Q: I am moving out of a large apartment complex in downtown Seattle, and I have recently been informed that I have to hire my own professional carpet cleaner upon vacating the apartment. There was no mention of this in my lease or when I moved in three years ago. Carpet cleaning seems like it should be covered under "everyday wear and tear," and not come out of my pocket. Do I need to comply with this new requirement?

Q: My question is about paying property taxes on part of our Seattle backyard newly designated as "wetland" because of a creek running through our neighbor's yard. Over the years the "no build" area has grown from 15 feet from the creek to 50 feet. So now one third of our property is unbuildable. Shouldn't this entitle us to a tax break?

Q: A new law requires condo associations to have reserve studies. Does it also apply to zero-lot-line town home communities and co-ops? Also, who does reserve studies and where can I find them?

Q: My condo association hired a construction company to remove our doors and windows, install weather seals then replace everything. The company says it will attempt to contact us twice before construction and if they can't, construction will start anyway. I told the company it couldn't proceed unless I'm home because I'm concerned about my cats. They wouldn't agree. Are my civil rights being trampled? Do I need to get a restraining order?

Q: When my father died May 2 he was renting a house in Anacortes. His rent was paid up for May. I flew out immediately from Tennessee, packed up my dad's stuff, and turned in the keys on June 1. The house was the best that I could do under the circumstances, although there were a few items left and things that needed to be done. I told the management company and let them know that I was going to need for them to take care of the rest.

How can they hold the security deposit? Can they charge June's rent when I've returned the keys? And are there any laws to help deceased renters?

Q: We hired a contractor to reconstruct some exterior stairs. That contractor's foreman hired a subcontractor to do the work. It's now complete but the city building inspector won't sign off because the work isn't up to code. The sub says he did the job based on the instructions he received from the foreman and won't do any more work until we pay him for what he's done so far. There's no written contract and the foreman quit. The contractor is advising me to work something out with the subcontractor or retain another contractor to complete the work. Am I obligated legally to pay the subcontractor for the work done? I'm concerned I'll pay $3,600 for "out of code" work, then have to pay again to get what I wanted in the first place.

Q: Two homes in our neighborhood are in foreclosure and the owners have stopped maintaining their yards. This violates our homeowners association (HOA) covenants. Can our association require the banks that are foreclosing to maintain these yards until the homes are sold? If not, what can we do to bring the yards into compliance?

Noting that King County home prices are declining yet his property taxes recently increased 10 percent, a Redmond reader asks:
"Could you please ask the King County assessor to explain himself?"

A recent post, "messy homeowner has neighbors up in arms," drew response from readers who've dealt with similar situations. Here's how they handled this problem.