My dear friends, I am in the middle of Moving Madness. I’m mostly packed but still need to finish with what’s in my closet and taking apart the furniture, etc. And dealing with the new landlady. When I toured the apartment, it was with a broker who didn’t tell us which pieces of furniture came with the apartment. Apparently, a LOT of the furniture comes with the apartment. This would be ok if I didn’t have my own furniture, but I’m a grown-up and I have things. One of the things I have is a double bed with a double mattress that I want to keep. The landlady wants me to take her queen sized mattress, for which I have absolutely no use. Now, is it wrong of me to be totally grossed out by the idea of taking a stranger’s mattress? I think this thing has been used by other tenants before me, and I’d have to get rid of my bed and buy a new bedframe to use it. I do not want to sleep on the floor like a broke-ass college student, because I’ve been there and done that and those days are over.
I’m paying good money for this apartment and I want it to be mine. I don’t want to sleep on somebody else’s icky-ness. What do I do? The apartment is roomy, but not big enough to store a queen mattress somewhere without it totally being in the way. What do I dooooo??
chain it to the ceiling. granted, you’ll need a fix-it friend or to hire someone, but if you can find the crossbeams in the ceiling and screw hooks in, get a chain and stick that shit in a corner! it also acts as a noise barrier… and conversation piece?
But the lights are in the ceiling!
Unless it was discussed prior to you accepting the apartment that you would be required to keep this mattress is the apartment, you are well within your rights to inform your landlady that you will be using your own bed and mattress. The landlord is free to allow you the use of furnishings, but if nothing was said beforehand, they cannot force you to keep things in the apartment that you don’t want, especially something unhygienic like a mattress…
When you rent an apartment you have no obligation to keep the stuff that the landlord left there. You can inform the landlord that it needs to be removed and discuss removal. In the case of a mattress, if the landlord refuses to take it away, it can be thrown out.
I din’t think I would consider sleeping one someone else’s mattress, especially when I have my own mattress to use.
You may feel bad asking the landlord to take the stuff away, but you really shouldn’t. You rent the apartment, and you expected you bring your own stuff. The landlord doesn’t get to rent you the place without saying anything and then force a bunch of furniture down your throat to avoid having to actually empty out the apartment or pay for storage charges.
The conversation shouldn’t be “would you please let me use my own stuff” but rather “I am going to be using my own mattress and X, Y and Z items of furniture. Therefore I do not need the mattress or A, B and C items of furniture in the apartment. When would you be able to pick these items up?” If she refuses to pick them up, explain that you have furniture and did not rent the apartment to have to put all your stuff in storage. If the items HAD to stay, you should have been informed beforehand.
Why thank you, Rob!