Damage to a Heavily Worn Floor

[vache123]

My question involves a security deposit in the State of: Pennsylvania.

For my last year of college my friends and I leased an old house near campus. The arrangement was such that the landlord would live in the finished attic up.

Fast forward a year, and the floor has a small burn mark; nobody is sure how it occurred but it's here now. The landlord is now charging the four of us for the replacement cost of the linoleum floor in the kitchen. I would see this is a viable solution except that the floor was already very heavily worn. It had multiple gouges, cut marks, and irremovable stains prior to our moving in, and none of us feel that we should be liable for the complete replacement cost for this floor. Clearly we're being taken advantage of.

What is the proper legal action on the landlord's behalf? Additionally, other general cleaning charges (like carpet shampooing) were split five ways, since the landlord lives here too. Should any fee for the rug be split five ways as well? Thank you.

[Mr. Knowitall]

The floor replacement charge should be based upon the depreciated value of the floor.

How you divide the cost of damage you caused between yourself and your roommates is entirely up to the five of you.