Can A Landlord Charge You For Carpet Replacement

In some states the landlord may bring legal action against a former tenant if the damage exceeds the security deposit.

Can a landlord charge you for carpet replacement.

You have a right to complete a check in check out form but no right to a walk through. But when it comes to a carpet that is badly stained or damaged a landlord can charge a tenant for cleaning costs or even to replace the entire carpet if it s that badly damaged or stained and they can do it by withholding all or part of the security deposit. Receipts if your landlord will replace the carpet in your rental unit then he must provide you with a copy of the receipts of the charges that they deducted on your security deposit. Landlords often deduct the cost of damages to the rental property from the security deposit then refund the remainder to the tenant.

A landlord cannot deduct the cost of repainting or replacing. He may also bill you for any additional funds needed. If you ve damaged the carpet the landlord is not likely to replace it on his dime. Additionally tenants cannot be held responsible for defects in the carpet that existed before they moved in.

In most cases landlords should not charge tenants for a standard carpet cleaning. Also it is illegal for your landlord to charge for carpet replacement when the carpet only suffered from normal wear and tear. In fact he is entitled to deduct damages from your security deposit. Using the same example with a life expectancy of nine years and if a replacement carpet of similar quality would cost 2 000 the landlord could properly charge only 222 22 for only one years worth of life use that would have remained if the tenant had not damaged the carpet.

In disputes over security deposits courts have often considered basic carpet cleaning to be part of normal wear and tear. Ordinary wear and tear does not justify a deduction from your deposit. If there are bigger stains lets say they spilled coffee soup or maybe a kid might ve dumped hershey s syrup on the carpet and it didn t come up if there s soiled stains that were beyond normal wear and tear beyond common sense then the landlord can actually charge you to clean that section or if it s bad enough actually replace that section of the carpet at their expense. For example if you put down a 500 security deposit and caused carpet damage that led to 600 in replacement costs the landlord can send you a bill for the remaining 100.

Under california law unless the carpet is visibly damaged and that damage is not the result of normal wear and tear the landlord cannot hold the tenant responsible for the damage or the cost of replacement for the carpet.