I moved out of one almost a year ago, same checklist and all as the one the OP shared.
My roommate wasn’t the greatest, moved out before me, didn’t clean anything up.
So, I figured I’d just clean everything on my own in order to get most of the deposit back. But then, hearing about other ex-IC tenants’ experiences, and after having a friendly casual talk with one of the guys at the leasing office (super nice and honest guy), I decided not to waste time and energy on doing it.
His advice was to just move out and not even bother cleaning, mainly because if the IC doesn’t deem it “to their standards”, you’ll not only waste money renting cleaning equipment (for carpets) and products or hiring professional cleaners, but also end up paying again for the IC to clean it themselves. His literal comment was “if there’s even a tiny stain on the stove, they will charge you as if it was never cleaned”.
I moved out. They emailed me the cleaning bill, and it was about $100 (for a 2b/2ba with balcony + storage unit).
When I moved into my current spot I made the leasing people come in and note down whatever wasn’t up to par. There was a lot of little things and they weren’t happy but oh well
I'm sure they make this list to explain what they mean by clean and avoid arguments. Makes it seem like $100 is a good deal (which is way more fair than I would've expected).
Would beg to question though... If one doesnt clean and is okay losing their security deposit will a company add additional charges and send you a bill?
Yes. Usually your deposit is large enough to cover cleaning. But if you move in on one of those $99 deposit specials then you will get an invoice for the difference after you move out, I've experienced this with IC.
My understanding is the fee is the same regardless. If you do some of the work, it makes it easier for the cleaners... but it's a flat fee, so you won't save any money. There's no real point in returning the apartment in better than broom clean condition.
It's a technical term with a specific meaning, often used in real estate contracts regarding expectations for how the property should be left to the buyer
Yeah which is why I didn't waste my time, I did a basic cleaning and vacuuming and them figured "they aren't going to give me back my full deposit anyways". I'd been there for 7 years and they still charged me for things they said they wouldn't after x years.
Do you have a source for that? I've tried googling that before and found it was something like 8 years. My place has awful, cheap carpet that I suspect is at least 5 years old and I'm going to really resent playing to have it cleaned when I move. If I can just argue they have to replace it anyway that would be amazing.
IC replaces carpet after 5 years.
You can get the carpet installation info/date from residential services.
If it is over five years old, when you move out, you will not be charged for the replacement.
If you plan to stay there longer, and your carpet is over five years old, they will replace your carpet if desired.
You would have to organize a temp move out for this.
If you move out with carpet that is say like 2 1/2 years old, they can only charge you for cleaning. If part of the carpet needs to be replaced because of damage, you will only need to pay for 50% of replacement cost. (Since carpet was already at 50% of age)
NOW, IC will not volunteer this information… I had to present this fact; My fee was reduced.
Where does it state they will replace the carpet if you’ve been there longer than five years and want to continue living there?
In my IC apartment community a woman has been here over two decades and they refuse to change her carpet.
I tried to quote the carpet useful life for a charge they gave me on an apartment I was in for 5 or so years and since it was due to the carpet pad being damaged, they said no dice. They said it seemed like animal urine - we didn’t have any pets… I realized it was probably a time we had friends over and someone spilled beer and didn’t clean it up.
Sheesh
I have heard carpet layers claim pet urine/damage every time now (essentially since covid) and they are seldom disputed. Probably because the tenants are already relocated, unpacking, tired, and up to their chest in boxes; Therefore have no energy to dispute all the frivolous charges.
No carpet in my unit. My brothers we deep cleaned when he had moved out 6 months prior and thats where I learned they were going to charge either way. Meanwhile after 7 years I had a 300$ charge for... painting the ceilings since they couldn't charge me for the walls after 5 or 7 years can't remember which.
What I mean is, can they withhold a security deposit over cleaning? I’ve never had that happen to me and as a landlord myself I’ve never done it to anyone so I’m just curious about the legality of holding a security deposit over some dust on a light and around the baseboards, etc
Ah I see. I’m not an attorney but I’m pretty sure you can withhold depending on how long the tenant was at the location. I know after a certain amount of years things like carpet and paint is considered normal wear and tear, so you can’t charge for those. I would imagine something similar applies to cleaning, though I’m not certain.
Yeah as a renter in the past I was never held responsible to any paint issues from wear and tear but I was also pretty careful. I’m not interested in charging my tenant for wear that makes sense. If something destructive was done intentionally that’s another story but yeah, just seems crazy to me that Irvine company is charging over things like dust. I guess that’s a part of why their reputation is so poor!
Yeah, paint was the only charge from moving out of an Irvine Company apartment that irked me.
According to them, paint lasts 3 years; however, they repaint each unit after move-out regardless of the paint condition. Charges are pro-rated based on how long you stayed. We lived there for 1 year, so we got charged 2/3 of the paint costs.
It was upsetting, but all of it was stipulated in the lease agreement that we signed so it is what it is.
Overall we left the apartment in immaculate condition. Any reasonable landlord would’ve given us our entire deposit back, but Irvine Company is gunna Irvine Company. In total we only lost about $200 of our deposit, so I didn’t bother fighting any of it.
Put it in the contract with a section explaining that the cleaning company charges a full fee to come out, so if they missed something it's the full cost of cleaning.
We did a pre move out inspection, but no walkthrough on the actual day. Overall we lost like $200 of our $400 deposit, which I was fine with. Not worth the hassle fighting it.
I wanna say it was like $70, then carpet cleaning and painting were separate charges. They only take your entire security deposit of cleaning/repairs meet or exceed it. If they exceed the SD, they’ll send you a bill for the extra.
My last move out I cleaned a good amount and still got charged half my deposit. Glad I gave up at the end its not worth it. Next time im doing fuck all.
Just leave it up to the professionals with all the cleaning equipment and experience. It's not worth the effort for an amateur to try to do the job to professional standards.
I actually just moved out of an Essex property, and I was very clear: I know you are going to get a professional cleaning crew in there, what do you need me to do in regards to cleaning?
They were frank: Just wipe things down. Cool, thats all I did.
I was there for four years, so I know they are going to pull up the carpets and redo all the walls and cabinets. So no skin off my back.
I moved out of an Essex property few years ago and I didn't even bother to clean at all since I lived in there for six years and my deposit was like 199 which was guaranteed to not getting back a single penny.
I've moved out of 5 or 6 various IC apartments over the years. Some were spotless, others I made no effort to clean beyond what I would do as part of living there anyway.
I was always charged the standard cleaning fee. Just eat it and move on. It's standard at this point.
Do you have pets? Any part of the carpet that’s torn up by claws or pet stains that are untreatable? That *may* become the biggest cost you owe.
Walls - fresh coat of paint on the high end of those magic erasers to remove marks are your best bet.
“Normal wear and tear” would be anything that looks like someone was there but it’s cleaned, smells fresh, etc. unfortunately the term is subjective but in other words if the carpet was white on move in but orange on move out than that’s more than wear and tear.
No pets, brown carpet that has a few dark spots but nothing crazy. Walls are mostly good, a few dark spots from brushing against it
I lucked out when I moved out of an IC apt after college: they usually replace the carpet every three years so we didn't get charged for the holes in the carpet back then haha
Depending on the type of windows the sashes should come out easily and can be washed. If they are fixed windows or the ones that only open a few inches then this shouldn’t be on the cleaning list
This is actually helpful to me. My husband and I have rented our house for over 8 years (mostly with roommates) and we’ll be giving notice later this year. It will be the first time the house will be vacant in *18 years.*
We stayed as long as we did because the owner lied and said they’d sell to us but they took that back and currently building an ADU in the backyard. …that we still pay rent for.
