Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
can landlords charge for painting and cleaning rugs
Can a lease agreement (in Massachusetts) legally contain a provision where the renter must pay to have the apartment painted and have the rugs cleaned when you move out?
This particular apartment complex regularly paints and either cleans or replaces the carpet before a new tenant moves in, so this is not a security deposit or damage issue. Now they want to charge outgoing tenants for this and have incorporated it into their new lease agreements. Is this legal so that our only choice is to not sign the lease, or it is illegal so we have grounds to not pay it?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: can landlords charge for painting and cleaning rugs
There is no law that I know of which says they can't stick you with a clean up charge so long as it is in the lease. Generally a lease will say something along the lines that you have to return the apartment "broom clean and in the same condition, normal wear and tear excepted, the legal question becomes what constitutes "normal wear and tear". But if they put in a specific charge for post-move out clean up, it's probably legal.
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