I think my landlord is trying to swindle me and keep my security deposit, even though I have not done anything. Suggestions?

Put a piece of furniture over the stain. She’ll never see it.

She has already seen it and was the one who pointed it out after the maid visit.

Not sure how old the carpet is, she didn't say.

What a dumb post. What do you think the answer is to "Are those damages" if he says "I'm not aware of any damages." It means he hasn't seen any damages. There's no way he can know for sure if there is no damage whatsoever. Pull your head out of your ace and be an adult for once in your life.

Yeah agreed these are bad takes. The onus is on the landlord to prove everything and follow the letter of the law in CA.

maybe she wants you to plow her?

Update: Talked to the landlady to schedule a date for the pre move out inspection.

One thing is that I got the 30 day vacate notice on the 6th. I normally pay rent on the 7th of each month, and I paid my last month's rent in the beginning. This means I have to vacate on the 4th (30 days from the 6th), which means that there is one extra day that I paid for that is not being covered. She seems to not want to give the rent back for that day, should she be doing that?

When I asked about this, she started deflecting and said that the dampness in the room had caused the wooden boards in the closet to be damaged. And she said this would cost a lot to come pull up the boards, look at the damage, and fix it. Is there anything I can do on my own here? I do have a picture of the boards and it doesn't seem to be that bad, but who knows..

What state do you live in? There is usually some law about how a landlord has to handle your security deposit. Did they escrow it and send you monthly interest statements? In Mass if a land lord mishandles your security deposit the damages are 3x the security deposit.

I am in California. I believe here too, if mishandled, you can get 3x the security deposit damage back. I did not get monthly interest statements though.

You are almost certainly not responsible for dampness issues unless you caused them. Many old houses in bay area have these issues. Don't let her charge you to gut the place. Are you going to counter-sue for dampness damage to your belongings?

Rent is confusing. Is it rent for October? Or for the 7th-6th? 100% Should be pro-rated if you are staying less than the assumed payment period.

When you give the keys you should get a check for the rent you haven't 'used'

Update: We did the pre-inspection checkout and I move out in a few days. The checkout, for a 150 sq ft room, took around 2.5 hours as she went over all these instructions on dusting the place, cleaning the walls, bathroom, tub, etc.

She says that the dark spots on the cedar boards (around the rusted nails) and the dark irregular lines on the closet floor are from water/dampness. I asked for an estimate and she refused to say, saying she will give me an itemized receipt. But a while back, she had said something about how she was going to replace the boards and how it would be very expensive.

She also claimed professional cleaning would cost upwards of $200 and seemed to relish saying it was very expensive. I am getting a professional cleaner to do it for about $50, and then I will take full pictures of it. If it's not up to "her standard" but still looks immaculate, that should hold up in court.

Any suggestions about the cedar boards? That's my biggest worry here. I do have a picture from months ago that has those dark spots.

She claims she has pictures she took each time the maid cleaned, but that would make her admit that she went into my room without my permission. If she has a "before" pic, it is essentially her phone against mine.

Why would water/dampness be something you caused? Would't that be a building issue not a renter's issue? Or were you keeping your room unusually damp for some reason?

I don't know either, but she claims that it's due to me and that you can see the damages since I moved in (and that she has picture evidence of the progress over time).

Picture evidence does not mean you caused it if it is a building related issue (i.e. moisture issue). I would argue that a building related issue is something you should be responsible for. If there was a roof leak and there was drywall damage, would you be responsible? No, that would be a landlord expense.

Now, if you had a humidifier in your room next to this wall and caused the water damage, then it would be on you.

Why wrote:

Picture evidence does not mean you caused it if it is a building related issue (i.e. moisture issue). I would argue that a building related issue is something you should be responsible for. If there was a roof leak and there was drywall damage, would you be responsible? No, that would be a landlord expense.

Now, if you had a humidifier in your room next to this wall and caused the water damage, then it would be on you.

Meant to say "I would argue that a building related issue is NOT something you should be responsible for."

In a number of your posts you have suggested that because there was no pre move in inspection, she can't prove that you caused any damage. This is the wrong way to think about it for 2 reasons. 1, you have no idea what proof she does or doesn't have that the damage occurred while you were the tenant. Maybe she performed a pre-move in inspection without you. Maybe she has pictures. It doesn't matter what it is, the point is you don't know. 2. She is already in possession of the security deposit. If it comes down to your word versus hers, you are the one that is going to have to sue her. Even if she has no proof, it's not like she just has to give the security deposit back. She will simply send your deposit back with an itemized charge withheld for carpet damage, and you'll need to sue her and win to get it back.

She claimed that it would cost $300+ for a single bedroom professional cleaning, which I could otherwise do on my own. I have quotes for $50 and will get it cleaned that way and take lots of pictures after.

The cost that I'm worried will be really high is this whole business of replacing the cedar boards.