419 Rentals, Kaizen Investments, LLC, 419Rentals Lied at lease signing, withheld deposit money, poor home condition, overcharged Toledo, Ohio Ohio

I moved to the area for a new job and found a cute enough home to rent, the carpets were a mess and when I asked the woman showing us the house if the owner new about the condition of the carpets she said "oh, yes absolutely." I began to write down the stains then asked if I needed to continue since he (the owner) was aware of the conditions of them, and she said not to worry about any of the carpets, and she was sorry, there were two big dogs living there previously. I made the mistake of trusting her...

Towards the end of my lease they would contact me to see if they could show the house, which I happily obliged. The woman who was to show the house was almost very late and I showed it to the perspective renters and talked to them before she even showed up.

I moved out a week early (still paying full rent of course) and let the landlord know so he could show the house, inspect it or anything he needed to do. 

I asked if everything was set on my end and if I could still expect to get my deposit back... He said "Yes, it should be arriving any day". After checking in 3 times I finally got my deposit back two weeks (13 days) late (legally landlords must give your deposit back within 30-days of move out.)  There were two charges which I understood, two screens (which may or may not have been from my time there but I didn't argue because it hadn't been noticed during my signing) to be replaced and a bolt had come free during a storm on the screen door which needed to be fixed.

I text and emailed him, once he finally got back to me he said that the carpets were heavily soiled and I was charges $145 for their cleaning... When I brought up my point he said they were much worse and only the living room had been noted... I was SHOCKED, and continued to tell me how filthy and unlivable they were, interesting because they were just fine taking my money for me to live there. He then sent me photos as "proof" which I don't really know what it accomplished because I know what they looked like? Family members commented on them and I assured them that there was an understanding regarding them.

Another $150 was taken for cleaning, the oven was dirty but the rest of the house was clean, my sister and her fiancé came through to help and have a second set of eyes in case I did miss anything! He proceeded to tell me how filthy the other parts of the house were... Which I think was to make me feel ashamed, what a coward. There wasn't ANYTHING that would have cost $150 to clean, not to mention there was nothing indicating in the lease that the house needed to be to a professional standard... He then went on to accuse me of not wanting to assume responsibility for anything?

At this point he wasn't making any sense so I screen shot my previous comments about understanding the screen and door and resent it. Then he stopped texting me until the next day right after I asked for invoices. He then told me again that it was filthy and the "cleaning lady needed to make a living wage"... I'm not sure where that came from still? Legally tenants are to leave the unit with nothing beyond normal wear and tear... which I assure you my "filth" did not exceed. But good for him, I footed the bill for all of the carpets to be cleaned and the house being professionally cleaned when I had no idea going in I would assume responsibility for these services.

At the end of the day I really just don't want to see someone else lied to or taken advantage of. Please consider another property owner if moving to the Toledo area. Until now I always thought it was because of renters that people hated renting but now I understand it's because of things like this.