Archstone move-out fees

It would seem that Archstone have lost their minds. Today, three weeks after we moved out, I get an email expressing happiness that our move has gone well, and general well-wishes for our health, well-being, etc. Following same is a request for $2,600 in fees for, among other things, drywall repairs and missing closet doors.

Starting with the drywall repairs, first and foremost, the people responsible for destroying drywall in our apartment are in fact the people that run the building. Thankfully, I even took pictures last time around. In fact, the problem became so protracted with these people that Sandy complained, saying that there were problems with the drywall in the apartment. They responded by "inspecting" the apartment, and telling us that the damage had been there "a long time." This of course ignores the fact that they were in there repairing other drywall, and didn't mention the drywall that they assert had been there for a long time. This means they were lying then, or lying now. Either way, it's preposterous that we should pay for repairs to their apartment, when it was they who damaged it.

As far as closet doors, this is actually kind of comical. When we first moved into the apartment, we had decided to turn the second bedroom into a library. In fact, we went to the Container Store and got an estimate for the shelving (which is, of course, still on file). We had asked them to take the closet doors off so that we could simply use the ample closet space as a place with shelves for books (my concerns regarding the huge volume of books we have are, of course, documented). However, they took the closet doors off the master bedroom closets (two, walk-in), and absconded with them. The more we complained about the apartment and the building's poor management, the more they threatened us. Eventually coming in and destroying our bathrooms (only relenting when photos were taken and published on the internet), and threatening to evict us. Finally, they told us they were not going to renew our lease ("exercising their option" to, rather than for any particular claim – we were just difficult). Furthermore, when we were trying to get out of the place, we asked for a little extra time because both of us were sick (thankfully this, too, is documented), and they told us we had better be out by COB the following day, or we would be paying for storage and hotel stays of the new residents (who have not yet moved in).

It's really kind of amazing how this company has treated residents of six years. Over that time, we have paid $119,000 in rent to them. We asked them to perform simple maintenance, to clean up after themselves, and not to threaten us (in the case of the guns). For our trouble, we were threatened with eviction, and eventually forced to move out, and subsequently threatened with a $2,600 bill for damage they made to the apartment. Do other renters normally just roll over for this kind of nitwittery? Do they fall for this kind of abuse from some twenty-two-year-old humanities major from Minnesota? What kind of people fall for this? Is it some sort of preemptive potshot because they can? They must be thinking, we can charge them whatever we want; who would dare stand up against a ten billion dollar company?

Criminy! At least they offered me a payment plan.