I just moved out of my rental house and they want $200 to clean the carpets. Why? I have never had to do this ever with the refundable deposit. The owners moved in within a half an hour of me moving out. They said there daughter was deathlyallergic to pet dander. If anyone knows would someone move in with furniture and children before the carpets are clean. Especially if deathly allergic to pet dander? The house was cleaner on the move out than the move in. I have never lost 5 cents in the past. Please anyone help me with this? What are my rights in state of Oregon. Can I demand a cleaning receipt. I am feeling scammed.:(

Well, have you read through your lease completely to make sure there's no "fine print" in there that you agreed to? The other thing is to read your state's landlord / tenant laws. There's a "sticky" at the top of this forum with a link to each state's laws.

In most states the landlord does have to show receipts for any deductions they take from your security deposit. Charging the tenant for carpet cleaning is not unusual in any of the places I've owned properties.

You can always take the landlord to small claims court for anything you believe to be unfair deductions. Generally, if the landlord can show receipts for whatever repairs, cleaning, etc they've had done you would have the burden of proof to refute the charges.

You do have an excellent point about them moving in PRIOR to having the carpets cleaned. It definitely takes some of the wind out of their sales, so to speak, but it they do have a receipt for having it done, it would probably be seen by the court as a legitimate deduction UNLESS your state specifically prohibits it.

Hope that helps.

Yes, unless you hired your own cleaner, it is normal to have cleaning deducted if there is cleaning needed, and to clean for pets is also normal