The last thing you want to do before you leave one home to start another is clean out the old place. But alas, it must be done, so just throw on some tunes, grin and bear it. If your place is just surface dirty and not damaged, how well you clean could be the difference between getting back your deposit money that has been held hostage for years or not. So here is a checklist of things not to forget as you prepare your home for its next inhabitants.
Everywhere:
- Take all nails and screws out of the walls and ceiling and putty them smoothly.
- Dust the ceiling fixtures.
- Dust all ledges.
- Clean the windows.
- Clean the door knobs and doors.
- Clean all light switches and outlets.
- Clean the walls and baseboards.
- Vacuum (get any stains out of the carpet, or get the carpet professionally cleaned).
- Get rid of all cobwebs.
Bathroom:
- Get soap scum off the bathroom tiles and tub/shower and bleach the grout.
- Clean out the bathroom drawers and vanity, making sure you get all the hair out (and remove any liners).
- Clean the toilet, sink, countertop and finally the floor (sweep and mop). If the toilet seat is unsavory looking, replace it.
- Clean the mirror.
- Vacuum out the surface of the exhaust fan if super dusty.
Kitchen:
- Clean out all cabinets and liners.
- Wash the front of the cabinets.
- Clean and disinfect all countertops.
- Clean and shine up the sink and faucet.
- Scrub the refrigerator inside and out. Remove all shelves and clean separately if necessary.
- Scrub the oven inside and out. Remove shelving, drip pans and burners. Use steel wool, it is your friend.
- Clean out the dishwasher if you have one.
- Clean exhaust fan if needed.
- Remove all appliances and sweep behind them.
Bedrooms/Living Room:
- Dust, sweep, vacuum and mop these empty rooms.
Garage:
- Should be completely empty and swept.
- Cut the grass.
- Pull the weeds.
- Remove all of your stuff that might be stuck in the ground or hanging in trees.
- I recently quickly scrubbed the porch stairs to remove all of the grass stains — it looked a million times better
And the last thing you should do is mop from the furthest point out to the door. Say goodbye, lock it up and go get a drink!
Or if you can splurge on a move-out cleaner, then just forget this whole list. For me, I recently saved clean out money to help pay for movers. Good luck!
(Image: Shutterstock)
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There are landlords who actually return deposits?
I don't have high hopes for getting our deposit back in Boston's rental market, despite the fact that I know we will leave the place looking infinitely better than when we moved in. My cousin who also lives in the city had $200 deducted from their deposit for "not cleaning the dishwasher". How do you clean a dishwasher?!
Checking the landlord/tenant laws in your city may save you a lot of time and effort. In DC, landlords are not allowed to deduct money from your deposit to pay for basic cleaning (mopping, dusting, scrubbing bathroom floors, etc.) or general wear and tear. We left our last apartment "broom clean" (well, vacuum clean since it was all carpeted) and got our full deposit back.
"putty them smoothly" with what?
My first apartment was disgusting when we moved in and they refused to do anything about it (first red flag there). We cleaned it when we moved out and they still had the nerve to deduct $50 for the fridge not being clean to their "standards." What a joke.
@UltraDeb Yep, there are. Of course the wife and I rented in the sticks so that might be why we always got our deposits back or because we always kept things clean and never broke anything.
they aren't going to return the security deposit anyway. at least not most of it.
when i moved in, there was sawdust everywhere. they installed new laminate floors and hadn't even finished. i had to withhold the first month's rent for a month just to get them to come back and finish the job. there was quarter-round everywhere and they even left their tools in my fireplace! the kitchen and bathroom were absolutely filthy. the outside of the windows have never been washed and there's no way physically for me to do it unless i rent a power-washer. and they DESPERATELY need to be cleaned.
there are a lot of things i like about my place, but my landlords' ability to maintain their property is not one of them. some things will never look clean because they badly need to be replaced, so i'll save myself the time and sweat and let them keep half my deposit. i'll live.
Wait...I've never *not* gotten a security deposit back (less carpet cleaning or whatnot) I actually didn't know it was so common not to. Maybe it's different here in California?
