Ca - Landlord Charging Illegal Carpet Cleaning Fees After Move Out, Pay Under Protest?
Location: CA.
in California, landlord is charging me ~300 for professional carpet cleaning, with no photographic evidence since the carpet is perfectly clean, just some flattening due to furnitue and normal use of the unit. They are just saying that is the normal procedure they follow after move out, and I have already sent a formal demand letter. The law is pretty clear that this isn't allowed:
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1950.5&lawCode=CIV
The landlord shall not require a tenant to pay for, or assert a claim against the tenant or the security for, professional carpet cleaning or other professional cleaning services, unless reasonably necessary to return the premises to the condition it was in at the inception of tenancy, exclusive of ordinary wear and tear.
The thing is, my deposit was only $99, so I owe them money, and they're threatening to send the bill to collections.
Since they would need to owe me money to sue in small claims court, is paying under protest and then filing a suit in small claims the right way to go about this? I don't want to deal with collections or a possible hit to my credit.
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