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Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor

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  • 08-26-2015, 01:05 PM
    Kalian
    Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: TX, Williamson County

    Hello all. I recently leased a home for 18 months. We left a security deposit for $1495 + 500 pet deposit for a total of $1995.

    We kept the house in immaculate condition. One week prior to lease end we cleaned, vacuumed and steam cleaned the entire house and did a walk through with our landlord the following day. He had 0 complaints about the property, so we turned over the keys and bid farewell.

    After 30 days of not hearing from the landlord I sent him an email asking about our security deposit. He then informed me that his new tenant was complaining about an odor coming from the carpet in the living room. To appease the new tenant he had the carpet steam cleaned which he billed me for.

    After the steam cleaning session the new tenant was still complaining about an odor and so the landlord decided to replace the carpet in the entire house. Because he is so generous (ha!) he only billed me for the carpet downstairs for about $900.

    He sent me an itemized bill

    $185.28 for steam cleaning a carpet he replaced
    $958.8 for replacing a 10 year old carpet downstairs

    I didn't receive a check until 34 days after I moved out.

    Now I'm lost on what to do.

    1. What do I do now? Do I cash the check for $850 and take him to court for the rest?
    2. Do I even have a case? I tried contacting a real estate lawyer but he was absolutely no help (I'm assuming case is too small?).

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks in Advance,

    Paul
  • 08-26-2015, 05:50 PM
    llworking
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Tell the truth...not to us here but to yourself.

    If your pet peed on the carpet, even if you got it steam cleaned, then accept fault, cash the check and move on.

    If your pet did not pee on the carpet, then by all means take your landlord to court for the remaining deposit. Or, if the carpet was clearly quite old anyway, then take your landlord to court anyway because you would only have been responsible for the depreciated value of the carpet.
  • 08-26-2015, 05:52 PM
    gail in georgia
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    1. How do you know the carpet was 10 years old?

    2. What type of pets did you have?

    3. Keep in mind that folks with pets often become immune to their pets odors. And steam cleaning a carpet and doing a walk through the next day will often NOT pick up odors that remain in carpet pads/floors/subfloors at that time. It is only later that any remaining odors will become obvious. In some cases the carpet, padding, floors and subfloors have to be replaced to remove the offending odors.

    If you disagree with what was kept from your security deposit, you can consider writing a demand letter to the landlord, demanding what you believe you are fairly owed and giving them a certain amount of time (say, two weeks) to remedy the situation. If no success, then your next step is to consider a lawsuit over the matter. Such lawsuits are typically handled through Small Claims court where you would represent yourself and would not need to hire an attorney to present your case.

    Keep in mind that in cases such as disputes over pet odors the landlord will often keep a piece of the carpet and/or padding in a zip lock bag to present as evidence to the court regarding the odor. In some cases (especially when the former tenants have had cats) the odor upon opening these bags is enough the clear the court room.

    Gail
  • 08-26-2015, 06:02 PM
    adjusterjack
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Quote:

    Quoting Kalian
    View Post
    Do I cash the check for $850 and take him to court for the rest?

    If you cash the check it'll mean you have accepted a settlement and there won't be any court because settlements are enforceable.

    If you want to take him to court, send the check back and sue him.

    Quote:

    Quoting Kalian
    View Post
    Do I even have a case?

    There's two possibilities:

    1 - Read the TX security deposit statute starting with 92.102 at:

    http://law.justia.com/codes/texas/20...-8/chapter-92/

    If he hasn't followed the statute TO THE LETTER then you could be entitled to the entire security deposit back.

    2 - He would only be entitled to the depreciated value of the carpet. If it really was 10 years old, he'd maybe be awarded only a couple of hundred towards it.
  • 08-26-2015, 06:05 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Quote:

    Quoting Kalian
    View Post
    $185.28 for steam cleaning a carpet he replaced
    $958.8 for replacing a 10 year old carpet downstairs

    The fact that the landlord unsuccessfully attempted to clean the carpet does not mean that he cannot recover both the cleaning cost and the depreciated value of the carpet.

    If the carpet is in fact 10 years old, in most circumstances it would normally have depreciated to having little to no recoverable value. Carpet in rental properties rarely lasts ten years. You can investigate in your community to see if you can determine what depreciation schedule the local judges are inclined to apply for claims over carpet damage.

    (If we're talking about cat urine, it's not a surprise that steam cleaning didn't work.)
  • 08-26-2015, 06:09 PM
    llworking
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Quote:

    Quoting gail in georgia
    View Post
    1. How do you know the carpet was 10 years old?

    2. What type of pets did you have?

    3. Keep in mind that folks with pets often become immune to their pets odors. And steam cleaning a carpet and doing a walk through the next day will often NOT pick up odors that remain in carpet pads/floors/subfloors at that time. It is only later that any remaining odors will become obvious. In some cases the carpet, padding, floors and subfloors have to be replaced to remove the offending odors.

    If you disagree with what was kept from your security deposit, you can consider writing a demand letter to the landlord, demanding what you believe you are fairly owed and giving them a certain amount of time (say, two weeks) to remedy the situation. If no success, then your next step is to consider a lawsuit over the matter. Such lawsuits are typically handled through Small Claims court where you would represent yourself and would not need to hire an attorney to present your case.

    Keep in mind that in cases such as disputes over pet odors the landlord will often keep a piece of the carpet and/or padding in a zip lock bag to present as evidence to the court regarding the odor. In some cases (especially when the former tenants have had cats) the odor upon opening these bags is enough the clear the court room.

    Gail

    Just as a bit of FIY trivia.

    The odor you are talking about (the kind that can clear a room) is only from the spraying (not peeing but marking territory) of an unneutered male cat.

    Neutered male cats or female cats do far less damage than dogs. Its the rare cat that won't confine their bodily functions to their litter box.
  • 08-27-2015, 02:07 AM
    gail in georgia
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Unless litter boxes aren't cleaned regularly.

    Gail
  • 08-27-2015, 04:17 AM
    llworking
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Quote:

    Quoting gail in georgia
    View Post
    Unless litter boxes aren't cleaned regularly.

    Gail

    Even then, the odor goes away once the box is cleaned. I have had cats all my life. An odor coming FROM the litter box does not equate to carpet damage. You would have to let the box go a VERY long time without cleaning before the cat would resort to going outside the box.

    If I had a rental home, and I allowed pets, I would require that the tenant provide proof that the cats had been spayed or neutered before I would approve them.
  • 08-27-2015, 05:57 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    The odor you are talking about (the kind that can clear a room) is only from the spraying (not peeing but marking territory) of an unneutered male cat.

    Cat pee on a carpet, if not fully neutralized, will continue to react with the carpet and carpet padding. That smell can pervade the premises, and it won't be fixed by steam cleaning -- the carpet and pad will need to be replaced.
  • 08-27-2015, 06:15 AM
    llworking
    Re: Excessive Charge for Carpet Replacement Over Alleged Pet Odor
    Quote:

    Quoting Mr. Knowitall
    View Post
    Cat pee on a carpet, if not fully neutralized, will continue to react with the carpet and carpet padding. That smell can pervade the premises, and it won't be fixed by steam cleaning -- the carpet and pad will need to be replaced.

    I am not disputing that.

    The thread has really gotten sidetracked a bit by me and Gail.
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