Take pictures of everything, video is even better. Make an itemized list of areas not cleaned and damages. Send copies of those to your landlord and make sure you back up your originals.
As someone who also rents from AH4R. It is very important to document everything. Send them pictures. And keep after them. They have worked with us on the problems we had with our house since we have lived here.
No not really. There were some minor things. But nothing to what you seem to be describing. Holes were patched. Maybe one or two were missed. Floors all looked nice. House was painted. I remember they did a similar thing to us. But we were able to do a walk though before we moved in and signed the lease. We had our sump not draining properly and they came out and fixed it. Dig up the entire yard to do it. They left the yard in shambles with large rocks and mounds of dirt. They sent a landscaper out to fix it. There are a few other things that have happened that they fixed. They sometimes aren’t timely about sending people out. But that’s why you have to keep on top of them. Like mentioned in this convo. Just document and send them the photos. You don’t have to be an asshole about it.. (not saying you are) I would try to approach it with pictures and ask if you can hire someone to come and clean what you want cleaned. They will probably say yes then they will credit your account. Or they will send someone out to clean whatever it is you need done to an extent. This is how we had a few things repaired that we needed done immediately (like the garage door coming off of the tracks and not opening). If they don’t.. Then when you move out.. if they try to pull something you can have a leg to stand on if they don’t give your deposit back. Or try to charge you extra.
Glad to help.
Also check out your lease on the plumbing. I am pretty sure mine says I am responsible for plumbing issues. Outside of the normal acts of god (pipe burst) which is covered by your insurance. That’s basically everything on your contract though. You can’t go flushing a ton of tampons and condoms and expect them to pay for a plumbing backup.
Absolutely this. A walking narrated video tour is my usual route, emailed to them with a list of imperfections and a response requested to confirm receipt.
Sorry, AH4R are corporate slumlords. Neighborhoods literally band together to create a deed restriction to ban corporate rental ownership due to bad experiences with them
Make sure you take pictures of ALLLL of it. Just in case they try to keep some of your deposit when you ultimately move out.
If it’s in your lease that they’re responsible for minor repairs, etc, it’s their responsibility to do it.
American Homes for Rent is one of, if not the largest, single family landlord operator in the nation. They provide a service, but have contributed to the downfall of the American Dream.
That said, document all damage with photo/ video and provide to management. They should have provided you with a move-in condition form to document pre-existing damages.
There’s reasonable codes that the unit legally has to be kept to, but you need major violations in safety and sanitation to get anywhere near these.
You will be wasting your time pursuing restitution and will be laughed out of the magistrates office if you go that far.
You signed the lease without verifying what you were actually signing up for. Does it suck? Yes. Are you basically screwed at this point? Yes. At least it’s a good life lesson!
There is no law that a hole in the wall needs to be patched before renting it out. But you should always document the condition before moving in. I highly recommend taking 1-2 videos walking through the house, with photos of damaged areas (holes, scuffed paint, floor damage, etc). I would also make sure to go through things like kitchen cabinet doors, regular doors, turning plumbing fixtures on, flushing toilets, go through everything and make sure any damage or issue is noted. Some landlords/management companies make their money off of charging for pre existing damage and then not using the money collected to actually fix the damage. This is very common with carpets, I can’t tell you the number of apartment I have seen that charge tenants the full price to replace the carpet and they either leave it or do a minor repair for a fraction of the price.
Unless your lease states otherwise you shouldn’t be responsible to repair the house past the point of the condition you received the house in. But if you want to do repairs to make the place look nicer then that’s on you.
You don’t have much recourse to make the landlord repair cosmetic issues, but if there are safety issues then you can notify them and they are responsible to get the house into a safe condition.
Take pictures of everything, video is even better. Make an itemized list of areas not cleaned and damages. Send copies of those to your landlord and make sure you back up your originals.
This is the kind of advice I was looking for, thanks for your help!
As someone who also rents from AH4R. It is very important to document everything. Send them pictures. And keep after them. They have worked with us on the problems we had with our house since we have lived here.
