood - especially the hardwood - was ruined beyond repair because she indulged several animals too old to contain themselves for a decade. Even hardwood can be wrecked.)

If the letter did not mention the ordinances that were being violated, did not have official county letterhead, did not come in a county envelope, I strongly suspect scam.

52

I didn’t mean that to sound like I think you’re lying. My main point is really that even if your county has inspection laws where a landlord can have them come over and check out a place, I don’t think there’s any place in this country that they’re going to write a letter for general housecleaning lapses.

If you are a foster home or have some other situation where the county pays you to have non family members in your home then that might be a reason you would have to keep a cleaner house than a regular family. If there is something in your past that makes the county hate you, that could be another reason. If the landlord has a cousin at the county office, there’s another reason. Even just a rogue county employee. There’s something missing in the story or the inspection was fake or the letter not an official warning. Did you look on facebook for the employee?

And, like md2000 said, the letter wasn’t detailed enough and also I think a county warning would be more checkboxy. If a county official wrote it because the landlord twisted her arm then it wasn’t any kind of official warning where they can subsequently fine you for not complying. They didn’t tell you in detail enough what to comply with.

53

Another point that sets off my BS meter - if a landlord calls a city inspector, who finds severe deficiencies in the house (or the carpet needs to be replaced under bylaws, the place needs painting, whatever repeairs - then he’s possibly earning himself a citation for extra repair work. I doubt a real inspector listens to “just look for tenant problems”. There’s a reason why a lot of people don’t inolve the building inspection service or gets building permits for alterations if they can possibly avoid it.

54

Update:

If anyone is interested, we moved last weekend and cleaned the apartment top to bottom. We did a walkthrough with the landlord and he was very pleased with the condition of the apartment and wrote us a check for our deposit on the spot (minus an “extermination fee” which was in the original lease agreement).

There was never a re-inspection from the county and we never heard anything further from her. We did not ask the landlord about it, so I guess we’ll never know if it was legit or not.

Sorry if that’s anti-climactic.