Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Landlord - Tennant

I moved into a new apartment on the 8th and still remained a residence at my prior dwelling and will until tomorrow night at midnight. I returned to the old apartment tonight to finish cleaning before everything is finalized and the carpet had been replaced (i had carpet cleaners coming tomorrow) the holes in the walls filled and the entire place cleaned by the maintenance of the apartment complex. I spoken with management, as not to abandon the property. I spoke with them on Monday and in that conversation told them that I would be returning this week to finish cleaning. To my surprise they had entered and prepared the home for a new tenant. Can they do that? They are going to try to charge me for the cleaning... Do I have to pay for it?


Asked on 2/29/08, 12:00 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir John Showrai The Pacific Law Firm, PLLC

Re: Landlord - Tennant

If the terms of your rental agreement at your old apartment state that your tenancy ends at midnight on the 29th, and the landlord enters without notice, before that date to start making repairs, then you are not responsible for the cost of such repairs.

Your landlord is required to give you a written statement of why they are keeping any portion of the security deposit. To protect yourself, you should write a letter to the landlord, and mail it by certified mail, return receipt requested, and in the letter, explain that you had not surrendered the premises yet, and that the landlord entered without permission or notice and did the repairs before you had a chance to clean the unit. Explain that therefore, any charges for repairs done prior to the tenancy ending are not redeemable against the security deposit.

If the landlord insists on charging against the deposit, then you will need to take action to recover your deposit.

State law provides that a landlord who intentionally withholds a deposit may be ordered to pay back 2x the original amount plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs, should the matter go to trial.

If it gets to the point where you need to do something, get in touch with me, and I am happy to help out.

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Answered on 2/29/08, 5:48 pm


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