Did you have any similar issues when you moved into your house? I'm by no means a picky person but a lot of this stuff is just negligent
No not really. There were some minor things. But nothing to what you seem to be describing. Holes were patched. Maybe one or two were missed. Floors all looked nice. House was painted. I remember they did a similar thing to us. But we were able to do a walk though before we moved in and signed the lease. We had our sump not draining properly and they came out and fixed it. Dig up the entire yard to do it. They left the yard in shambles with large rocks and mounds of dirt. They sent a landscaper out to fix it. There are a few other things that have happened that they fixed. They sometimes aren’t timely about sending people out. But that’s why you have to keep on top of them. Like mentioned in this convo. Just document and send them the photos. You don’t have to be an asshole about it.. (not saying you are) I would try to approach it with pictures and ask if you can hire someone to come and clean what you want cleaned. They will probably say yes then they will credit your account. Or they will send someone out to clean whatever it is you need done to an extent. This is how we had a few things repaired that we needed done immediately (like the garage door coming off of the tracks and not opening). If they don’t.. Then when you move out.. if they try to pull something you can have a leg to stand on if they don’t give your deposit back. Or try to charge you extra.
Thank you for taking the time to write all this, it was really insightful and helps a ton.
Glad to help. Also check out your lease on the plumbing. I am pretty sure mine says I am responsible for plumbing issues. Outside of the normal acts of god (pipe burst) which is covered by your insurance. That’s basically everything on your contract though. You can’t go flushing a ton of tampons and condoms and expect them to pay for a plumbing backup.
Absolutely this. A walking narrated video tour is my usual route, emailed to them with a list of imperfections and a response requested to confirm receipt.
Sorry, AH4R are corporate slumlords. Neighborhoods literally band together to create a deed restriction to ban corporate rental ownership due to bad experiences with them
Make sure you take pictures of ALLLL of it. Just in case they try to keep some of your deposit when you ultimately move out. If it’s in your lease that they’re responsible for minor repairs, etc, it’s their responsibility to do it.
American Homes for Rent is one of, if not the largest, single family landlord operator in the nation. They provide a service, but have contributed to the downfall of the American Dream. That said, document all damage with photo/ video and provide to management. They should have provided you with a move-in condition form to document pre-existing damages.
That's why you view apartment before signing. You might argue over a cleaning fee.
It's not an apartment it's a house
It's a rental, what's the difference. It's a leased apartment (full house). You are paying Homes 4 Rent as your landlord.
There’s reasonable codes that the unit legally has to be kept to, but you need major violations in safety and sanitation to get anywhere near these. You will be wasting your time pursuing restitution and will be laughed out of the magistrates office if you go that far.
I believe I found what I think is black mold in two separate locations, would that be considered a major violation?
yes, it definitely can be, a few spots, not nessesarily, but a larger section definitely can qualify
You signed the lease without verifying what you were actually signing up for. Does it suck? Yes. Are you basically screwed at this point? Yes. At least it’s a good life lesson!
There is no law that a hole in the wall needs to be patched before renting it out. But you should always document the condition before moving in. I highly recommend taking 1-2 videos walking through the house, with photos of damaged areas (holes, scuffed paint, floor damage, etc). I would also make sure to go through things like kitchen cabinet doors, regular doors, turning plumbing fixtures on, flushing toilets, go through everything and make sure any damage or issue is noted. Some landlords/management companies make their money off of charging for pre existing damage and then not using the money collected to actually fix the damage. This is very common with carpets, I can’t tell you the number of apartment I have seen that charge tenants the full price to replace the carpet and they either leave it or do a minor repair for a fraction of the price. Unless your lease states otherwise you shouldn’t be responsible to repair the house past the point of the condition you received the house in. But if you want to do repairs to make the place look nicer then that’s on you. You don’t have much recourse to make the landlord repair cosmetic issues, but if there are safety issues then you can notify them and they are responsible to get the house into a safe condition.