Need Advice ASAP (University in Ontario, Canada)

[Darcxo]

My University friend and I decided to rent an apartment together for our last year of University in Ontario, Canada. We moved out about three weeks ago and yesterday we received an invoice from our landlord saying we owe a little over $600 in "damages/ x-tra ordinary". My roommate and I left that apartment very clean and over the 8 months we were there we took very good care of it. Both of us feel as though we are being over charged for these things

Breakdown of the charges are as follows
$172 - replace tears in carpet in dining room area
$120 - patching holes
$90 - paint due to patched holes
$60 - cleaning stove/fridge
$180 - general cleaning, kitchen, bathroom, living room

To my knowledge, I did not see any tears in that carpet... My mother was there while moving out and she did not see them either. All we had in that area of the house was our dining table and chairs that rarely ever got moved.
We hung a couple pictures and hooks when we moved in. We personally patched those holes. However, we had to put up our own curtain rods and forgot to take them down until last minute. He would have had six holes to fill. Is that really $120 worth?
I scrubbed out the fridge and my mom and roommate took care of the stove and oven twice.
The apartment was pretty well spotless when we left. The bathroom had been cleaned top to bottom by my roommate and the kitchen had be cleaned twice. The floors has been swept and mopped. The last thing we did before leaving the apartment was vacuum.

Since it was our first time renting an apartment, we didn't think to take pictures of the condition of our apartment when we moved in (which we are regretting now). The landlord also did not do a walk-through checklist with us when we moved in either.

What should we do?

[AFFA]

re: Need Advice ASAP (University in Ontario, Canada)

I wish to inform you that you can prove your facts that landlord is charging incorrectly through statement of person who had seen your house when you had vacated. This may include your neighbors, friends or person involved in work when you had moved out. Further you can demand bills of all the work claimed from landlords. If landlord still does not agree then you can file a lawsuit and have court order in your favor.

AFF

[Darcxo]

re: Need Advice ASAP (University in Ontario, Canada)

Thank you so much for your reply. My friend and I were both really upset by the invoice. We both don't have a spare $300ish to spend on this. We took really good care of that apartment and both feel that the charges are absurd.

Thank you for easing my mind that there is a possibility for us to pay less. We thought we may have been out of luck because we didn't take pictures when we moved in and when we moved out...

[CTdogdad]

re: Need Advice ASAP (University in Ontario, Canada)

I am not a lawyer, but I have worked part time as a house cleaner for over 6 years and have rented from several landlords over my lifetime. I've never been charged a separate fee for cleaning of the refrigerator. It should have been included in the general cleaning fee. In addition, on average it would take a crew of 2 workers providing more than 2 hours of cleaning to accrue $180 worth of services including the fridge. So I would ask the landlord for a copy of the receipt for the cleaning services or the name/contact information to inquire with the company yourself.
As a general rule when renting, it's best to have the landlord or building manager do a walk through with you before vacating to point out anything they feel is damaged and sign a sheet stating that things were left in good condition before you hand over the keys. But it definitely looks like they are charging on the high side.

[gail in georgia]

re: Need Advice ASAP (University in Ontario, Canada)

The charges for cleaning the stove and the fridge was $60. I have to tell you that as a landlord (and the cleaning person on my properties) I've charged a HECK of a lot more to clean both of these IF the tenants have left them dirty. The absolutely nastiest job in the world is tackling a filthy oven and top of stove.

At any rate, the OP needs to do a little research to find out if his landlord is even required to provide copies of the bills of work done (some states require this, some do not; I am unfamiliar if provinces in Canada do). If this is not legally required, the landlord can tell these folks to take a hike on this requirement and simply go forth and begin the legal process of suing them if they do not honor this demand.

Lesson learned is that it is ALWAYS useful to take pictures of a rental property at move in and move out to have documentation should such issues on the security deposit/damages crop up later.

Gail

[Darcxo]

Re: Need Advice ASAP

Thank you both for your reply!
Much appreciated