Question: A tenant moved out and cleaned everything out of the unit except for an old refrigerator. In our TSSA rental agreement, we didn't list a fee in paragraph 4(o), which is the "charge per hour for removing or cleaning when tenant fails to clean out the unit." We can't charge that fee, but is there another way to recoup disposal costs?
Answer: Your tenant is legally liable for paying your disposal costs. Since you didn't fill in paragraph 4(o), the tenant isn't liable for paying an hourly fee for your cleaning, but is liable for disposal costs. Paragraph 38(c) of the TSSA Rental Agreement holds a tenant liable for all disposal costs for the tenant's failure to remove all contents upon move-out. You can report the tenant's debt—the amount of your disposal cost—to a collection agency. And, if you have a version of the TSSA Rental Agreement (in recent versions, paragraph 11 holds tenants responsible for collection agency fees if you send a 10-day prior notice), the tenant is responsible for all collection agency fees as well. A 10-day prior notice, such as the TSSA form BUS-10, must be used before turning the matter over to the collection agency if you want to hold the tenant liable for the collection agency fees.
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