Post by sisyphus on Jan 12, 2007 16:31:58 GMT -5
Didn't know where to post this, but here's a bitchy email to our landlord in Germany. Should I send it, or is it too over the top? Basically, he charged us a 900 dollar deposit, 250 of which is non-refundable. This is practially unheard of in Utah. (he must think we're huge partiers...)
Scot,
I've heard you mention numerous times, and heard tale of your mentioning thousands more times to Shaun, that you want us to take good care of this place and keep it nice. Such frequent emphasis supposes some sort of latent fear you may be experiencing with regard to your house. I am writing to assuage that fear.
First, although we love it, this is the filthiest place I've ever moved into. Your previous tenents lived like animals as far as I'm concerned, and I doubt it was even cleaned properly before THEY moved in. It will surely be far cleaner than when WE leave it than when we found it. Even though I'm no neat freak, I simply cannot tolerate living in such filth.
I just spent three and a half hours scrubbing the oven, and I have not even gotten to the inside yet. That's just the surface and below the surface (lifting the range). As you know, it was a fire hazard because it was so disgusting. I spent twenty dollars on new hot plate bowls as the others were beyond salvage. I won't even go into the muck built up in the sink right now.
Second, I've already spent hours scrubbing cubbords, floors, walls, baseboards, and things that which should have been cleaned when we moved in, and I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I'm also trying to touch up all the splotches on the walls with the corresponding paints I found in the closet, and take care of some of the holes with spackling putty. (In the small bathroom, it appeared that feces or something had been smeared on the wall. Needless to say, there are a lot of suspicious stains...)
Third, part of our deposit was a non-refundable $250.00. When you charge someone a non-refundable deposit that is so large, it ought to guarentee that a place is professionally cleaned before move in, and not a hefty sum for the landlord to pocket. Also, it is interesting to note that when someone is charged such a large non-refundable portion of their deposit, they're far less likely to leave a place clean. Shannon and her husband probably didn't bother because they paid $250.00 which you should have used to pay professional cleaners before the next tenents moved in. I realize you used some of that for carpet cleaning, but in a fair world you would pay the remainder to us considering that we're doing all the work. At the very least, you would not have charged us the $250 nun-refundable portion considering that we did not get the benefits such a deposit ought to afford.
In conclusion, we realize we signed a contract and there's not much we can do beyond this small expression of our irritation. Nonetheless, it remains an appeal to your honesty and character. The ball is in your court. Also, we do realize the difficulty of the sitiuation with your having been out of the country for so long, and understand that this probably doesn't usually happen. We do like the house and most certainly will take care of it.
Sincerely,
Shasta & Shaun
Scot,
I've heard you mention numerous times, and heard tale of your mentioning thousands more times to Shaun, that you want us to take good care of this place and keep it nice. Such frequent emphasis supposes some sort of latent fear you may be experiencing with regard to your house. I am writing to assuage that fear.
First, although we love it, this is the filthiest place I've ever moved into. Your previous tenents lived like animals as far as I'm concerned, and I doubt it was even cleaned properly before THEY moved in. It will surely be far cleaner than when WE leave it than when we found it. Even though I'm no neat freak, I simply cannot tolerate living in such filth.
I just spent three and a half hours scrubbing the oven, and I have not even gotten to the inside yet. That's just the surface and below the surface (lifting the range). As you know, it was a fire hazard because it was so disgusting. I spent twenty dollars on new hot plate bowls as the others were beyond salvage. I won't even go into the muck built up in the sink right now.
Second, I've already spent hours scrubbing cubbords, floors, walls, baseboards, and things that which should have been cleaned when we moved in, and I still have a lot of work ahead of me. I'm also trying to touch up all the splotches on the walls with the corresponding paints I found in the closet, and take care of some of the holes with spackling putty. (In the small bathroom, it appeared that feces or something had been smeared on the wall. Needless to say, there are a lot of suspicious stains...)
Third, part of our deposit was a non-refundable $250.00. When you charge someone a non-refundable deposit that is so large, it ought to guarentee that a place is professionally cleaned before move in, and not a hefty sum for the landlord to pocket. Also, it is interesting to note that when someone is charged such a large non-refundable portion of their deposit, they're far less likely to leave a place clean. Shannon and her husband probably didn't bother because they paid $250.00 which you should have used to pay professional cleaners before the next tenents moved in. I realize you used some of that for carpet cleaning, but in a fair world you would pay the remainder to us considering that we're doing all the work. At the very least, you would not have charged us the $250 nun-refundable portion considering that we did not get the benefits such a deposit ought to afford.
In conclusion, we realize we signed a contract and there's not much we can do beyond this small expression of our irritation. Nonetheless, it remains an appeal to your honesty and character. The ball is in your court. Also, we do realize the difficulty of the sitiuation with your having been out of the country for so long, and understand that this probably doesn't usually happen. We do like the house and most certainly will take care of it.
Sincerely,
Shasta & Shaun
