House Full Of Garbage
November 19, 2010 6:42 PM Subscribe
Renting a furnished property. Moved in to discover that (private) landlord has left not just furniture, but many personal effects and rubbish, in every nook and cranny, and is filthy. What to do?
I know you are not my lawyer. I plan to consult a lawyer about our rights and responsibilities, but I'm interested in tips and ideas for dealing with the problem that I might not have thought of. I would like to resolve this politely, without threats, or illegality. Legal action is a last resort. This is in the state of Maryland.
Apart from the belongings and general cleanliness, the property is actually lovely and seems to be sound -- we just want it transferred to us clean. The landlord seems to believe that by leaving all of these personal items he is "helping us out," and asked us to store anything we don't want. This is ridiculous: we didn't ask for any of this crap and it would require a major cleanup to get it out. Also, frankly, we are not paying to live in someone else's storage unit, nor to be curators of their leftover junk. The lease, as far as I can tell, is completely silent on the matter (even of furniture) so I'm a little unsure how to proceed. I'm operating under the hypothesis that the landlord is simply absentminded or confused, and would like to resolve things amicably, but frankly the situation is intolerable and it needs to be resolved one way or another ASAP. Also, since we've already paid first and last month's rent + security deposit, major money is at stake. What do we do?
I know you are not my lawyer. I plan to consult a lawyer about our rights and responsibilities, but I'm interested in tips and ideas for dealing with the problem that I might not have thought of. I would like to resolve this politely, without threats, or illegality. Legal action is a last resort. This is in the state of Maryland.
Apart from the belongings and general cleanliness, the property is actually lovely and seems to be sound -- we just want it transferred to us clean. The landlord seems to believe that by leaving all of these personal items he is "helping us out," and asked us to store anything we don't want. This is ridiculous: we didn't ask for any of this crap and it would require a major cleanup to get it out. Also, frankly, we are not paying to live in someone else's storage unit, nor to be curators of their leftover junk. The lease, as far as I can tell, is completely silent on the matter (even of furniture) so I'm a little unsure how to proceed. I'm operating under the hypothesis that the landlord is simply absentminded or confused, and would like to resolve things amicably, but frankly the situation is intolerable and it needs to be resolved one way or another ASAP. Also, since we've already paid first and last month's rent + security deposit, major money is at stake. What do we do?
you haven't mentioned talking to the landlord about the situation, so that would be a good place to start.
posted by violetk at 7:03 PM on November 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by violetk at 7:03 PM on November 19, 2010 [3 favorites]
(To be clearer -- when I say "thing you don't want" I mean things like personal papers, which shouldn't be thrown out but take up a lot of space and should absolutely not be in a house you're renting from someone else.)
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:04 PM on November 19, 2010
posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:04 PM on November 19, 2010
Simply one-sidedly witholding rent is quite a no-no in most states I've heard of it being used. OP is gonna have to sack up, get on the horn and start laying a paper trail. This means calling the landlord, silly, and asking him what's up and why the place isn't clean and by the way I'm going to call someone to haul all the stuff away and then hire another person to douche the heck out of the place, and oh yeah I'm going to stay in a hotel the weekend all this happens and send him the bill for everything and does he see any problem with that? Oh yeah, take pictures before you do anything.
posted by rhizome at 7:30 PM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 7:30 PM on November 19, 2010 [1 favorite]
Document the situation before you do anything. Photos of all the junk they left behind, and the state of the apartment.
posted by mmf at 7:43 PM on November 19, 2010 [5 favorites]
posted by mmf at 7:43 PM on November 19, 2010 [5 favorites]
"The landlord seems to believe that by leaving all of these personal items he is "helping us out," and asked us to store anything we don't want."
I get the feeling that you have spoken to the landlord, and that he was pretty nonchalant. Yikes.
Pro Tip: Your initial approach is to assume this person meant well, but just doesn't know any better.
I know that is a HUGE chore here since you are (understandably) super pissed. Who wouldn't be. Yes he should pay for cleaning. Yes he should take out his junk -or- compensate you for the trouble + provide boxes and a storage pod to be filled. But ideally, he takes care of it and you lift not a finger nor spend a penny.
