My fiance and I have recently bought a house and moved out of our apartment. When we did the final walk through at the apartment they said their only concern was a small dirt stain in the living room and a small stain in my son's bedroom that I'm pretty sure was spilled pop. Both of the stains I'm sure would've come out with carpet cleaning they even said that the stains should come out; but today we just got a bill from them saying they had to replace all the carpet and they're keeping our $300 deposit and we owe them another $400 that they want in 7 days or they'll send this to collections. Is there anything that we can do to fight this? Or can we atleast demand that they give us the old carpet since we're paying for it?
2007-10-19 19:30:17 · 9 answers · asked by Kristen 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Renting & Real Estate
the carpet is 4 years old and already had obvious wear and tear and a big bleach stain when we moved in. They also don't state anywhere in the paperwork that they gave me that they can charge beyond the damage deposit
2007-10-20 09:11:20 · update #1
it depends on what state your in but you are entitled to an offset in most states for normal wear and tear. i would call a law school in your area and see if they have a legal aid program. you may have a good case just not worth the cost for a regular lawyer to take, but it is complicated somewhat so you don't want to take it to small claims court. i am positive that the law school closest to you has a clinic program to help you for free or little cost. good luck and stand up for your rights. the apartment is trying to get you to pay for a new carpet. that is wrong
2007-10-19 19:35:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
It's called normal ware and tear. Even if the carpet was brand new when you moved in, landlords know that a tenant has the right to normal ware and tear with carpet. If their only concern was some spots, they can have the carpet cleaned and do "spot treatments" to remove the spots. I'm a property owner and manage my own properties and their was an instance where a tenant spilled cranberry juice on the new carpet, when she moved out we had the spot treated but it still wasn't to my satifaction so I had the small stain cut out and replaced it w/ a new piece of carpet. Once the new peice was installed properly you couldn't even tell where the seam began or ended. They are trying to run a scam on you.
By the way, my husband is a car salesman for Toyota and they use a spray called PRO FINISH SPOTTER PLUS to remove tough stains from the interior of used cars. I just used it about a week ago on a red wine stain that was 7 months old and it came out completely. It's in a white spray can w/ a black top.
2007-10-20 05:20:49 · answer #2 · answered by glendaokoeguale 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This is a typical scam. You must send a certified letter/RR challenging the property's decision, and denying their allegation, but you have to find out more from your state's laws on the topic. Be sure to include that you demand your deposit back, that the lease covers carpet cleaning, and that you reserve your right to take legal action if the deposit is not returned within the statutory time limit. Also, let them know that they should not sell this debt until the matter is cleared up.
If they sell your debt in an unreasonable amount of time, or without sufficient effort to resolve the matter, you can sue them.
If they take you to court, go. Sue them for whatever amount you are allowed. Often it's beyond the deposit amount. They never have proof, and they will probably only send some lawyer without any witnesses such as the property manager. They lose as long as you don't listen to the lawyer, don't listen during the mediation, and keep asserting your right to see the judge. The lawyer will show you photos, the lease, etc. It's all inadmissible because...he's the lawyer, not a witness. If the property manager arrives, so what? You said it's just two little stains, right? Like you said, that's covered in your lease.
About Acermill's response. He is the landlord, and probably showed up to court. He probably also brought evidence such as pictures. Yes, that's enough to win, but you stated you are dealing with an apartment complex, not an individual landlord. In my experience, no witnesses nearly ever show, and when they did, they never had pictures, etc., just a bill which proves nothing. Everyone even said that the carpet is probably in a landfill somewhere. No carpet, no pictures, no case. They rely on you not to assert your right to speak to the judge. It is clear some of the respondents do not pay attention to the fact pattern.
2007-10-19 19:47:30 · answer #3 · answered by Legend 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
This will be a difficult argument to win. Upon vacating premises, landlords are required to allow for 'normal wear and tear' on carpets. Stains or tears in carpet don't qualify as normal wear and tear, which is defined as normal degradation of the carpet from normal use (walking on it). If a good cleaning did not remove these stains from the carpets, the landlord is entitled to charge the cost of replacement without any sort of allowance for wear you caused while using same.
You can ASK for the old carpet, but my guess is that it is already in a landfill somewhere.
It appears that some of the other respondents have not gone through this process, but I have....NUMEROUS times, and I have yet to lose in a small claims court.
What you SHOULD have done is had the carpets cleaned yourself at vacating time. Then you would KNOW whether or not the stains were removed or removable. Hindsight, but it won't help now.
2007-10-20 00:56:43 · answer #4 · answered by acermill 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
$700.00 for 2 rooms of carpet is very cheap. I own rentals and just putting commercial carpet in one room was $900.00 with padding. If he put in 2 rooms of carpet and padding, you can bet he paid more than $700.00. So you got a reduction on the age of the ruined carpet. Be grateful that you didnt have to pay for the real cost.
Why didnt you clean the carpet when you moved? They were up front and told you of their concerns on the carpet and evidently the stains wouldnt come out and they had to replace it. You were warned at the time of the walk through. And you havent mentioned any other damage, so its all carpet. They didnt hit you up for any trumped up damages. They are up front with you and have treated you fairly.
As far as getting the carpet, its probably in the trash and all ripped up. Pay your damages before he gets a money judgement in court, which will go on your credit reports and stay there for 7 to 10 yrs.
2007-10-20 03:14:40 · answer #5 · answered by kimmamarie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Even if they had to replace the carpet, you should only be charged the pro-rated cost. Do you know how old the carpet was? Typical apartment carpet has a max life expectancy of 5 years -- and that is stretching it.
Dispute the charge, pointing out the depreciated value of the carpet. Ask for a copy of the bill.
2007-10-19 22:27:50 · answer #6 · answered by bdancer222 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Was the carpet new when you moved in? If so, you're probably stuck with the bill. But ask for verification of the cost. If the carpret was already worn, negotiate for a pro-rated cost since, as the previous poster says, they would have soon replaced it anyway.
2007-10-19 22:50:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Well it's pretty obvious, offer to return to the apartment and clean the carpet for them, you can rent a carpet cleaner for around $30, much cheaper than paying $700.
2007-10-19 19:34:36 · answer #8 · answered by froggy010101 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Acermill is exactly right!
2007-10-20 02:47:22 · answer #9 · answered by brandyrhi 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