State Specific Question About: MINNESOTA (MN)

I have a couple that recently moved of my rental 3 bd house. They claimed that they cleaned the house. But basically all I can see that they did was wipe off the kitchen counter and have a carpet cleaning service come in. The rest of the house has had no cleaning. The house was very clean when they moved in.

I have run into this before, people spend less then 1 hour cleaning when they leave and "their view of a clean house" is not where close to my view of a clean house.

Basically it will take me two days to clean the house.

I'm I able to remove my hours and expense from the security deposit for cleaning? There is no obvious damage that I can see.

Here is the Minnesota legal language regarding returning security deposit, the following is the only clause I see pertaining to this.

"(2) to restore the premises to their condition at the commencement of the tenancy, ordinary wear and tear excepted."

It says ordinary wear and tear excepted? What about the clean state of the house??????????????

If the house is completely clean and move in ready when the tenants arrive.

Do you landlords expect to the house to be in that condition when the tenants leave so it is ready for the next tenants to move with out any cleaning by the landlord/owner?

Or is it expected the landlord/owner to clean after each tenant?

And if you need to clean, do you remove that from the security deposit.

I need a clear answer. I told the tenant the place was nota as clean as when they moved in and his response was, "it is cleaner then when they move in and if I did not agree his sister is a lawyer".

So if I hold any sec dep. I believe I may end up court. But I need to go spent two days cleaning to get it ready for next tenants.

Please advise the tenant is nagging me for his sec. dep. back I have to get it out by the 19th according to the 3 week rule.

MN law says "condition at the commencement of the tenancy". I have no doubt that condition includes cleanliness.

Can you document condition at commencement of tenancy, and also at termination of tenancy?

If yes, then I would not hesitate to have premises cleaned and use security deposit to defray the expense.

I personally cleaned the house prior to these tenants moving in and also paid a cleaner for 2 hours of cleaning.

I was convinced this was normal wear and tear UNTIL you said it would take 2 days to clean.

For this reason we charge a $200 Non-Refundable Exit Cleaning Fee at lease signing. We always send in a pro housekeeper and carpet shampoo guy. They cleaned on the way in and clean on the way out. It takes about the same amount of time to clean a dirty tub or a filthy tub. We charge extra for hauling trash/furniture and painting/repairs.

With this technique, we don't have to argue about what is "clean", "wear & tear", or substantiate such charges before a judge.

If we go to court, we're talking about unpaid rent and obvious repairs.

I clean after tenants leave and only charge the security deposit for such things as dirty oven or refrigerator, excessive touchup for marks and nail holes on walls, and of course real damage. If the tenant had a pet, I get the carpets professionally cleaned and charge the security deposit for that, because the incoming tenants may have allergies and all pets leave dander.