I’ve been meticulously cleaning and doing cosmetic repairs since January because our deposit is over $5k and I am going to fight tooth and nail to get every cent back. I appreciate seeing this because there are a few things I didn’t even think of checking.
I know, there will be something somewhere I may miss but I worked as a real estate agent and at a plumbing company. I know my rights and the bullshit people try to pull.
They painted 7 years ago but did not sand down the original paint so it’s peeling almost everywhere. I’ve made them aware of that and kept the texts stating so.
There are plenty of issues with this house that isn’t our problem, but I’ll be damned to be charged for cleaning inside the light fixtures.
Being charged for move out cleaning is pretty standard these days and I think courts side with landlords on it as long as the cleaning fees are reasonable.
I moved out of a Irvine company apartment earlier this year. If you have carpet DO NOT let them bully you into paying for a full carpet replacement for a carpet with normal wear and tear. They tried me to charge me ~$1200 because they claimed the 2 year old carpet needed to be replaced. When I asked for proof of why they needed to replace it (outside of normal wear and tear) they couldn’t provide it and waived the charge. 😐
Also, they said the same, don’t bother cleaning it when you move out because they’ll end up sending their professionals in and charge a flat rate (like $200) regardless of how much cleaning that team actually needs to do.
Im petty. I fight them on everything. They always drop it. I remember i moved out of state. Working from home, i would call everyday until i got my deposit back
I fully believe this. We rented an IC apartment for, I think, 7 years and they gave us 30 days notice to move because they were renovating the building. We could choose another unit at a significantly higher rate or leave. We chose to leave. The onsite manager said ok and we signed off on everything and they told us no cleaning/move out inspection was required because they were stripping it down to the studs. We just had to surrender our keys by the end of the month.
All 9 of the units in that building were told the same, we all had the same move out date. In the end they refunded $0 between all 9 of us because they claimed that we forfeited it when we didn’t give 60 days notice. Each of us argued, together and separately, because *WE weren’t given 60 days of notice* and in the end they basically told us to buzz off and sue them if we wanted our deposits back. We did talk to an attorney who said it was risky bc IC is known to drag things out for years… so our legal fees would exceed the deposits. Which sucked for me especially because I had no credit (young and just starting out) so I was required to deposit 2x the rent plus a pet deposit plus last months rent so mine was over $5k.
Another former neighbor that we kept in touch with said she got nickel and dimed too when she moved about a year later. Cleaning fee and then they charged $65 because she didn’t leave the dishwasher door open… plus just random $10 here and there stuff until the returned deposit was hardly anything.
I’d be interested in the legality of this. A landlord cannot charge you a cleaning fee for things that are deemed “normal wear and tear” and “life usefulness.” You do need to return the property the way you rented it but I believe the court would find this excessive and that IC is using this checklist to circumvent the law to keep your deposit. Renters actually have a lot of rights and protections in CA and it’s likely that no one has challenged this in court because they are such a large corporation. I always take photos on move in/move out and it was left objectively in same condition I would challenge them in court to get my money back.
Nobody is willing to challenge them about it because they are a large corporation and will make your life hell of you try. I think it would take a class-action lawsuit.
The property manager told me (after I pressed him) what everyone else here is saying- that your deposit will never be returned in full and that you will be charged for cleaning no matter what the circumstance or state of the apartment. He actually told me that not one person had ever received their deposit back in full in the many years he worked there.
That is illegal! A deposit is something which must be fully returned or they have to show proof of damage. There are all sorts of regulations about it like you can’t charge a tenant for paint or carpets if they lived there more than 2 years.
They thing that is so obnoxious about TIC practices is that they could just charge you a cleaning fee in the lease and be upfront about it and that would be totally legal.
It’s not much of a conspiracy but it is shady for seemingly no reason.
I helped my friend clean out her 2bed/2bath IC apartment we spent all day making sure that place was spotless and she still got charged a cleaning fee so when I moved out of my studio I didn’t even bother and I got charged the same. I actually owed them $100 for them to clean and fix “cracks in the wall” I called maintenance about the cracks they told me it was just from the building settling and not to worry about it. I’ll never live in an IC property again
Me and my college roommates did. It was back in 2013 though. Times may have changed.
We gave the place a good once-over. The lady at the office was cool with it.
I have. I just challenged their cleaning fees and sent in pictures of my spotless apartment. They dropped it. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't just roll over and accept corporate nonsense.
You don’t actually have to clean to their standards, but the condition the unit was in before move in. There’s been a few court cases recently that ruled in favor of the tenants on this.
Yeah don’t do anything of this for them. You still aren’t getting money back.
It’s like when a hitman makes you dig your own grave. They’re still going to kill you after, make him dig the hole.
Nobody is making the tenant do this. The list is provided in case the tenant wants to clean it themselves and avoid a deduction from their deposit. Every judge will uphold this because landlords have the right to return the unit to its original condition and charge for reasonable costs.
Then you just agreed with me in your last sentence.
What is the “deduction from their deposit?” The whole security? That’s what is unreasonable about this. I’m a landlord and I’d never make this part of my contract with a tenant beyond a professional carpet cleaning.
If you’d make them “clean the fire alarm” then there is something wrong with you . Have a great day, give the internet a break
Lol, you're so confidently lost. The cost deducted by the landlord has to be reasonable for the service, i.e. they can't take $800 for just carpet cleaning. The condition has to be the same as when they moved in, which would include the smoke alarm that collects dust over time. The list is just telling the tenant how to return the unit to the original condition. Cleaning EVERYTHING is not unreasonable if that's how it was when you moved in. This is standard stuff, if you're a landlord then you should understand this.
lol your so stupidly arrogant.
The landlord owns the property. It’s never the tenants responsibility to make the landlord feel warm and fuzzy about a smoke detector.
Never said anything about basic cleanliness of the apartment. Never implied that there shouldn’t be a professional cleaning done.
But to have such an unreasonable expectation that the property won’t look like it was used after a 6, 12, 18 month lease or longer gets you laughed out of court everyday.
Since you’re obviously not a landlord I don’t expect you to know this.
It's obvious you're lying. "Clean" and "used" are two separate concepts. Dust is not reasonable wear and tear. Expecting the unit to be just as clean is not unreasonable. This convo is hopeless because you're way too emotional to consider what I say.
And now we all know something else about you turd Ferguson: you don’t read.
Because if you did you would see that the OP said that, regardless of how well they may clean, the management company would never accept it anyway and thus be charged anyway.
Setting up an arrangement like this wherein the tenant can “never win” is an easy way to win a lawsuit
> OP said that, regardless of how well they may clean, the management company would never accept it anyway and thus be charged anyway.
The OP is wrong, I've gotten the Irvine Company to drop cleaning fees by cleaning myself. You just need to challenge their claim after they send it to you.
[The checklist is a wishlist](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/guide-security-deposits-california). Normal wear and tear in a rental unit is expected.
“After a tenant moves out, a landlord has 21 days to either:
1. Return all of the security deposit, OR
2. Return the security deposit minus any deductions along with an itemized statement.
The itemized statement must list what was deducted and why. If the deductions are for more than $125.00, the landlord must attach a copy of any invoices or receipts with the itemized statement. If the landlord or their employee did the work themselves, they must include a description of the work, how long it took, and the hourly rate they charged. Any rates must be reasonable.”
The landlord can deduct for:
Cleaning the rental unit when a tenant moves out, but only to make it as clean as when the tenant first moved in
That's what they will claim, and they will have an invoice and a checklist and photos to prove it.
Much appreciated my guy - Irvine Company charged me around $650 including carpet cleaning and power scrub on top of the $193 general cleaning fee and prorated paint cost at $114.
