Cleaning up after your customer moves out

rmason

How or do you charge your departing tenant when they leave a big mess in their unit when they move out?  Most tenants move out over the phone or by email or some just leave in the dark of night.  Only about 10% come into the office.  Our goal is to inspect the units but with a staff of one (most days) inspection of move outs' unit is far down the list.  Our lease has a $150 fine for a mess left in a unit, but it is not enforceable.  Keeping a credit card deposit is a waste of time as they just dispute the charge.  Or is this just a situation where you suck it up, clean it up and move forward?  Thanks.

ESS

Depending on the mess, really. Sometimes I just have to charge them the clean up fee, move them out, and clean it ourselves. I do email and mail them an invoice and call them for collections almost everyday for a couple weeks just to be equally annoying as their mess. If it's just regular sweeping, I don't charge. For the bigger messes, I charge accordingly. If they have a card on auto pay, I will send the invoice, call and charge their card.

i43storage

That is why we have a security deposit.  If they leave a mess, they do not receive their deposit back.

CVSSSTORAGE

We do not move someone out until they clean up all messes. They have to come to the office. If they just abandon items in their unit without signing a move out we have to go through the auction process. If it is in the hallway I just add a clean up fee to their unit and when they try to re-rent they cannot move in until that is paid.

Orkocean

I love the ones who try to be "smart" and move out but leave items in aisles/hallways away from their unit. I find the stuff, check cameras to verify what i'm already assuming and then throw the stuff right back in their unit then call them up and make them aware that their unit is not empty and clean, it still has items in it. Pretty much every time they come back to get the stuff and then they're being watched over to ensure they don't pull any funny business.

i43storage

Orkocean said:

I love the ones who try to be "smart" and move out but leave items in aisles/hallways away from their unit. I find the stuff, check cameras to verify what i'm already assuming and then throw the stuff right back in their unit then call them up and make them aware that their unit is not empty and clean, it still has items in it. Pretty much every time they come back to get the stuff and then they're being watched over to ensure they don't pull any funny business.

Interesting approach.  I'm impressed they come back.

Orkocean

i43storage said:

Orkocean said:

I love the ones who try to be "smart" and move out but leave items in aisles/hallways away from their unit. I find the stuff, check cameras to verify what i'm already assuming and then throw the stuff right back in their unit then call them up and make them aware that their unit is not empty and clean, it still has items in it. Pretty much every time they come back to get the stuff and then they're being watched over to ensure they don't pull any funny business.

Interesting approach.  I'm impressed they come back.

We don't send to collections but they don't know that    So when they get that nice lil warning about it being sent to collections for any cleaning fee's which WILL be high if I have to do it, they usually come back. A good majority of the time it's people moving out before they become due again, and we catch it right away so we let them know it has to be emptied before so and so date or they have to pay another months rent plus any cleaning fee's etc.. 

JamesStorage

We have a cleaning fee too, but we mostly use it as a scare tactic. I've been at this facility a full year now and I've never actually had a large mess left behind. I don't give a flip about sweeping, since that's easy for me to do.

teamcapitola

I just call them and inform that they are STILL renting the unit.

As per our lease, the unit must be completely empty and ALL property must be removed from premises. Then I explain the $80/hr. cost of us dealing with it vs. them coming down to pick up the rest of their (crap).

Usually they come and get everything. I've only had to threaten legal and or collections once.

 

rmason

For those who take a deposit what form is it?  Cash, credit card, money order, check? I can see drawbacks for most types. I see some use the threat of a collection agency.  Any drawbacks to actually using one?

teamcapitola

Funny thing.

Literally the DAY after I posted about this thread!

I get an email from a tenant stating they have vacated. Well, they ALSO left a mattress and box spring in the parking lot. I watched our surveillance video from the night before, and there he is hauling out the items from unit to parking lot...looking around... then leaning them against a retaining wall and ambling away.

I responded to his email stating "we will close your account once you come and pickup the mattress you accidentally forgot while moving last night. We can take care of it for around $160 if you meant for us to dispose of it"

"Uh, oh... yeah, I'll come and get it, thanks"  (he came and got everything later in morning)

 

But in the 9 years at this facility, we've only had one or two incidents that we had to deal with.

ACorona

It never ceases to amaze me the people who think they can get away with that kind of stuff like we don't check our properties or watch our cameras. 

i43storage

@rmason However they paid when they moved in is how the security deposit was collected.

I just found a unit with no lock on it with a couch, dryer, two mini-van seats, microwave, table, and a car key placed on top of a shelf inside.  I called the guy to let him know he forgot to put his lock back on and he said, "Ya, I moved out." 

Dude ... you left the seats and the keys to your car?