depositguide

Deductions

My landlord says ‘professional cleaning’ took my whole deposit — is that legal?

The short answer: maybe for some cleaning, almost never for the whole deposit. A landlord can generally charge for cleaning beyond ordinary tidiness — but the unit has to have actually needed it, the price has to be reasonable and documented with an invoice, and they can’t charge for cleaning and replacing the same carpet. “Professional cleaning — $900” with no invoice, no photos of the mess, and a unit you left broom-clean is a deduction you should challenge in writing.

When cleaning charges are legitimate

  • The unit was left genuinely dirty beyond normal use — caked grease, filthy bathrooms, trash left behind.
  • The lease required professional cleaning (some leases do — read yours) and you didn’t do it.
  • The amount matches a real invoice from a real cleaning company.

When they’re not

  • No invoice, no photos. Ask for both in writing. “Trust me, it was dirty” is not an accounting.
  • The price is absurd. A $700 cleaning bill for a studio apartment deserves an invoice and an explanation.
  • Cleaning and replacement. If the carpet was replaced, there was nothing to clean. If the unit was repainted, the walls didn’t need cleaning either. Double-dipping is one of the most common deposit-list tricks.
  • Routine turnover cleaning. Getting a unit ready for the next tenant — the standard clean between renters — is a cost of doing business, not your deposit. The charge has to reflect your mess, beyond ordinary.
  • You have move-out photos. Timestamped photos of a clean unit end this argument. What to document before you leave →

How to fight it

  1. Ask for the invoice and photos in writing. “Please provide the cleaning company’s invoice and photos showing the condition that required professional cleaning.”
  2. Compare against your own photos. If your move-out photos show a clean unit, say so and attach them.
  3. Check the lease. Did it actually require professional cleaning, or just that you leave the unit clean?
  4. Flag double-dipping. List every overlapping charge (cleaning + replacement, cleaning + painting) in your dispute.
  5. Dispute the remainder in writing with a specific dollar amount and deadline. The line-by-line dispute method →
The “cleaning fee” vs. the deposit Some leases include a separate nonrefundable cleaning fee on top of the deposit. That’s a different animal — but a landlord can’t charge the fee and deduct cleaning from your deposit for the same work. And in some states, nonrefundable fees labeled as deposits are treated as deposits anyway.

Related guides

Informational only — not legal advice.

Security-deposit rules are state law, and they differ a lot from one state to the next. Check your state’s tenant-rights resources or talk to a local tenant-rights organization or attorney before acting. Nothing on this site creates an attorney-client relationship.