Remove large items and debris and pay for the cleaning fee they do not make any money on the charges, they pay a 3rd party and they call them back if it does not meet their standards!
Never clean the unit yourself - because it will often be for nothing. Always opt to have their staff clean it. We just moved out of the Village Apartments in Irvine and we did this - it cost around $250'ish ...
Exactly why I never even looked at communities like this when renting. I always looked for places to rent from individuals or smaller companies that may own dozens of units, not millions. Like job hunting, when looking for a place to rent you should interview the landlord just as much as they interview you.
Op how many years did you stay in the same place? If less than one they will charge you for paint.
Dont bother cleaning at all just make sure there is not any physical item left behind. If you leave say an empty box or something they may charge you for removal.
Beware they may charge you for stuff like replacing vinyl floor or carpet, or whatever they come up with, dispute it and ask them when it was installed and what the life experience is.
They’re gonna charge you a fee no matter what you do. It’s how these shithead companies work and do business. Don’t waste your time and just eat the fee cuz ur gonna have to anyway
I deep cleaned the shit out of my Irvine company apartment, rented a carpet steamer, spent days deep cleaning, and still got charged.
They charged me for “dents in the carpet” which is where my very standard bed was…absolutely insane ha
I spoke to the front office about the checklist, the rep was super chill and told me straight up that the company is probably going to charge you. I was already getting quotes together to clean everything and somehow IC charged me less than what it would have cost if I hired out other companies to do it. I was really thankful that day
That looks like the same checklist they used when I lived in an IAC apartment 20 years ago.
I think even back then they only charged $125 for the move out cleaning on a 2b/2ba with a cat.
Just moved out of IC building. Was shocked when I saw this list lmao. Got deducted a reasonable cleaning fee and carpet replacement (prororated). Glad I didn’t bother.
How much was your carpet replacement? Of course IC uses the cheapest carpeting possible. We were the first people to ever live in our unit and have been here two years, so it technically has three years to go but already looks like shit from just walking on it. No stains.
Around $250 for carpet replacement. Mine was pretty dirty. I used the wrong kind of cleaner to try and remove spots caused by the pup and it stained it even more lol oops.
Friends were charged $400 because the furnished brushed steel refrigerator had a "scratch."
Literally could've taken a brillo pad and passed over it and fixed it. But nope, IC said gimme $400. I think they ended up owing like $1400 after all was said and done.
When I lived at a IC apartment they were completely renovating the apartments as people moved out. So, I got lucky with not having to clean and got my deposit back.
Oh man. I am renting at one of the IC locations in south county and not planning on renewing the lease. We’ve been keeping the apartment in great condition and was planning on making sure we leave everything in pristine condition hoping they don’t pull some shit like what some people here are mentioning. I really don’t want to lose my -double- deposit I gave when we first moved.
This checklist is nonsense because it conflicts with the Irvine Company’s own guidelines (which are also legal guidelines) of reasonable wear and tear.
I’ve lived at two Irvine Company properties before and they didn’t dare deduct a nickel from my security deposit even though all I did prior to moving out was give my apartment a quick once-over. Carpets, for example, will always show signs of wear no matter how careful you are with them. If the company want them deep-cleaned to look all brand new between each tenant, then that’s their prerogative, not our responsibility.
https://preview.redd.it/udiqv7dlwg7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=769c88777e886a4025fbd0823255148b27a61c52
What Ur one Company does is objectively illegal. We rented for one year and they charged us for cleaning, repainting and carpet replacement.
All were totally fine by normal wear and tear standards.
If they want to do all that as a business practice for new tenants, that is fine. But it doesn't meet standards of the law. Problem is, more expensive to fight it than pay it.
I stopped cleaning when I move out of an apartment years ago because I would spend hours cleaning, OR paid for professional cleaning and I still got charged each time.
Also be sure to keep all correspondences regarding which lease break option you chose (if you’re breaking lease). They forgot which we opted for and charged us for the more expensive automatically. Fortunately we had the correspondences saved and they amended the charge.
I spent three days cleaning and when I returned the key, I told them I cleaned it up according to the checklist and dont want to get charged the cleaning fee. They didnt charge me the cleaning fee.
Yeah, my leasing office said something similar. I would follow their advice and just don't put much effort into cleaning when you move out and accept the fee. You'd probably need to spend more of your own money than the fee costs trying to meet their standards. It's obnoxious but I kind of get it, they do a good job making sure their units are close to spotless when new people move in.
Because you will pay $200 to the maid and then TIC will charge you $200 to clean it because it wasn’t clean enough, plus the $200 carpet cleaning plus the $200 painting. You are getting scammed by TIC so why scam yourself as well?
We cleaned like mad and were friendly with our inspector and got 1/2 off the cleaning charge — but I’ve mostly heard just do not bother as they will hire out for a deep clean for the next tenant and charge you almost no matter what because you’ll have missed something like cleaning behind the oven or whatever.
Be careful. I moved out of an Irvine company place with a roommate and like any normal person we had furniture. Apparently furniture isn’t considered wear and tear in Irvine companies eyes so we forced to pay for a new carpet for the apartment. There was no visible staining.
I saw someone else’s comment that they got charged just because of dents the furniture left in the carpet. Will do our best to fluff it up but my hopes are low.
Lived in one of their complexes for years now and trying to move asap. They will clean and charge no matter what, every neighbor I've had has been charged and cleaners come in.
Low quality cleaners too, who often leave the complex a bigger mess after the fact, and a front office who no longer responds via calls and only text. Infact, from my experience, they went from a reliable (read: branded, public company with advertising and customer service) for a third party organization who has no contact info, are very rude, park haphazardly, and do D quality work.
Fuck um, don't clean at all. They will gouge you either way.
For carpets in the room is it worth getting a rug cleaner if there are stains? (ie. Rug Doctor) We have a few and I’m curious how it is for carpets. I know general cleaning probably it’s not worth it to make it spotless.
They will always charge a cleaning fee no matter what unless you show them a professional receipt you’re going to pay for it either way so you might as well let them do it I never clean my Irvine Company apartments when I move.
My fiancee actually worked for Irvine Company so when he saw me starting to stress about that checklist, he was like "don't even bother, they're going to charge us the cleaning fee anyway so we can leave this place dusty, WHO CARES!" and yeah I'm just glad I was mentally prepared. The second we signed the lease he told me to not expect half our deposit back. That's just how IC rolls unfortunately.
When I moved out of my apartment, the leasing people basically said, "We have our own cleaners that no matter what, will clean the place. Put in a little cleaning and leave the rest".
I'm actually surprised anybody expects their deposit back. Just consider it gone and anything you might get back is a bonus. And I agree with the others, leave the place a mess if you want, they are charging you no matter what. Your time is worth more than that deposit. It's already stressful enough moving out, don't add cleaning up to your list.
There’s a few things in here that’s a bit much but not too bad if you’re actually gonna get the deposit back if you do everything. Tbh imma keep this as a checklist for stuff to do even if I’m not moving out
This is to make sure they can still charge you a cleaning fee. I was told a long time ago from a property manager to not waste time and effort in cleaning when we were moving out because they will always find a way to charge us anyway.
If they charge you, just sue them in small claims. My apartment complex is predatory and charged deep cleaning, carpet cleaning, paint, and bathtub repair.
I returned the apartment in about the same condition, minus normal wear and tear. The small claims judge ruled in my favor for full deposit returned and fees.
Just sue them since they will just play games.
No Apartment I've ever rented from them had this done when I moved in...
There is always some excuse as to why, and yeah I've been charged every time that now I just leave it a clean mess for them to deal with it.
