can the landlord charge me to change out the carpets when i move out?

Question

i have lived in my apartment for 2.5 years and am getting ready to move out, i know the carpets are going to need to be changed out does anyone know if my landlord is allowed to charge me to change the carpets out?
if they are does anyone know if i am allowed to change this out myself?

Answer 1

He can not charge you for normal wear and tear but if there are stains caused by you that can not be cleaned he can. Less then 3 years is not long to ruin a carpet. If it was like that when you moved in, hopefully you pointed it out otherwise you will be relying on the landlord being a nice person.

Answer 2

As a small landlord, I do expect reasonable wear and tear on things. If you didn't burn holes into the carpet or allow your pet to chew it up or pee on it, it only shows reasonable wear and tear, landlord might take cleaning fee amount for shampooing the carpet but should not charge for any improvements to the unit.

Sometimes landlord might change part of the wall to wall such as the heavy trafficked hallways, etc and not the other rooms.

You stayed 2 1/2 yrs: If the carpet was old when you moved in and by the time you move out looks tired, I would have someone come in and tear it out and change it all and clean and repaint the unit. (We wouldn't put an expensive carpet in the rental unit anyway.) Upgrading the unit makes it easier to find good tenants.

I would suggest not to remove and change carpets without first discussing all this with the landlord if that is what you feel you must do. We have never had (nor expected) our tenants to do that for us. We prefer to choose our own carpet and new window coverings if needed -- after the messy stuff has been done by us (unit thoroughly cleaned and walls painted.)

We've had some holes in the carpet, that can be rewoven if necessary (take a piece of the same kind of carpet out of a less visible spot such as closet) and patched. We have had fireplace sparks put little holes into the carpet by one tenant who failed to put the screen in place, but I fixed it myself. We did take the cleaning deposit for that particular tenant though as they did not leave the unit clean. One couple moved in and first thing they did was put up their own drapes, neatly folded ours, throw down their own carpet in the living room, and stayed for a number of years. She was an immaculate housekeeper (military) and naturally she got all her deposit back.

Answer 3

If there are sever stains and or tears/holes in the carpet caused in the time you lived there yes they can charge you...

If the carpet was in poor condition to begin with when you moved in you may be able to fight it as "wear & tear".

Answer 4

you need to invoke the "normal wear and tear" part of your rental agreement. Before you do that go to a carpet store ,find the type of carpet you have and ask someone what it's normal lfe expectancy is. Go from there

Answer 5

Are the carpets messed up because of you? If not, I would just have them shampooed. That is all the landlord can make you do.

Answer 6

if the carpets where new upon you moving in and you ruined them the landlord can hold your security deposit try a proffessional carpet cleaning service once you get all your stuff out

Answer 7

Depends on the condition the carpets were in when you moved in.

Answer 8

Only if they are grossly misused. I lived in an apartment for 3 years, and the only thing they charged me for was leaving a month before my lease was up.

Answer 9

Only if you have gone above the standard, normal "wear and tear" on the carpet.

Answer 10

Did you put a deposit down? Did you always pay yuor rent on time? Was it damage from a pet that wasn't allowed?