I am sitting here at work in tears, trying to hold it all in. I just received a phone call from my apartment complex, stating that during a mandatory bed bug inspection, our place was found dirty and if not cleaned we could get kicked out. We don't have bed bugs, a neighbor does, but we were inspected to make sure the bugs hadn't spread. Apparently an apartment representative was also there as well, and reported us after he saw the condition of our apartment.
Thing is, I am so clueless. I knew ahead of time they were coming, and I cleaned the place spotless. Or so I thought. I vacuumed the entire apartment, swept and actually got down on my hands and knees to scrub the floors with a scrubber, and cleaned the bathroom, wiped up counters, and cleaned the litter box. I even went as far as to get out my hand vacuum and vacuum under the furniture and under the cushions and around the beds. I had to ask this apartment manager exactly what they had found wrong. She was very vague and wouldn't answer me. All she kept saying was, "Well it's dirty."
I told her I needed a detailed explanation, and she told me she didn't have time to list each and every thing that was wrong. That's just BS. There couldn't be that many things wrong with my apartment that she couldn't take the time to tell me what they were. I persisted. This is the answer I got, "the carpets are dirty, the litter box was full, and there was litter on the floor." I completely cleaned out the litter box the night before the inspection, so there is not possible way it was full of anything than mostly clean litter. Of course there is going to be some litter around the litter box. The cats cover up their mess and the litter sometimes spills onto the carpet.
We only have one litter box. It is in the bedroom. Granted, there was a little bit of litter surrounding the box that the vacuum wouldn't pick up, but in no way was the litter "all over the floor." As for the carpet, we have lived there for five years and in that time there have been some spills, spills that would not come out unless I got the whole carpet cleaned. In the past, whenever we have moved, they have had to take out the carpet and replace it. They always take it out of my deposit. It's understandable. I expect it. But seriously isn't a stained carpet considered normal wear and tear?
When I tried to explain all of this to the lady, she didn't want to hear any of it. I told her quite bluntly that I need to know exactly what to do to keep my apartment. She kept saying, "I don't know." I told her I had no clue what else to do other than scrub down the whole place with a toothbrush. She had no answer. She asked me if I was going to be home tomorrow so they could do the inspection. I told her absolutely not, I will be at work, and I need way more than a half a day's notice to have my apartment insepected. She then told me she was going to contact her supervisor, and go from there.
I broke down at work, had to go to the restroom, and cry. I have cleaned myself up a bit, and now I'm back at my desk still fighting off tears. If we lose this apartment, we lose everything. My credit has become SO bad over the last five years, my own bank has shut down my accounts and credit cards and I have about ten negative things on my credit report. There is no way I will be accepted for another apartment. Not to mention, I can't afford a deposit.
I don't know what to do. We will have to go back to motel living, something I always promised my kids we would never do again since their dad left us. I worked hard to get us back from being homeless. We are now facing that again. Worse yet, we will lose our cats. They are my therapy cats. I need them to help my anxiety. My son and my cats are what help me most to keep going and pushing hard to make it. I know I keep repeating myself, but I seriously have no idea what they want!! Do I even have any recourse for this?