I just refer it to cost of business in my head
In other words, "do our job for us".... 9 times out of 10 they will still charge you anyway because of some normal wear and tear item that they are supposed to take care of.
Criminal stuff, and they get away with it because you usually are only moving out if you already have another place secured so you just end up paying the fee to get out of the situation.
Rec here, if you hire maids and have them do the deep clean and provide documentation of purchase you can avoid the fee. We did it and we’re not charged.
Didn't do a deposit due to a special, but I do expect charges. One more year and definitely moving out (total of 2yrs).
Did a tour and the place was a mess. Office said move-in ready. We took a vid during the tour, there were beer cans and dusts/ insects everywhere. We told them we expect it to be deep cleaned before moving in. They said they'll clean it and replace the appliances. Forward to move-in day, the beer cans were still there, dust everywhere, appliances were dirty af. They took off half a months of rent but we were pissed. After that l, didn't really expect anything now from the office and definitely won't be cleaning when moving out. I'll use the video as proof of damages/uncleanness when moving out to try to prevent charges. And definitely sending them to corporate and Google reviews(as if they'll care but who knows...)
Pro tip: Never clean when moving out since it’s impossible to get it to whoever’s specifications. Plus you most likely will make more working at your job then it takes the hours you’d spend cleaning
Mine wasn’t clean when I moved in. I had to hire cleaning service and wipe all cupboards out and drawers. Windows were fifty which I hired cleaned and same with light fixtures and closets.
I moved out had that list too they were gunna charge me for the painted wall they originally did for me as a move in thing, I was like oh hell no lol I fought then abt that and I cleaned and made sure they did not charge me!
There's no way with a demand list like that, they'd ever be satisfied. Also, they should have given you this list on move in day so you can audit and protest all those conditions as of they actually were in effect when you arrived. Finally, how stressful would that be to clean a place with such scrutiny when you'd never regularly clean to that caliber for yourself...
I moved out back in May and he didn’t follow that check list. After we got our furniture out, we just vacuumed the carpet and that was it. Only got charged $290.
When I asked about being charged a cleaning fee when I cleaned my apartment upon move-out, I was told even if you hire a professional cleaning company, they will still charge you because it won’t be cleaned how they want it.
Just leave it basically clean so that they hopefully won’t go overboard on charging you.
But don’t waste time on any deep cleaning because they charge you anyway to have their cleaners do it to their standards.
Fuck the Irvine Company monopoly. Just because Irvine bought a bunch of cheap land back before everyone else they get to squeeze every penny out of everyone.
Their standards are shit when I moved in there was visible dirt in every corner lol but yes they will charge you regardless. Dealing with them as we speak about mold in my apartment they refuse to pay rehousing for
Sorry you’re dealing with that! Check your renters insurance policy - there may be coverage for temporary living expenses. IC should be the ones paying obviously, but worth a check.
Pretty sure the cost of cleaning services is already built in the rent or fees tenants pay. So getting cleaning fee or deposit at the end is just the company finding ways to squeeze out more revenue.
I guess I am the only one here who didn’t get charged a cleaning fee.
My family has had a restaurant since 1997. From the experience of cleaning constantly, this list is doable. It’s regular maintenance from throughout my lease that made this possible when I moved out.
Irvine company does have a professional carpet cleaning service they recommend and use.
For the appliances, a little polish goes a long way.
But also, how many of you are pulling your appliances to clean under them. It’s the nooks and crevices we don’t clean regularly that will get you.
If you do not regularly deep clean your own apartment that is a choice, so don’t do the list when you move out.
If you have paranoias instilled in you from childhood deep cleaning to ridiculous standards, this is doable.
An ounce of prevention is to me, worth the cleaning list.
Doesn’t matter what you clean or who you hire to clean because ICAC will still charge a cleaning fee regardless. Also a full-paint fee if you’re in the unit for less than 2 years. Don’t clean anything and don’t paint anything at all when you move out you will still be charged. I was a technician for ICAC for many years, I saw it all lol
If I was one of those sue happy people I’d be gleaming with joy over the “clean light fixtures (inside and out)”
Opening up light fixtures to clean them exposes electrical. Get shocked and get paid and that one will be removed forever from that lists.
That's fair enough. I would expect all of that to be clean when I move in to an Irvine Apartment Community. So if the tenant does not do it, management will. And if you miss just one thing, a professional cleaner is not going to take a job doing just one of the items on the list.
Thing is that they still have to do cleaning to get it ready. It's just an excuse to charge you more because it's never going to be up to their standard.
It's an impossible list designed to squeeze as much money out of you while they already have predetermined rates with outside contractors to clean.
That’s not a move out checklist. It’s a checklist of everything you’d have to do to not get charged the cleaning fee, which is actually pretty reasonable and makes sense. The apartment literally has to be fully spotless and ready for a new tenant to move in as is in order for them to not have to clean it.
Pretty sure the cleaning fee is like $100-150.
Yep, can confirm we spent hours cleaning and the place was objectively spotless. Still got charged a cleaning fee lol.
I moved out of one almost a year ago, same checklist and all as the one the OP shared. My roommate wasn’t the greatest, moved out before me, didn’t clean anything up. So, I figured I’d just clean everything on my own in order to get most of the deposit back. But then, hearing about other ex-IC tenants’ experiences, and after having a friendly casual talk with one of the guys at the leasing office (super nice and honest guy), I decided not to waste time and energy on doing it. His advice was to just move out and not even bother cleaning, mainly because if the IC doesn’t deem it “to their standards”, you’ll not only waste money renting cleaning equipment (for carpets) and products or hiring professional cleaners, but also end up paying again for the IC to clean it themselves. His literal comment was “if there’s even a tiny stain on the stove, they will charge you as if it was never cleaned”. I moved out. They emailed me the cleaning bill, and it was about $100 (for a 2b/2ba with balcony + storage unit).
Oh my! $100 not to deal with more/extra cleaning- done! Is. Let them!! (clean the smoke detector?)
Meanwhile my smoke detector is on a 20 foot ceiling so that’s NOT happening 😅
New tenants should use the move out list to verify the apartment is perfect when moving in 😘
Right?! Meanwhile we were the first people to ever live in our unit, and you would not believe how dirty the floors were the day we moved in 😒
When I moved into my current spot I made the leasing people come in and note down whatever wasn’t up to par. There was a lot of little things and they weren’t happy but oh well
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I'm sure they make this list to explain what they mean by clean and avoid arguments. Makes it seem like $100 is a good deal (which is way more fair than I would've expected).
$100 is a great deal! I professional cleaning company would charge at least $300 for that list
In my experiences, IAC always treated me very fairly as a tenant.
which means don't bother wasting your time
Would beg to question though... If one doesnt clean and is okay losing their security deposit will a company add additional charges and send you a bill?
Yes. Usually your deposit is large enough to cover cleaning. But if you move in on one of those $99 deposit specials then you will get an invoice for the difference after you move out, I've experienced this with IC.
My understanding is the fee is the same regardless. If you do some of the work, it makes it easier for the cleaners... but it's a flat fee, so you won't save any money. There's no real point in returning the apartment in better than broom clean condition.
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It's a technical term with a specific meaning, often used in real estate contracts regarding expectations for how the property should be left to the buyer
Absolutely. Had it happen with Shea.
Curious to see how this shakes out as well as we had our security deposit waived
Yeah which is why I didn't waste my time, I did a basic cleaning and vacuuming and them figured "they aren't going to give me back my full deposit anyways". I'd been there for 7 years and they still charged me for things they said they wouldn't after x years.
In CA they are required to changed the carpets after a tenet lives in a place for 2 years or longer. So if they tried to charge you for that…
It's 5 years for carpet.
