If you find a property SJC rents that you are in love with, just know going into it, that you will be doing almost as many repairs as if you were buying, and that when you move out, even if you follow their instructions to the letter, they will be keeping hundreds of dollars of your deposit, and won't explain why.
We liked the rental property we lived in, but, like everyone else here, it was rented to us in a deplorable condition. Basically, the entire move-out cleaning checklist had been ignored; when we told them about everything we found, they said, "then you aren't obligated to do those things when you move out."
Because we loved the property and the neighborhood, we stayed, and did the cleaning/lawn maintenance to get it up to par, that should have been done before we moved in.
Red flags began to go up when things like the ice maker broke, and they refused to do anything about it, citing it as "non-essential"; the railing on our porch was rotting, and they wouldn't repair it. Our exterior doors were had such terrible weather-stripping, you could close a rug in the door and not even know it; they refused to repair that, too. It became clear that if we didn't want to live in a run-down home, we would have to do the repairs ourselves.
When we moved out, we did EVERYTHING on the cleaning checklist, and more. Every wall, window, blind, door light fixture and baseboard was washed; I removed every shelf, clip and bracket from the refrigerator, and moved all appliances and swept/mopped underneath; all cabinets and closets were washed; porches and garage were blown out/any cobwebs swept out of remote corners; bathrooms and kitchen were left sparkling and fresh. We then hired the required "licensed carpet cleaning company" to do the carpets, and took pictures of every room and wall to document the breathtakingly spotless condition of the property.
After all that, they charged over $300 for cleaning. They refuse to provide either written or photo documentation of what they they felt was inadequately cleaned.
It really is a brilliant scam they have coordinated with the cleaning company; it seems the cleaning company does NOTHING, then, SJC authorizes hundreds of dollars in cleaning fees to the previous tenant. If the new tenants complain (as we did) when they arrive, with their moving truck, and find a filthy house, SJC will send them back, for maybe an hour's worth of work; otherwise, someone is pocketing a load of money for doing nothing.
My husband and I managed 12 rental units for 2 1/2 years, when someone moved out, we scheduled a walk-through with the departing tenant, to point out any damages/needed cleaning, and would provide documentation of anything else we found in the two weeks after they left, when returning the remainder of their deposit. When a new tenant moved in, we would do a walk-through with them, and have them sign a statement that the unit was in move-in ready condition, with the entire move-out cleaning checklist having been completed; they had two weeks to report anything that had been missed on the checklist. SJC does not do walk-throughs with the tenant on move-in or move-out. read more