This is why I take pictures of EVERYTHING before I move in. Fixtures, door trimming, sawdust in my kitchen cabinet from the shoddy job they did drilling a hole for outlet to plug in my stove hood. That way if they argue I've done anything to alter to space, or that I'm not leaving it according to their standards, I can show them just what their standards look like.
@Nato: putty. http://www.amazon.com/Erase-hole-Acoustic-Ceiling-Putty/dp/B000BUCWB4
I've always gotten my security deposit back in full.
I try to do the deep cleaning 3-4 weeks before I move out. The stove, the fridge, the tile in the bathroom, the windows, the light switches, moving furniture to vacuum under/behind it--anything that isn't part of the usual weekly cleaning.
Then, even if you can't keep it pristine, on moving day all you have to clean is the last couple of weeks of dirt, instead of months of soap scum or baked-on oven ickiness.
It's also helpful if you can get the landlord or someone from the management office to come and look at the place a week or a few days before you move out. They can tell you exactly what still remains to be done. That's also a good time to pull out your pictures from moving-in day. When they know you have evidence of what the place looked like from the start, they tend not to argue too much.
The last time we were in a rental was a townhouse with a large property management company. We had to pay a non-refundable pet deposit, and we had to pay to clean the carpets when we moved out. We were told to arrange to clean the carpets ourselves, but the quotes we were getting were really really high. When we contacted the landlord about the costs, they gave us a discounted rate that we could deduct off our deposit and they would take care of it. BONUS! So, we got back our full deposit minus cost of carpet cleaning.
When we requested matching touch-up paint for the spots where we had put holes in the walls to hang art, they were surprised we were planning on repairing and painting our walls! (Even though it was in our lease agreement!) We were told not to worry about it, that they clean/repaint between tenants anyways, so just "broom clean" was ok!
Seems like we got pretty lucky!
Yay for living somewhere where deposits are illegal. That said, it's common courtesy to leave the apartment in move-in condition for the next tenants.
Some people have already hinted at this, but for good measure I would like to add that you should always check rental laws where you are, because in many cases landlords CANNOT withhold tenants' deposits upon move-out without serious, documented reasons. In California, landlords have a whole set of hoops they need to jump through to retain a deposit. That doesn't mean there are those who won't try to trick you into giving them "free" money though.
Every landlord I've ever moved away from (unlucky me) has tried to keep some of the deposit unlawfully. The first time I sent a letter letting them know I knew better, and they immediately changed their tune (they wanted to charge me for new flooring throughout — yeah, right — and updated appliances). The other two have actually required firmer finagling.
I'm not a bad tenant. I keep things up, I care about the property, and I *do* clean when I leave. But a lot of landlords in the area I live in deal with students who don't know any better and often just roll over and pay the cash. I'm always advising people not to do it. Don't be taken advantage of.
I had a fight with the management company at the place I recently moved out because the 20 year old crap blinds that were there and already broken they said they weren't clean. Needless to say..they were trying to use my deposit so they could upgrade to newer blinds. I eventually won and got a full return upon threatening them. There are some slimy landlords that consider that deposit their money to get the place ready for the next tenant which is not legal. By law its only for damage incurred. When you move into a new place. ALWAYS take pictures of everything. Then upon moving out...and if there is a final walkthrough...you have proof of how it looked before.
when our first tenant moved out, he dismantled his loft bed and threw it on the curb. the city issued a big fine, which was deducted from his deposit. Be aware of trash, waste and recyling laws!
I have never moved into an apartment that had been cleaned to anywhere near that degree by the previous tenant. CLEAN THE WALLS??? I don't think a landlord would be able to withhold your deposit for things like dust on the light fixture, or a ring in the bathtub, unless there's something very specific in your lease about it.