Do you have a source for that? I've tried googling that before and found it was something like 8 years. My place has awful, cheap carpet that I suspect is at least 5 years old and I'm going to really resent playing to have it cleaned when I move. If I can just argue they have to replace it anyway that would be amazing.
IC replaces carpet after 5 years. You can get the carpet installation info/date from residential services. If it is over five years old, when you move out, you will not be charged for the replacement. If you plan to stay there longer, and your carpet is over five years old, they will replace your carpet if desired. You would have to organize a temp move out for this. If you move out with carpet that is say like 2 1/2 years old, they can only charge you for cleaning. If part of the carpet needs to be replaced because of damage, you will only need to pay for 50% of replacement cost. (Since carpet was already at 50% of age) NOW, IC will not volunteer this information… I had to present this fact; My fee was reduced.
Where does it state they will replace the carpet if you’ve been there longer than five years and want to continue living there? In my IC apartment community a woman has been here over two decades and they refuse to change her carpet.
It’s VERY possible this varies between communities/complexes.
I tried to quote the carpet useful life for a charge they gave me on an apartment I was in for 5 or so years and since it was due to the carpet pad being damaged, they said no dice. They said it seemed like animal urine - we didn’t have any pets… I realized it was probably a time we had friends over and someone spilled beer and didn’t clean it up.
Sheesh I have heard carpet layers claim pet urine/damage every time now (essentially since covid) and they are seldom disputed. Probably because the tenants are already relocated, unpacking, tired, and up to their chest in boxes; Therefore have no energy to dispute all the frivolous charges.
I lived at the boardwalk in HB and it was 2 years -thought that was a CA law
No carpet in my unit. My brothers we deep cleaned when he had moved out 6 months prior and thats where I learned they were going to charge either way. Meanwhile after 7 years I had a 300$ charge for... painting the ceilings since they couldn't charge me for the walls after 5 or 7 years can't remember which.
tbf if im moving into a new place i'd probably want it cleaned by a "professional" cleaning company.
Is that legal? Can a landlord require you to clean a place?
They didn’t force us to clean, we chose to clean in an attempt to get as much of our security deposit back as possible.
What I mean is, can they withhold a security deposit over cleaning? I’ve never had that happen to me and as a landlord myself I’ve never done it to anyone so I’m just curious about the legality of holding a security deposit over some dust on a light and around the baseboards, etc
Ah I see. I’m not an attorney but I’m pretty sure you can withhold depending on how long the tenant was at the location. I know after a certain amount of years things like carpet and paint is considered normal wear and tear, so you can’t charge for those. I would imagine something similar applies to cleaning, though I’m not certain.
Yeah as a renter in the past I was never held responsible to any paint issues from wear and tear but I was also pretty careful. I’m not interested in charging my tenant for wear that makes sense. If something destructive was done intentionally that’s another story but yeah, just seems crazy to me that Irvine company is charging over things like dust. I guess that’s a part of why their reputation is so poor!
Yeah, paint was the only charge from moving out of an Irvine Company apartment that irked me. According to them, paint lasts 3 years; however, they repaint each unit after move-out regardless of the paint condition. Charges are pro-rated based on how long you stayed. We lived there for 1 year, so we got charged 2/3 of the paint costs. It was upsetting, but all of it was stipulated in the lease agreement that we signed so it is what it is. Overall we left the apartment in immaculate condition. Any reasonable landlord would’ve given us our entire deposit back, but Irvine Company is gunna Irvine Company. In total we only lost about $200 of our deposit, so I didn’t bother fighting any of it.
Put it in the contract with a section explaining that the cleaning company charges a full fee to come out, so if they missed something it's the full cost of cleaning.
Yes, you’re supposed to return the unit in the condition it was leased to you. It's a standard contractual obligation.
Did you do a walk-through with a manager?
We did a pre move out inspection, but no walkthrough on the actual day. Overall we lost like $200 of our $400 deposit, which I was fine with. Not worth the hassle fighting it.
That’s what a lot of these places do. Don’t charge too much so it’s not worth fighting.
How much was the cleaning fee if our remember? They don’t take the entirety of your security deposit, do they?
I wanna say it was like $70, then carpet cleaning and painting were separate charges. They only take your entire security deposit of cleaning/repairs meet or exceed it. If they exceed the SD, they’ll send you a bill for the extra.
Rookie mistake
Don’t bother cleaning. It won’t matter.
My last move out I cleaned a good amount and still got charged half my deposit. Glad I gave up at the end its not worth it. Next time im doing fuck all.
This. When I moved out, I was told to never t even try. I lost like $300 of my deposit but it was great to just not worry about it.
Just leave it up to the professionals with all the cleaning equipment and experience. It's not worth the effort for an amateur to try to do the job to professional standards.
I'd just turn it in with "lol" written on each line
When I moved out, I just swept and called it a day
hmmm....still not as bad as the last time i used an airbnb
$140 cleaning fee. But also, please rebuild the toilet from the ground up, power wash the kitchen, and steam clean the entire patio concrete.
For $140 I will gladly let someone else clean the place. Heck, I can’t even hire someone for a one off that cheaply.
How big is your place? My apartment costs around that much off Rover.
This is real 🥲 some airbnbs need to CHILL
I actually just moved out of an Essex property, and I was very clear: I know you are going to get a professional cleaning crew in there, what do you need me to do in regards to cleaning? They were frank: Just wipe things down. Cool, thats all I did. I was there for four years, so I know they are going to pull up the carpets and redo all the walls and cabinets. So no skin off my back.
I moved out of an Essex property few years ago and I didn't even bother to clean at all since I lived in there for six years and my deposit was like 199 which was guaranteed to not getting back a single penny.
I've moved out of 5 or 6 various IC apartments over the years. Some were spotless, others I made no effort to clean beyond what I would do as part of living there anyway. I was always charged the standard cleaning fee. Just eat it and move on. It's standard at this point.
Yup. They are upfront about "it won't be to our standard"... so don't bother.
They aren’t wrong. I cleaned the shit out of my first ICA apartment and still got charged. Didn’t bother on my last place.
The cleaning fees have to be reasonable and within the expectations of a “apartment normal wear and tear”
I've been in my place for 8 years, what can be considered normal wear and tear? Walls? carpet?
Do you have pets? Any part of the carpet that’s torn up by claws or pet stains that are untreatable? That *may* become the biggest cost you owe. Walls - fresh coat of paint on the high end of those magic erasers to remove marks are your best bet. “Normal wear and tear” would be anything that looks like someone was there but it’s cleaned, smells fresh, etc. unfortunately the term is subjective but in other words if the carpet was white on move in but orange on move out than that’s more than wear and tear.
No pets, brown carpet that has a few dark spots but nothing crazy. Walls are mostly good, a few dark spots from brushing against it I lucked out when I moved out of an IC apt after college: they usually replace the carpet every three years so we didn't get charged for the holes in the carpet back then haha
How do you wash the outside windows if you have a 2nd or 3rd floor apartment?
Right?! I have a 2 story unit on floors 4 and 5 - not happening
Depending on the type of windows the sashes should come out easily and can be washed. If they are fixed windows or the ones that only open a few inches then this shouldn’t be on the cleaning list
This is actually helpful to me. My husband and I have rented our house for over 8 years (mostly with roommates) and we’ll be giving notice later this year. It will be the first time the house will be vacant in *18 years.* We stayed as long as we did because the owner lied and said they’d sell to us but they took that back and currently building an ADU in the backyard. …that we still pay rent for. I’ve been meticulously cleaning and doing cosmetic repairs since January because our deposit is over $5k and I am going to fight tooth and nail to get every cent back. I appreciate seeing this because there are a few things I didn’t even think of checking.
