Cleanliness/Neatness Standards for a Tenant

amother

Mon, Nov 11 2019, 6:35 pm

I have an interesting question, and I would love some input.

Has anyone here ever had a landlord impose standards of cleanliness or neatness on them? If so what did you find reasonable?

My landlord showed up to my house randomly yesterday, and I let him in to look at some issues that need to be taken care of. I was in the middle of laundry, cooking, baking, and cleaning. The house was clean (last deep-cleaning on Friday) but messy. Because of some of the issues he came to check, I have been using the guest rooms as storage in lieu of the closets. I knew that it was messy, and he even made a comment “it’s a good thing my wife can’t see this”.

Today, my landlord told my husband that he will “let us break the lease” as he needs to do construction to fix the issues we are having, but that if we choose to stay he must insist that the house be kept tidier even if it means requiring us to get a cleaning lady. He also told my husband that “the house looks like a storage facility instead of a home”.

We already decided that it makes sense for us to move as it will be very difficult to be here for the construction. They need to hit all of the bathrooms, the laundry room, and more. However, I am really hurt by what happened and am looking for feedback. Although I am a working professional, I feel like a big part of my identity is as a wife. Somehow I feel personally affronted by the judgement about my housekeeping skills as well as the comment that my house looks like a storage facility. Obviously, had I known he was coming I would have straightened up that morning instead of putting up the challah dough, the soups, and the laundry.

However, I also have made a lot of effort to prioritize living over cleaning. I will admit that my house never looks like a museum. On the other hand, I think that as a tenant I have the right to live in the premises as I see fit as long as I’m not causing damage. Obviously, if I left food out and caused an infestation or I didn’t clean the toilets, that would be a problem.

Any input?

amother

Bronze

Mon, Nov 11 2019, 7:20 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

You can get evicted if you are a hoarder and the hoarding is out of control, meaning its dangerous for you and a hazard for everyone else to live there. But just a mess is overstepping boundaries unless there is something in the lease that says otherwise. If you are moving out anyway then just let that comment go in one ear and out the other so to speak even if its difficult. You know you are clean and a little mess just means that your house is lived in, not a museum. Good for you!

tweety1

Mon, Nov 11 2019, 7:54 pm

As a landlord I can say that's unacceptable. I would love to know that my tenant keeps her apt clean, but really it's none of my business. I never once stepped into her apt. She did once call my dh to look at something, and I was tempted to ask him if it looks clean but I kept myself back cuz I wanna teach myself and preach to myself that as long as she's not a hoarder to keep my nose out of it. One thing is for sure, if he would take you to court to evict you over such a matter he would lose.