Basically, you need to make sure all your junk is out - that should probably include all of your hairballs from the bathroom vanity, bathtub drain, etc., just to be decent. Then make sure all surfaces are free of anything particularly icky or sticky, or heavy dirt or dust. They do not need to be hospital-grade disinfected. Dismantle the refrigerator and/or stove only if you have done something while living there to spill something sticky and hard to clean. Replace the toilet seat if you have abused in in some particular way. You don't need to dust the blinds or clean the baseboards - again, unless you have done something to get them dirty beyond just the normal collection of dust.
Something tells me that the AT crowd isn't living in filth, so this is not a problem.
Landlords cannot deduct for "normal wear and tear" - and collection of dust is just that. But do vacuum or sweep after you move your furniture, and give the surfaces a quick wipe. TAKE PICTURES just in case.
Instead, you should prepare yourself to dismantle and sanitize everything in your new place, and let the people moving into your place do the same - if they even value the same level of cleanliness you do.
@S.R.K. Boston is the worst! We had a broken dresser in the kitchen, sanding dust from the refinished floors all over the apartment, half-empty coffee mugs from the workmen, and the slatted closet that houses our heater was coated in 2 inches of dust. I took photos, uploaded them to the internet so they would have an irrefutable time stamp, sent a formal complaint to the landlord company, and will sue if I don't get my deposit back.
You can go to small claims court to get your deposit back if they cannot provide an itemized receipt for work done. I've had friends who did this in college and won. Their landlord decided to use their deposit to make renovations and then had the idiocy to put that in writing in an email to them explaining why they didn't get the money back.
just reading this brings back nightmares from our last apartment! Place was pretty clean when we moved in and again when we moved out (my friends call me Monica in connection to Monica on Friends)... but the agents wanted to retain half of our deposit for a full days cleaning for things such as: - a hair on a tile in the bathroom (I kid you not ONE HAIR... she even took a picture of said hair), a spot of dirt on the cream carpet (again had a picture but the stain was so little she had to put a big red arrow next to it), a broken draw in the fridge which was broken when we moved in and I had been told would be replaced but never was, a spiders web in the corner of the room (OK I admit I missed the web but really?!) I fought it for weeks and in the end got back just three quarters of the deposit as I was tired of fighting them!
Best advice i can give is how i got every deposit back on every apartment i ever rented - finish at least a day early and requesting a move out inspection with one of the staff to ensure everything was done to their satisfaction. If anything is lacking you have time to do it. I was charged $10 here or $20 there for something they said they could just replace for the same cost I could but overall i always got most everything back and no surprises!
I agree with cuminafterall. Check your state's general laws and take your landlord to small claims court if he or she violated any of those laws and then refused to return your security depost.
By the way, S.R.K., Massachusetts landlord/tenant laws heavily favor tenants, so your cousin should definitely file a complaint with the court. I moved to a small, rural town in Massachusetts a few years ago, and my landlords (longtime residents of the town, who, I later found out, have a nasty reputation) attempted to keep more than half of my security deposit. I took them to court and won.
Our tenants left us with a house exploding with FLEAS! They are not getting their deposit back.
I've been fortunate in always getting 100% of any cleaning deposit back; usually with an added note of thanks. I'd draw the line at pulling out appliances (I'm guessing stove & fridge). You could mar the flooring & have a bigger problem. Shop vac or cannister hose vac as best as you can underneath. Don't rely on dusting alone; at a minimum, damp wipe anything as much as possible and then use the vac hose & appropriate tool. It sounds wrong, but yeah, the empty place should look cleaner than when you (or anyone) lived there.
Why are some commenters saying Boston is the worst? Massachusetts has some of the best laws for tenants. If the landlord doesn't provide you with an itemized list of both the move-in conditions of the apartment (which they had to have shown you before moving in) and an itemized list with receipts of the costs for the damage you caused -- they can't keep your deposit. Period.
@BUCKSPT -- I've always received the entire security deposit back when I lived in Boston (5 different apartments).
However, Boston landlords, at least at the rent level I was renting at, slightly slumlord level, do not tend to clean apartments between tenants. Or paint.
Moving day in Boston tends to be September 1. There's an extremely high concentration of students in the greater Boston area, due to the number of colleges and universities there, making the beginning of September prime moving season.