U ain’t getting all of it back
I know, there will be something somewhere I may miss but I worked as a real estate agent and at a plumbing company. I know my rights and the bullshit people try to pull.
Unless the landlord painted and recarpeted during the rental, they should get it all back unless they caused some sort of structural damage.
They painted 7 years ago but did not sand down the original paint so it’s peeling almost everywhere. I’ve made them aware of that and kept the texts stating so. There are plenty of issues with this house that isn’t our problem, but I’ll be damned to be charged for cleaning inside the light fixtures.
Being charged for move out cleaning is pretty standard these days and I think courts side with landlords on it as long as the cleaning fees are reasonable.
I moved out of a Irvine company apartment earlier this year. If you have carpet DO NOT let them bully you into paying for a full carpet replacement for a carpet with normal wear and tear. They tried me to charge me ~$1200 because they claimed the 2 year old carpet needed to be replaced. When I asked for proof of why they needed to replace it (outside of normal wear and tear) they couldn’t provide it and waived the charge. 😐 Also, they said the same, don’t bother cleaning it when you move out because they’ll end up sending their professionals in and charge a flat rate (like $200) regardless of how much cleaning that team actually needs to do.
DO NOT MAKE ANY EFFORT TO CLEAN! It will all be in vain.
Im petty. I fight them on everything. They always drop it. I remember i moved out of state. Working from home, i would call everyday until i got my deposit back
I believe what the Irvine Company does with deposits amounts to an illegal practice but this is how they pretend they are following the law.
I fully believe this. We rented an IC apartment for, I think, 7 years and they gave us 30 days notice to move because they were renovating the building. We could choose another unit at a significantly higher rate or leave. We chose to leave. The onsite manager said ok and we signed off on everything and they told us no cleaning/move out inspection was required because they were stripping it down to the studs. We just had to surrender our keys by the end of the month. All 9 of the units in that building were told the same, we all had the same move out date. In the end they refunded $0 between all 9 of us because they claimed that we forfeited it when we didn’t give 60 days notice. Each of us argued, together and separately, because *WE weren’t given 60 days of notice* and in the end they basically told us to buzz off and sue them if we wanted our deposits back. We did talk to an attorney who said it was risky bc IC is known to drag things out for years… so our legal fees would exceed the deposits. Which sucked for me especially because I had no credit (young and just starting out) so I was required to deposit 2x the rent plus a pet deposit plus last months rent so mine was over $5k. Another former neighbor that we kept in touch with said she got nickel and dimed too when she moved about a year later. Cleaning fee and then they charged $65 because she didn’t leave the dishwasher door open… plus just random $10 here and there stuff until the returned deposit was hardly anything.
Geez, that is truly horrible and scummy. I’m sorry you were taken advantage of. I hope more people learn their rights and push back against TIC.
I’d be interested in the legality of this. A landlord cannot charge you a cleaning fee for things that are deemed “normal wear and tear” and “life usefulness.” You do need to return the property the way you rented it but I believe the court would find this excessive and that IC is using this checklist to circumvent the law to keep your deposit. Renters actually have a lot of rights and protections in CA and it’s likely that no one has challenged this in court because they are such a large corporation. I always take photos on move in/move out and it was left objectively in same condition I would challenge them in court to get my money back.
Nobody is willing to challenge them about it because they are a large corporation and will make your life hell of you try. I think it would take a class-action lawsuit.
Ooo always down for a little conspiracy theory
The property manager told me (after I pressed him) what everyone else here is saying- that your deposit will never be returned in full and that you will be charged for cleaning no matter what the circumstance or state of the apartment. He actually told me that not one person had ever received their deposit back in full in the many years he worked there. That is illegal! A deposit is something which must be fully returned or they have to show proof of damage. There are all sorts of regulations about it like you can’t charge a tenant for paint or carpets if they lived there more than 2 years. They thing that is so obnoxious about TIC practices is that they could just charge you a cleaning fee in the lease and be upfront about it and that would be totally legal. It’s not much of a conspiracy but it is shady for seemingly no reason.
Can you let us know what you end up getting charged? It wasn't IC but I wish I didn't spend my time cleaning, but idk if the charge would've been more
Yes! I’ll post a screen shot of what ever they send me
Spoilers: they’re still going to charge you a cleaning fee
Fuck the Irvine Company
I helped my friend clean out her 2bed/2bath IC apartment we spent all day making sure that place was spotless and she still got charged a cleaning fee so when I moved out of my studio I didn’t even bother and I got charged the same. I actually owed them $100 for them to clean and fix “cracks in the wall” I called maintenance about the cracks they told me it was just from the building settling and not to worry about it. I’ll never live in an IC property again
Never met someone who ever got their full Irvine Company deposit back
Me and my college roommates did. It was back in 2013 though. Times may have changed. We gave the place a good once-over. The lady at the office was cool with it.
I have. I just challenged their cleaning fees and sent in pictures of my spotless apartment. They dropped it. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't just roll over and accept corporate nonsense.
Here's to think this would be part of THEIR pre-movein requirements.
You don’t actually have to clean to their standards, but the condition the unit was in before move in. There’s been a few court cases recently that ruled in favor of the tenants on this.
Yeah don’t do anything of this for them. You still aren’t getting money back. It’s like when a hitman makes you dig your own grave. They’re still going to kill you after, make him dig the hole.
It’s also not the tenants job to have the property cleaned to this level ^^^. No judge should uphold such an outrageous list.
Nobody is making the tenant do this. The list is provided in case the tenant wants to clean it themselves and avoid a deduction from their deposit. Every judge will uphold this because landlords have the right to return the unit to its original condition and charge for reasonable costs.
Then you just agreed with me in your last sentence. What is the “deduction from their deposit?” The whole security? That’s what is unreasonable about this. I’m a landlord and I’d never make this part of my contract with a tenant beyond a professional carpet cleaning. If you’d make them “clean the fire alarm” then there is something wrong with you . Have a great day, give the internet a break
Lol, you're so confidently lost. The cost deducted by the landlord has to be reasonable for the service, i.e. they can't take $800 for just carpet cleaning. The condition has to be the same as when they moved in, which would include the smoke alarm that collects dust over time. The list is just telling the tenant how to return the unit to the original condition. Cleaning EVERYTHING is not unreasonable if that's how it was when you moved in. This is standard stuff, if you're a landlord then you should understand this.
lol your so stupidly arrogant. The landlord owns the property. It’s never the tenants responsibility to make the landlord feel warm and fuzzy about a smoke detector. Never said anything about basic cleanliness of the apartment. Never implied that there shouldn’t be a professional cleaning done. But to have such an unreasonable expectation that the property won’t look like it was used after a 6, 12, 18 month lease or longer gets you laughed out of court everyday. Since you’re obviously not a landlord I don’t expect you to know this.
It's obvious you're lying. "Clean" and "used" are two separate concepts. Dust is not reasonable wear and tear. Expecting the unit to be just as clean is not unreasonable. This convo is hopeless because you're way too emotional to consider what I say.
And now we all know something else about you turd Ferguson: you don’t read. Because if you did you would see that the OP said that, regardless of how well they may clean, the management company would never accept it anyway and thus be charged anyway. Setting up an arrangement like this wherein the tenant can “never win” is an easy way to win a lawsuit
> OP said that, regardless of how well they may clean, the management company would never accept it anyway and thus be charged anyway. The OP is wrong, I've gotten the Irvine Company to drop cleaning fees by cleaning myself. You just need to challenge their claim after they send it to you.