I agree that having your lawyer contact him starts it all off on a bad note. If a simple convo doesn't do the trick (it might not - frankly, this guy sounds lazy) then a polite and clear letter stipulating your rights and demands (I hope) will do the trick. Don't forget to include a deadline for the work to be completed because folks like this require structure.
Nthing you should take pics and document every nook, cranny, and over stuffed drawer of his junk.
Good luck.
posted by jbenben at 10:32 PM on November 19, 2010
I get the feeling that you have spoken to the landlord, and that he was pretty nonchalant. Yikes.
Pro Tip: Your initial approach is to assume this person meant well, but just doesn't know any better.
I know that is a HUGE chore here since you are (understandably) super pissed. Who wouldn't be. Yes he should pay for cleaning. Yes he should take out his junk -or- compensate you for the trouble + provide boxes and a storage pod to be filled. But ideally, he takes care of it and you lift not a finger nor spend a penny.
I agree that having your lawyer contact him starts it all off on a bad note. If a simple convo doesn't do the trick (it might not - frankly, this guy sounds lazy) then a polite and clear letter stipulating your rights and demands (I hope) will do the trick. Don't forget to include a deadline for the work to be completed because folks like this require structure.
Nthing you should take pics and document every nook, cranny, and over stuffed drawer of his junk.
Good luck.
posted by jbenben at 10:32 PM on November 19, 2010
Photos of every room. Leave stuff where it is, then take pics.
Take pics of the dirtier areas before cleaning.
Send a letter to landlord, stating that you will be bringing in movers/junk haulers to box up and deliver stuff to landlord. Then you will bring in cleaning service to make the place liveable (in a lot of my experience, "broom clean" is usually the standard). Tell landlord that once you move in, you will send a bill to him for all of these expenses (as well as hotel if you need someplace to stay until this is complete). Give him the option of deducting this from your next rent, or reimbursing you directly. Give a deadline for him to respond with option for payment or deduction. Include copies of the photos in the letter. Be nice, but firm, as if this is business as usual.
See what happens. If no response, then send copies of all to your lawyer, copying the landlord on the letter to lawyer.
posted by sundrop at 6:01 AM on November 20, 2010
Take pics of the dirtier areas before cleaning.
Send a letter to landlord, stating that you will be bringing in movers/junk haulers to box up and deliver stuff to landlord. Then you will bring in cleaning service to make the place liveable (in a lot of my experience, "broom clean" is usually the standard). Tell landlord that once you move in, you will send a bill to him for all of these expenses (as well as hotel if you need someplace to stay until this is complete). Give him the option of deducting this from your next rent, or reimbursing you directly. Give a deadline for him to respond with option for payment or deduction. Include copies of the photos in the letter. Be nice, but firm, as if this is business as usual.
See what happens. If no response, then send copies of all to your lawyer, copying the landlord on the letter to lawyer.
posted by sundrop at 6:01 AM on November 20, 2010
Better yet, skip renting the place and find somewhere else. If this is how the process starts imagine what it's going to be like down the line. Run. Now.
posted by wkearney99 at 9:13 AM on November 20, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by wkearney99 at 9:13 AM on November 20, 2010 [3 favorites]
Mod note: From the OP:
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions. Here's what happened: I phoned the landlord and outlined the problem, and once I had convinced them that we had different expectations about what constitutes "furnished rental", I offered to group the items in the house into three categories: proper furnishing that's covered by the rental, for which we will agree on a photographic inventory, and for which we will agree to be held liable; personal items belonging to the landlord, which they will arrange to be removed; and everything else (i.e. junk), which we will arrange to have removed. Landlord was understanding and agreed to reimburse the cost of removal, as well as a professional house cleaning. Everything will be covered by a paper trail. So it looks like things will be resolved amicably. Yay!posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:35 AM on November 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
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posted by Narrative Priorities at 7:01 PM on November 19, 2010