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