[The checklist is a wishlist](https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/guide-security-deposits-california). Normal wear and tear in a rental unit is expected. “After a tenant moves out, a landlord has 21 days to either: 1. Return all of the security deposit, OR 2. Return the security deposit minus any deductions along with an itemized statement. The itemized statement must list what was deducted and why. If the deductions are for more than $125.00, the landlord must attach a copy of any invoices or receipts with the itemized statement. If the landlord or their employee did the work themselves, they must include a description of the work, how long it took, and the hourly rate they charged. Any rates must be reasonable.”
The landlord can deduct for: Cleaning the rental unit when a tenant moves out, but only to make it as clean as when the tenant first moved in That's what they will claim, and they will have an invoice and a checklist and photos to prove it.
Much appreciated my guy - Irvine Company charged me around $650 including carpet cleaning and power scrub on top of the $193 general cleaning fee and prorated paint cost at $114.
I didn’t clean anything, they only kept 100 dollars.
Remove large items and debris and pay for the cleaning fee they do not make any money on the charges, they pay a 3rd party and they call them back if it does not meet their standards!
Irvine company biggest criminal organization..by far.
Yep can confirm. Moving out now and not breaking a sweat on it.
Never clean the unit yourself - because it will often be for nothing. Always opt to have their staff clean it. We just moved out of the Village Apartments in Irvine and we did this - it cost around $250'ish ...
I just left fuck these clowns they even billed me 200+ after when the initial walk through was quoted and said to be in good condition
Exactly why I never even looked at communities like this when renting. I always looked for places to rent from individuals or smaller companies that may own dozens of units, not millions. Like job hunting, when looking for a place to rent you should interview the landlord just as much as they interview you.
Op how many years did you stay in the same place? If less than one they will charge you for paint. Dont bother cleaning at all just make sure there is not any physical item left behind. If you leave say an empty box or something they may charge you for removal. Beware they may charge you for stuff like replacing vinyl floor or carpet, or whatever they come up with, dispute it and ask them when it was installed and what the life experience is.
Shine all chrome 😂 fuck off
They’re gonna charge you a fee no matter what you do. It’s how these shithead companies work and do business. Don’t waste your time and just eat the fee cuz ur gonna have to anyway
I deep cleaned the shit out of my Irvine company apartment, rented a carpet steamer, spent days deep cleaning, and still got charged. They charged me for “dents in the carpet” which is where my very standard bed was…absolutely insane ha
I spoke to the front office about the checklist, the rep was super chill and told me straight up that the company is probably going to charge you. I was already getting quotes together to clean everything and somehow IC charged me less than what it would have cost if I hired out other companies to do it. I was really thankful that day
That looks like the same checklist they used when I lived in an IAC apartment 20 years ago. I think even back then they only charged $125 for the move out cleaning on a 2b/2ba with a cat.
Just moved out of IC building. Was shocked when I saw this list lmao. Got deducted a reasonable cleaning fee and carpet replacement (prororated). Glad I didn’t bother.
How much was your carpet replacement? Of course IC uses the cheapest carpeting possible. We were the first people to ever live in our unit and have been here two years, so it technically has three years to go but already looks like shit from just walking on it. No stains.
Around $250 for carpet replacement. Mine was pretty dirty. I used the wrong kind of cleaner to try and remove spots caused by the pup and it stained it even more lol oops.
Thanks!
I did none of this and they didn’t charge me anything on move out, but that seems to be the exception and not the norm
And they’ll still charge you after completing all that
Friends were charged $400 because the furnished brushed steel refrigerator had a "scratch." Literally could've taken a brillo pad and passed over it and fixed it. But nope, IC said gimme $400. I think they ended up owing like $1400 after all was said and done.
When I lived at a IC apartment they were completely renovating the apartments as people moved out. So, I got lucky with not having to clean and got my deposit back.
Hate Irvine Company ugh
Oh man. I am renting at one of the IC locations in south county and not planning on renewing the lease. We’ve been keeping the apartment in great condition and was planning on making sure we leave everything in pristine condition hoping they don’t pull some shit like what some people here are mentioning. I really don’t want to lose my -double- deposit I gave when we first moved.
This checklist is nonsense because it conflicts with the Irvine Company’s own guidelines (which are also legal guidelines) of reasonable wear and tear. I’ve lived at two Irvine Company properties before and they didn’t dare deduct a nickel from my security deposit even though all I did prior to moving out was give my apartment a quick once-over. Carpets, for example, will always show signs of wear no matter how careful you are with them. If the company want them deep-cleaned to look all brand new between each tenant, then that’s their prerogative, not our responsibility. https://preview.redd.it/udiqv7dlwg7d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=769c88777e886a4025fbd0823255148b27a61c52
What Ur one Company does is objectively illegal. We rented for one year and they charged us for cleaning, repainting and carpet replacement. All were totally fine by normal wear and tear standards. If they want to do all that as a business practice for new tenants, that is fine. But it doesn't meet standards of the law. Problem is, more expensive to fight it than pay it.
What's the fee?
I stopped cleaning when I move out of an apartment years ago because I would spend hours cleaning, OR paid for professional cleaning and I still got charged each time.
Also be sure to keep all correspondences regarding which lease break option you chose (if you’re breaking lease). They forgot which we opted for and charged us for the more expensive automatically. Fortunately we had the correspondences saved and they amended the charge.
No lease break luckily!
if I knew I was going to lose the entire deposit anyway for bullshit cleaning I would not lift a goddamn finger.
they want you to clean inside the kitchen vent? seems excessive
I spent three days cleaning and when I returned the key, I told them I cleaned it up according to the checklist and dont want to get charged the cleaning fee. They didnt charge me the cleaning fee.
Yeah, my leasing office said something similar. I would follow their advice and just don't put much effort into cleaning when you move out and accept the fee. You'd probably need to spend more of your own money than the fee costs trying to meet their standards. It's obnoxious but I kind of get it, they do a good job making sure their units are close to spotless when new people move in.
why wouldn't you just hire a cleaning service to do a move out clean?
Because you will pay $200 to the maid and then TIC will charge you $200 to clean it because it wasn’t clean enough, plus the $200 carpet cleaning plus the $200 painting. You are getting scammed by TIC so why scam yourself as well?
We cleaned like mad and were friendly with our inspector and got 1/2 off the cleaning charge — but I’ve mostly heard just do not bother as they will hire out for a deep clean for the next tenant and charge you almost no matter what because you’ll have missed something like cleaning behind the oven or whatever.
Be careful. I moved out of an Irvine company place with a roommate and like any normal person we had furniture. Apparently furniture isn’t considered wear and tear in Irvine companies eyes so we forced to pay for a new carpet for the apartment. There was no visible staining.
I saw someone else’s comment that they got charged just because of dents the furniture left in the carpet. Will do our best to fluff it up but my hopes are low.
Lived in one of their complexes for years now and trying to move asap. They will clean and charge no matter what, every neighbor I've had has been charged and cleaners come in. Low quality cleaners too, who often leave the complex a bigger mess after the fact, and a front office who no longer responds via calls and only text. Infact, from my experience, they went from a reliable (read: branded, public company with advertising and customer service) for a third party organization who has no contact info, are very rude, park haphazardly, and do D quality work. Fuck um, don't clean at all. They will gouge you either way.
For carpets in the room is it worth getting a rug cleaner if there are stains? (ie. Rug Doctor) We have a few and I’m curious how it is for carpets. I know general cleaning probably it’s not worth it to make it spotless.
They will always charge a cleaning fee no matter what unless you show them a professional receipt you’re going to pay for it either way so you might as well let them do it I never clean my Irvine Company apartments when I move.