Every single apartment lease I've had in Boston has started Sept. 1. In 4 out of 5 cases, I had to wait until the old tenants left on the morning of the 1st before I could move in. They simply had no place to store their stuff or to sleep on the night of Aug. 31st, except in their old apartment.
This does not give landlords much time to inspect apartments or do repairs or paint. It's literally just hours between one tenant moving out and the next moving in. As a result, it can be difficult to prove that you left the apartment in good condition--that's the reason I try to clean up and get someone from the management company in a week before Sept. 1.
The last apartment I left--apparently the landlord promised the incoming tenants that they would replace the kitchen floor, paint several rooms and put in a new medicine cabinet. I found this out when the management office called me to find out if I was leaving before Aug. 31, so they could get in and do the work prior to Sept. 1.
When I asked how much of my rent would be refunded if I left early, they stopped pressuring me to leave early.
@ FENGSHUIBYFISHGIRL, you might want to check your state and local laws before you withhold that tenant's deposit. In my state, landlords are responsible for all pest control in a multi-unit building unless they can prove tenant negligence, and you may be required to pay extra to the tenant for wrongful withholding.
I'm with everyone who says hold your landlords to the law. Filing in small claims court is easy, and in many states the laws are heavily in your favor. If no one ever stands up to shitty landlords, they will continue their bad behavior.
I made a stand at my creep sleeze landlord..waited the 30 days..knew he'd do that..hold it til then..then I had t email him with attached copy of tenant/landlord laws...nothing, some story about my damage..NONE>>I had foolishly repaired and painted clean and said nothing to him, I let it go as it would be my temp. home for a year or so...I researched our state's laws heavily and he hadn't a leg to stand on..send the 'demand' letter..then I heard from him..and he still whined about my damage..I should of bucked up and brought him to small claims, which was the plan, but then I just clearly and loudly told him to SEND THE AMOUNT DUE...click.he gladly did..so yes..STAND UP to these slumlords or greedy unethical landlord..it's YOUR money, not theirs at all in most cases..and they do assume you'll 'roll over' , do not..you need that money, they do not.
If you allowed pets that is what the pet deposit is for. If you did not allow pets then you can only keep the amount of the deposit necessary to take care of the damage that they caused, you cannot keep the entire deposit.
In the State of Nevada landlords have thirty days to send you an itemized list of what they kept and why, if they do not then you are entitled to a full refund of your deposit.
I live in California and just moved my elderly parents from their senior citizen apt. after 22 yrs there. We cleaned, cleaned and then cleaned somemore, however my mother was always a neat housekeeper. But to jump through all their hoops we made double sure their pre expection list was fulfilled and then some and for all that they still kept $50 saying some of those things we did were not acceptable such as the refrigerator, soap scum (which actually was wear as another person who accompanied the inspection guy pointed out when he said it was soap scum) There was no way anyone was going to get a 1960s building looking like new and that is what they were trying to accomplish. Anyway knowing their dealings with others I took the final pictures and one was of that so called "dirty" fridge. They are just plain thieves and liars. And to take advantage of my folks like that boils my blood. I would like to persue a civil suit but am a little unsure of how to go about that. Parents say just let it go but I did the work and its really about princible and not letting them get away with it.
I live in California and just moved my elderly parents from their senior citizen apt. after 22 yrs there. We cleaned, cleaned and then cleaned somemore, however my mother was always a neat housekeeper. But to jump through all their hoops we made double sure their pre expection list was fulfilled and then some and for all that they still kept $50 saying some of those things we did were not acceptable such as the refrigerator, soap scum (which actually was wear as another person who accompanied the inspection guy pointed out when he said it was soap scum) There was no way anyone was going to get a 1960s building looking like new and that is what they were trying to accomplish. Anyway knowing their dealings with others I took the final pictures and one was of that so called "dirty" fridge. They are just plain thieves and liars. And to take advantage of my folks like that boils my blood. I would like to persue a civil suit but am a little unsure of how to go about that. Parents say just let it go but I did the work and its really about princible and not letting them get away with it.