Obligation as a tenant

[Anonymous]

Do you think a tenant is obligated to clean a house before moving out? Cleaning fridge, oven, cobwebs, etc. The landlord is an individual (ie. not a big corp where I would feel no obligation to clean).

[Anonymous]

Don't leases normally spell this out? I'd expect you're required to return the home to the condition you found it in, minus normal wear and tear, or lose some of your security deposit. Then specific cleaning expectations could be listed.

So usually, yes... you're supposed to clean before moving out or your security deposit will be used to hire a cleaning crew.

[Anonymous]

Yes. It does not have to be immaculate but it should be clean.

[Anonymous]

If you want your security deposit back, yes. And what kind of asshole pig just wants to leave a big mess behind?

[Anonymous]

Yes. We are landlords (condo) and we spent hours scrubbing the place top to bottom before renting it out. If it were not left clean, we would have to do that again or hire someone before we rent it again, so the lease specifies it has to be left clean.

[Anonymous]

The usual expectation is to leave it "broom clean"--which means every day clean. I wouldn't steam clean the carpets or wash the windows, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you should clean the apartment, even if it's a "big corp". Why wouldn't you?

[Anonymous]

Don't the big corporate complexes professionally-clean units in between tenants?

[Anonymous]

I always assumed that you would lose a portion of your security deposit if the rental wasn't as clean on the day you left as it was on the day you moved in. Every time I moved I would be sure to leave some time- 4 or 5 hours, to clean the place top to bottom once all my stuff was out of there. It never even occurred to me not to clean.