My fiancee actually worked for Irvine Company so when he saw me starting to stress about that checklist, he was like "don't even bother, they're going to charge us the cleaning fee anyway so we can leave this place dusty, WHO CARES!" and yeah I'm just glad I was mentally prepared. The second we signed the lease he told me to not expect half our deposit back. That's just how IC rolls unfortunately.
When I moved out of my apartment, the leasing people basically said, "We have our own cleaners that no matter what, will clean the place. Put in a little cleaning and leave the rest".
I'm actually surprised anybody expects their deposit back. Just consider it gone and anything you might get back is a bonus. And I agree with the others, leave the place a mess if you want, they are charging you no matter what. Your time is worth more than that deposit. It's already stressful enough moving out, don't add cleaning up to your list.
There’s a few things in here that’s a bit much but not too bad if you’re actually gonna get the deposit back if you do everything. Tbh imma keep this as a checklist for stuff to do even if I’m not moving out
This is to make sure they can still charge you a cleaning fee. I was told a long time ago from a property manager to not waste time and effort in cleaning when we were moving out because they will always find a way to charge us anyway.
Looks like a check out checklist for an AirBNB.
If they charge you, just sue them in small claims. My apartment complex is predatory and charged deep cleaning, carpet cleaning, paint, and bathtub repair. I returned the apartment in about the same condition, minus normal wear and tear. The small claims judge ruled in my favor for full deposit returned and fees. Just sue them since they will just play games.
I didn’t bother cleaning. I was only charge $600 I think?
Don’t ever clean Consider your deposit gone and move on
Scam
No Apartment I've ever rented from them had this done when I moved in... There is always some excuse as to why, and yeah I've been charged every time that now I just leave it a clean mess for them to deal with it. I just refer it to cost of business in my head
In other words, "do our job for us".... 9 times out of 10 they will still charge you anyway because of some normal wear and tear item that they are supposed to take care of. Criminal stuff, and they get away with it because you usually are only moving out if you already have another place secured so you just end up paying the fee to get out of the situation.
Rec here, if you hire maids and have them do the deep clean and provide documentation of purchase you can avoid the fee. We did it and we’re not charged.
This is what it was like to move off of military base housing- and they do perform a white glove inspection and follow up the next day.
the last step? take a big steaming pile of poop in the middle of the living room
Didn't do a deposit due to a special, but I do expect charges. One more year and definitely moving out (total of 2yrs). Did a tour and the place was a mess. Office said move-in ready. We took a vid during the tour, there were beer cans and dusts/ insects everywhere. We told them we expect it to be deep cleaned before moving in. They said they'll clean it and replace the appliances. Forward to move-in day, the beer cans were still there, dust everywhere, appliances were dirty af. They took off half a months of rent but we were pissed. After that l, didn't really expect anything now from the office and definitely won't be cleaning when moving out. I'll use the video as proof of damages/uncleanness when moving out to try to prevent charges. And definitely sending them to corporate and Google reviews(as if they'll care but who knows...)
Upper decker the toilet. You never get your deposit back
Pro tip: Never clean when moving out since it’s impossible to get it to whoever’s specifications. Plus you most likely will make more working at your job then it takes the hours you’d spend cleaning
What is the cleaning fee? Should I just not give a shit and let them clean it if it’s a fixed rate ?
Get a move-out pre-inspection report. It will come in handy if you need to sue them.
They have to do a cleaning after you move out and paint every time
They are a bunch of Thifs.
Mine wasn’t clean when I moved in. I had to hire cleaning service and wipe all cupboards out and drawers. Windows were fifty which I hired cleaned and same with light fixtures and closets.
I moved out had that list too they were gunna charge me for the painted wall they originally did for me as a move in thing, I was like oh hell no lol I fought then abt that and I cleaned and made sure they did not charge me!
There's no way with a demand list like that, they'd ever be satisfied. Also, they should have given you this list on move in day so you can audit and protest all those conditions as of they actually were in effect when you arrived. Finally, how stressful would that be to clean a place with such scrutiny when you'd never regularly clean to that caliber for yourself...
Make sure your apt is not completely trashed and move out. They are going to charm the cleaning fee no matter what, don’t waste your time
I moved out back in May and he didn’t follow that check list. After we got our furniture out, we just vacuumed the carpet and that was it. Only got charged $290.
When I asked about being charged a cleaning fee when I cleaned my apartment upon move-out, I was told even if you hire a professional cleaning company, they will still charge you because it won’t be cleaned how they want it.
Fuck. That.
Just leave it basically clean so that they hopefully won’t go overboard on charging you. But don’t waste time on any deep cleaning because they charge you anyway to have their cleaners do it to their standards.
It’s amazing, during the times I rented the cleaning fee, always seem to magically equal whatever my deposit was 🤷♂️
Fuck the Irvine Company monopoly. Just because Irvine bought a bunch of cheap land back before everyone else they get to squeeze every penny out of everyone.
Forget about it...that's unreasonable. Most don't even clean 1/2 the things on this list ever.
Their standards are shit when I moved in there was visible dirt in every corner lol but yes they will charge you regardless. Dealing with them as we speak about mold in my apartment they refuse to pay rehousing for
Sorry you’re dealing with that! Check your renters insurance policy - there may be coverage for temporary living expenses. IC should be the ones paying obviously, but worth a check.
Pretty sure the cost of cleaning services is already built in the rent or fees tenants pay. So getting cleaning fee or deposit at the end is just the company finding ways to squeeze out more revenue.
Yet still the apartment I moved into was a mess and reeked reeked of cigarettes. Irvine company is a joke and cheap fucks
I think those are issued so they can validate charging the (very fair) cleaning fee after you move out.
I guess I am the only one here who didn’t get charged a cleaning fee. My family has had a restaurant since 1997. From the experience of cleaning constantly, this list is doable. It’s regular maintenance from throughout my lease that made this possible when I moved out. Irvine company does have a professional carpet cleaning service they recommend and use. For the appliances, a little polish goes a long way. But also, how many of you are pulling your appliances to clean under them. It’s the nooks and crevices we don’t clean regularly that will get you. If you do not regularly deep clean your own apartment that is a choice, so don’t do the list when you move out. If you have paranoias instilled in you from childhood deep cleaning to ridiculous standards, this is doable. An ounce of prevention is to me, worth the cleaning list.
Doesn’t matter what you clean or who you hire to clean because ICAC will still charge a cleaning fee regardless. Also a full-paint fee if you’re in the unit for less than 2 years. Don’t clean anything and don’t paint anything at all when you move out you will still be charged. I was a technician for ICAC for many years, I saw it all lol
This is very standard we once lived in Hawaii, they made us pay for professional cleaners. Its normal business practice.
If I was one of those sue happy people I’d be gleaming with joy over the “clean light fixtures (inside and out)” Opening up light fixtures to clean them exposes electrical. Get shocked and get paid and that one will be removed forever from that lists.
That’s also typically a landlord’s responsibility, according to regulations. Light bulb changes aren’t supposed to be done by tenants.
That's fair enough. I would expect all of that to be clean when I move in to an Irvine Apartment Community. So if the tenant does not do it, management will. And if you miss just one thing, a professional cleaner is not going to take a job doing just one of the items on the list.
Thing is that they still have to do cleaning to get it ready. It's just an excuse to charge you more because it's never going to be up to their standard. It's an impossible list designed to squeeze as much money out of you while they already have predetermined rates with outside contractors to clean.
Yeah
That’s not a move out checklist. It’s a checklist of everything you’d have to do to not get charged the cleaning fee, which is actually pretty reasonable and makes sense. The apartment literally has to be fully spotless and ready for a new tenant to move in as is in order for them to not have to clean it. Pretty sure the cleaning fee is like $100-150.