COVID-19 adds challenges for cleaning C.O. rental units; costs passed on to renters
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ ) -- The need for new supplies and equipment when cleaning rental homes and apartments between tenants amid the COVID-19 pandemic means higher costs for property management companies. And in turn, that means some renters have to pay more in cleaning charges.
Bend resident Brooke Burns recently moved from an apartment complex on Northeast Third Street. She says she received an invoice from the Asset Protection Property Management that listed all of the fees she’d have to pay in apartment maintenance.
Burns says one of the required payments that caught her eye, in addition to the housecleaning, was a charge noted as a "disinfecting for viruses (including COVID-19)" for $305.
She claims her landlord did not give prior notice about this new fee, nor respond to her email inquiring what it entailed. She says the pandemic has been hard for her, financially, and the additional charges are not helping.
“So on my side of things, there was no way for me to contribute to rent or the COVID cleaning fee, and the new stuff charged to us," Burns said. "My boyfriend’s hours were cut a lot, and he was working about 20 hours a week, and we had just been able to pay rent and get by.
"Now that we moved and paid deposit for a new place, it is extremely hard for us to come up with that money.”
NewsChannel 21 contacted Mark Bellamy, manager of Asset Protection Property Management. He said they haven’t added any new cleaning fees, but in between tenants, they do treat each home with ozone, which has been found to kill COVID-19.
"There are dozens of factors that affect how much it costs to clean a property -- square footage, number of bathrooms and bedrooms, pet odors (dander, oils, urine), human urine/feces on the walls or carpet, cooking odors, crayon on the walls, cigarette smoke, trash or furniture left behind," Bellamy wrote.
"Is the damage so bad that it has to be remediated by repair or replacement, such as replacing drywall that was saturated or carpet that was abused?
"Was it a hoarding situation? Did the tenant cause an insect infestation, such as fleas or roaches? And on and on. Whatever the professional cleaning company invoices to us is what we pass on to the tenant."
NewsChannel 21 also spoke with two cleaning services who shared that due to COVID-19, they have changed disinfectant products.
Pine Country Cleaning and Everclear Cleaning Services both shared that due to the cost of products they use, it can increase the cost of the services to clean homes or businesses.
