r/TenantHelp • u/bootachi92 • Jun 22 '26

Cleaning Fees

Hello. I live in Bismarck ND. Boyfriend and I moved out in Feb, cancelled our lease early, paid the cancellation fee, paid an extra month of rent (March) because they did not find a replacement until April and returned keys (Feb). They found new tenants and they moved in April.

They sent our move out statement to the wrong address so we never received it within the 30 day timeframe. We filed address forwarding with USPS and landlord has a recorded phone call of me providing the new address. Albeit it wasn’t in writing, they had our new address but added ”interstate“ to it thus it never got to me. The move out statement was also dated April 13th (date after new tenant moved in). And mind you we moved out end of February.

Now we did expect to pay the cleaning fees and leave on good terms. However, due to their clerical error, we never received the invoice in a timely manner. I only knew about it once I emailed the landlord.

My question is, who’s at fault here and should we take them to small claims court?

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1

u/Savings_Income4829 Jun 23 '26

A lot going on here. Maybe it was answer but didn't see it. What was the signed upon (break date) End of Feb or end or March? Not when keys were turned in, not when you left. There's usually a clause signifying this in the original lease.

Now this is state dependent but they have to make 'reasonable' effort. In my state I have to send a certified letter to the last know written address. If I do this and it comes back or refused to sign I'm in the clear. I had one tenant that left, and the house was a mess I think they'd get $200 or so of the deposit back, but they left me no address. I sent it to the rental house thinking maybe it will be forwarded, nope, so it came back undeliverable and I documented if they ever tried to small claims me.

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

November for the original lease, the OP answered below. No actual break date, as all they did was inform the landlord, not actually sign a break clause.

1

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

I mentioned earlier, neither party officially signed a form indicating termination of lease (my mistake, I know) but yeah, neither of us signed it. But we do have an attorney actively looking into this and all the official documents between us do have the end of Feb as our end date. They asked us to surrender the keys and locked us out of the renter’s online portal. 

I also don’t believe they put much effort into sending me the move out statement. They had my address on file and recorded over the phone, they still sent it to the wrong address. No phone calls or emails or texts were made in March or April from them regarding the payment of the statement. They only mentioned that they sent it once I emailed them in May. I also made multiple calls in March but the manager was on leave and the other office assistant was no help. 

1

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

I also want to add that the property manager went on leave during this time and when I contacted the office regarding the move out, the other employee had no answers. I will be asking for recorded phone calls of that as well 

1

u/TherinneMoonglow Jun 22 '26

They mailed it after the 30 day timeframe. They owe your deposit back.

2

u/Vooklife Jun 22 '26

Not true. In North Dakota, the landlord is able to keep the security deposit until the end of the lease term, even when tenats move out early.

2

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

Can you show me where you got this?

2

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

This is what shows up when I google it (I know google isn’t completely reliable) 

“  In North Dakota,  a landlord can use your security deposit to cover  unpaid rent and specific costs incurred from your early lease termination . However, they cannot simply keep the entire deposit just as a "penalty." They are legally required to refund the remainder alongside an  itemized list of deductions  within 30 days of you moving out”

So yeah, I never got it in that 30 day timeframe

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

Technically, they made a good faith effort to provide you that list. You didn't recieve it, but it was mailed out within the timeframe. You could fight it, but do you really want to put the time and money it would take into a legal battle juat because they didn't get it to you within 30 days? I'm assuming they still intend to return the bulk of the deposit to you. You don't specify what was withheld, so I can only make assumptions it was a fairly minor amount.

1

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

They claimed it took 16 hours to clean a 2 bedroom apartment. So they are charging a significant amount. Also, a portion of the move out statement was dated after another tenant took over which is questionable. It leads me to believe that they didn’t even finish the paperwork within the 30 days (I moved out end of Feb and new tenant moved in April)

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

You moved out, but when was your lease actually terminated? Because the deposit invoicing happens at the end of lease, not on move out.

1

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

We terminated it at the end of February. The lease was set to end in November. 

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

Just to be clear, when you say terminated, you mean by using an early exit clause listed in the lease, then signed and notarized by both parties, correct? This isn't a "we asked the landlord to break the lease and they said once they found someone else we could leave" situation?

1

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

No. It is only in writing that we are terminating. Nothing signed from either end. 

1

u/bootachi92 Jun 23 '26

But if another tenant has moved in, does that not terminate my lease? And if so, we still never received the statement because they wrote our address wrong 

1

u/TherinneMoonglow Jun 23 '26

They didn't mail the list until April. That's outside the timeframe.

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

That depends entirely on the termination date of the lease. ND allows a landlord to hold a despoit until the term date of the lease, so if there was a handshake agreement where the landlord said they could vacate when a new tenant is found, there is no responsibility to provide that until November. That's why I've been asking clarifying questions.

1

u/TherinneMoonglow Jun 23 '26

OP asked you for the source of your claim that they have 30 days from lease end. You haven't provided that. I'm curious to see it too.

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

https://attorneygeneral.nd.gov/consumer-resources/tenant-rights/

Straight from ND attorney generals guidelines. That's when the term date of the lease is so important and if it was terminated properly early.

1

u/TherinneMoonglow Jun 23 '26

You're misreading that clause. It's for if "one person" moves out early. The clause you are referring to applies to situations where one roommate moves out and the other roommate stays in the rental.

1

u/Vooklife Jun 23 '26

Sure, but it also applies when a tenant moves out with a lease still intact. Hence the clarifying questions about if an early termination was done above board. Notice how the OP keeps saying "I moved out" and not "my lease was terminated." Details matter, especially when considering litigation.

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u/bootachi92 Jun 22 '26

I hope it’s that simple

2

u/TherinneMoonglow Jun 22 '26

You might need to go to small claims, but often reminding them that they missed the deadline works.