When Your Roommate's 'Guest' Never Leaves

Q My roommate's girlfriend has been living with us for a few months now and isn't paying rent. It's not that she is staying with us occasionally; she has moved in. I thought it would be a few weeks, but that obviously isn't the case. To make things worse, I suspect she is an illegal immigrant. I'm ending my part of the lease early; the management company said that as long as I could find someone to pay a security deposit and sign onto the lease, that would be fine. The thing is, I don't want to stick some poor soul in this situation -- living in a two-bedroom apartment with two people but paying the same amount as the other two combined. I tried to get my roommate to have his girlfriend pay rent, but he just went nuts on me and said she doesn't share any common space with me and she's never around. I'm just at wits' end. Should I tell the management company that his girlfriend is living there and that she might be illegal? (We're required to inform them of roommate changes.) -- Arlington

AWell, kudos to you at least for getting yourself out of a situation that has you at wits' end. You did well in trying to solve your problem with your roommate first and in deciding to leave when that approach didn't work. Now, you should find someone to replace you in the apartment as soon as possible so your animosity toward your roommate and his girlfriend does not build up further.

It is up to you to tell any future tenants that your roommate often has a girlfriend staying over. Her potential illegal immigrant status is not really the issue here, but rather that you did not expect to live with two roommates and pay half of a rent that you think should be split three ways.

Perhaps if you had known beforehand, you would not have so much resentment toward your roommate and the way he is handling the situation. So you should assume the same of any potential renters, and tell them what to expect. That way you can let someone enter the situation and still walk away with both your security deposit and a guilt-free conscience.

When you move out, you could ask your resident manager whether the extended stay of your roommate's girlfriend has violated the company's guest policy. In doing so, you can leave the problem in management's hands. That way you can focus your energy on finding a better living situation.

Then, the landlord can decide how to screen your roommate's guest and whether to ask her to either apply for tenancy or to end her long-term visits.

Incidentally, in screening applicants, it is within landlords' rights to ask people if they are legal residents of the country, as long as they ask everybody, said Michael Semko, a lawyer for the National Apartment Association in Alexandria. Semko said landlords have many reasons for wanting to know this information other than policing, including wanting to determine whether to grant concessions to people (such as a free month's rent) who might be around for only a short time.

How clean should you leave an apartment when your lease is up? I have cleaned the apartment well, leaving it in the same state it was in when I moved in. However, my landlord accused me of not cleaning. I have taken pictures to prove otherwise. The place is very clean. This is causing me stress I don't need. I should point out that he is the most obsessed person I have met about cleaning and neatness. -- Washington

The general rule is that you must leave your apartment in the condition you found it, save any ordinary wear and tear. So, legally, you need to make sure your apartment is reasonably clean -- what some refer to as "broom clean" -- before you move out.

Tell your landlord that you have pictures that show you are leaving the unit as clean as it was when you moved in. Because degree of cleanliness is often a matter of opinion, it would serve tenants well if they had such evidence of their move-in conditions to ensure that a landlord does not deduct money from the security deposit for cleaning services. Generally, landlords are supposed to be reasonable in their cleaning expectations, so an obsessive-compulsive neat-freak landlord may be asking too much.

With pictures, witnesses and a move-in checklist that was signed by the landlord, if need be, a tenant could verify for a judge that the beginning and end picture of an apartment look the same.

But before it comes to this, it would be a good idea for departing tenants to write a letter to the landlord outlining their cleaning plans: that you will mop the kitchen floors, vacuum all the rugs, wash the walls, clean the appliances, etc. If a landlord wants you to do more, or deems it unnecessary for you to vacuum the rugs because he plans to replace them, then you will know what is expected. If your landlord does not respond to your cleaning plans and later accuses you of not cleaning thoroughly enough, you will have evidence that your landlord is being unreasonable.

Your letter can also include details of apartment conditions pre- and post-move-out.

Assuming you do a decent job of leaving your place clean, your landlord should not withhold money from your security deposit for cleaning, even if he plans to hire a cleaning service after you leave to meet his own standards.

Do you know if there are laws about when potential renters can visit your apartment once you have given notice to your building? -- Arlington

There are laws that require landlords to give notice before entering their tenants' apartments for non-emergency reasons. In Virginia, landlords must give their tenants one day's notice. Laws vary by jurisdiction, but generally landlords have to give 24 to 48 hours' notice to access occupied units for regular maintenance, inspection or viewing by prospective tenants.

Even if the landlord is eager to re-rent your apartment in the last month of your tenancy, he must give you notice. In many cases, outgoing tenants may agree to allow their landlords to show the apartment with less than the required notice. But landlords can do so only if tenants specifically agree to a looser notification system regarding last-minute showings.

Basically, landlords are supposed to respect residents' privacy at all times by providing as much notice as possible (or at least by complying with the law). The only reason they should enter unannounced is if there is an emergency that requires immediate attention, such as fire, flooding or gas leak.

Do you have questions, comments or ideas about apartment life? Contact Sara Gebhardt via e-mail at gebhardts@washpost.comor by mail, c/o Real Estate Editor, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.