Offer your thoughts or opinion on the input financial query or topic using your financial background.

The cost of cleaning the house that we rented far exceeds the security deposit. Should we bother?
I am surprised at the amount of work this contract wants done.  I'd question if it's even legal given the high costs.  I suspect it's only there to remind abusive tenants of responsibilities they already have in law for extraordinary abuse beyond ordinary wear-and-tear: they are already on the hook to repaint if they trash the paint (think: child writing on walls, happens a lot), and already need to fumigate (and a lot more) if they are a filth-type hoarder who brings in a serious infestation (happens a lot).  The landlord can already go after these people for additional money beyond the deposit.   But that's not you.  So don't freak out about those clauses, until you talk to the landlord and see what he's really after.  Almost certainly, he really wants a "fit and ready to rent" unit upon your departure, so he doesn't have to take the unit off the market for months fixing it.  As long as that's done, there's no reasonable reason for further work -- a decent landlord wouldn't require that.  Nor would a court, IMO.  The trouble with living in a place for awhile is you become blind to its deficiencies.  What's more, it's rather difficult to "size up" a unit as ready when it's still occupied by your stuff.  A unit will look rather different when reduced to a bare room, without furniture and whatnot distracting you.  Add to it a dose of vanity and it becomes hard to convince yourself of defects others will easily see.  So, tread carefully here.  If push comes to shove, first stop is whether it's even legal.   Cities and states with heavy tenant populations tend to have much more detailed laws, and as a rule, they favor the tenant.   Right off the bat, in most states the tenant is not responsible for ordinary wear-and-tear.  In my opinion, 6 years of ordinary, exempt wear would justify a repaint, so that shouldn't be on the tenant at all.  As for the fumigation, I'm not in Florida so I don't know the deal, maybe there's some special environmental issue there which somehow makes that reasonable, it sure wouldn't fly in CA.  Again that assumes you're a reasonable prudent tenant, not a slob or hoarder.  As for the pro carpet cleaning, that's par for the course in any of the tough rent control areas I've seen, so that's gotten a pass from the legislators.  Though $600 seems awfully high.  Other than that, you can argue the terms are "unconscionable" -- too much of a raw deal to even be fair.  However, this will depend on the opinion of a judge. Hit or miss.  I'm hoping your landlord will be happy to negotiate based on the good condition of the unit (which he may not know; landlords rarely visit tenant units unless they really need to.) You certainly should make the case that you make here; that the work is not really needed and it's prohibitive.  Your best defense against unconscionable deals is don't sign them.  Remember, you didn't know the guy when you initially signed... the now-objectionable language should have been a big red flag back then, saying this guy is epic evil, run screaming. (even if that turned out not to be true, you should't have hung around to find out.)  You may have gotten lucky this time, but don't make that mistake again.  Unless one of the above pans out, though... a deal is a deal.  You gave your word.  The powerful act here is to keep your word.  Forgive me for getting ontological, but successful people say it creates success for them.  And here's the thing. You have to read your contracts because you can't keep your word if you don't know what word you gave.  It's a common mistake: thinking good business is trust, hope, faith, submission or giving your all.  No.   In business, you take the time to hammer out mutually beneficial (win-win) agreements, and you set them on paper to eliminate confusion, argument and stress in the future as memories fade and conditions change.  That conflict resolution is how business partners remain friends, or at least professional colleagues.