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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
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    3

    Default Is Landlord Able to Keep Portion of Deposit for Carpet Cleaning and Replacement

    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: Indiana

    We paid $1,000.00 for a pet deposit and one month’s rent as a deposit. We did everything that the landlord requested and we did not get our full deposit back. I want to know what our landlord can legally keep of our deposit and if we have any recourse. We were not under a lease as we stayed in our rental unit for two and a half years. We were only under contract for the 1st year and then rented month-to-month after that.

    Before we moved out we painted and repaired holes in the walls. We had two cleaning companies come and clean the place. We had a carpet cleaner come and clean and deodorize the carpets. The landlord walked around the place and he agreed everything looked fine. We signed paperwork confirming the same. He even went back the next day and checked everything in the daylight and said that everything looked good except for the some grout, which we ended up cleaning to his satisfaction, and he confirmed we would be getting our full deposit back.

    Fast forward four days after the walk-through and a new tenant moves into the rental unit. They complain about a strange smell in the master bedroom and the landlord calls to tell us he will be having the carpets cleaned again to see if he can get rid of whatever smell was there. He did not mention that we would be responsible for the cleaning bill, as we previously had a company clean the carpets and they had a guarantee so he could have had them come clean them at no charge to us. We thought he was doing this on his dime in order to keep his new tennants. He said that he did not smell anything, but that he admits that he does not have the best nose. This resulted in a $300.00 expense he deducted from our deposit. Even thought the smell was only in the master bedroom, he paid to have the ENTIRE place cleaned again, which we do not think we should be reponsible for.

    After the cleaning the landlord decided that the carpets in the master bedroom could not be salvaged, as he said the pet smell remained, and he replaced not only the master bedroom carpet, but the carpet on the stairs. He charged us 100% of the carpet replacement cost even though we had lived there for two and a half years and the carpet was installed in three months prior to us moving in. The carpet was 2 years 8 months old.

    My questions are:

    If we have a signed contract and a email/text from him saying that everything is fine and we would be getting our deposit back, can he come back and charge us for something?

    If he can come back and charge us even though we have proof of the above.............
    Do we owe for a carpet cleaning if we already paid to have the carpets cleaned? If we owe, do we owe to have the ENTIRE place clean even though he said the smell was coming from the master bedroom?
    Do we owe for 100% of the new carpet even though is was 2 years 8 months old? Shouldn't it be pro-rated?
    If the carpet is supposed to be pro-rated what is the life-expectancy of rental carpet? The landlord says that he put in high quality carpet that had a ten year life expectancy, is this ten year life expectancy in a rental unit reasonable?
    Do we owe for the replcement cost of the new carpet or the cost of the previous carpet that he had installed? Previous carpet in the rental unit supposedly was higher quality than the builder grade carpet he just had installed.

    Is there any recourse to recover the cost of improvements that we did to the place? We put in a new shower curtain rod as the existing one was too short and kept falling, a new shelf track in a 14 year old fridge that broke, and a new toilet seat. We also bought paint that technically the landlord should have bought. During our stay there the roof leaked and there was a water damaged area, which was repaired, but it needed to be painted. We bought the paint though and repaired areas that we damaged and even painted the water damaged areas. All in all we spent approximately $140.00 for items that we feel the landlord should have covered, but because we did not want to rock the boat so we could get our deductible back, we paid for these items.

    Off topic, but still a landlord tenant issue, if we rented the unit with all appliances, but during the last month of us living there the dryer was literally out of commission for three of the four weeks, is it unreasonable to expect a credit on the rent? The dryer being out resulted in a MAJOR inconvenience to our family.

    Thanks for your help!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    1,026

    Default Re: Is Landlord Able to Keep Portion of Deposit for Carpet Cleaning and Replacement

    In Indiana a landlord has 45 days to return a security deposit to a departing tenant. It is not unusual that even after a final walk through further damage above normal wear and tear may be found. Pet damage as in offensive odors would fall in the category of damage. This is especially true if pets accidentally urinated (or sprayed) on carpet; such odors would sink into carpets and padding underneath and could go as deep as into the subfloors. Carpet cleaning would only address the top carpet and would temporarily mask the odor. Often the only option is to remove the carpet and padding (and sometimes treat the floors underneath). Sounds like your landlord attempted the least expensive way first (carpet cleaning) but that didn't work and the only other option was carpet replacement.

    Carpet replacement in a rental is typically prorated over a 10 year life.

    If you disagree with the amount kept from your security deposit you typically write what is known as a "demand" letter, demanding what you believe you are fairly owed and giving the landlord a certain amount of time (say, two weeks) to return these funds to you. If no satisfaction then your next option is to consider filing a lawsuit for these funds.

    It's nice that you put in a new shower curtain rod, a shelf track in a fridge that you broke, a toilet seat and some paint but these things play no role in the issue above. It's unfortunate the dryer didn't work for the last 3-4 weeks but not having a dryer does not make house uninhabitable and it's a bit late to throw this into the mix by asking for a credit on rent in a place you no longer reside in.

    Stop trying to toss everything you think you now deserve into this business and focus on the fact that any cost of carpet replacement from your pet damaging this carpet should only be charged to you as determined by the prorated cost of the original carpet.

    Gail

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Is Landlord Able to Keep Portion of Deposit for Carpet Cleaning and Replacement

    Gail, thanks for your reply! Originally he pro-rated the carpet at 80%, but then after he spoke to an attorney he said he did not have to pro-rate it. Since he, in error, originally charged us for carpeting the entire unit, and not just the master and the stairs he said were damaged, he sent us an additional refund without it being prorated. We ended up paying for the whole mater and stairs.

    He has threatened that if we take this further he will charge us for the more expensive carpet that was ruined instead of the cheaper carpet he installed.

    Can he charge us for the more expensive carpet or just what he replaced it with?
    Can we legally prove that we only should have to pay for 7 years 5 months of the carpet lifespan?

    Thanks again for any advice you provide.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Also, is 10 years the typical lifespan of carpet in Indiana?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    1,026

    Default Re: Is Landlord Able to Keep Portion of Deposit for Carpet Cleaning and Replacement

    What he would charge you with is the prorated cost of the carpet replacement based on the remaining life of the original carpet.

    The 10 year lifespan of a carpet is an IRS ruling for replacement in rentals; it has nothing to do with a specific state.

    About the only way you can legally prove you should have to pay for 7 years 5 months of the carpet lifespan is to sue the landlord and in court state that you lived in the rental property for 2 1/2 years thus if the carpet was new when you moved in it was already 2 1/2 years old at move out.

    How much money are we talking about here? That would really be the question as to whether it is worth your time and trouble to consider a lawsuit over this matter. Remember that even if you do sue and win your judgment it would be up to you to collect this money; the court will unfortunately, not help you in that last step.

    Gail

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    3

    Default Re: Is Landlord Able to Keep Portion of Deposit for Carpet Cleaning and Replacement

    We are talking about 500 to 600. Worth pursuing in my book. What do you think?

    - - - Updated - - -

    Ps, there is an arbitration clause in the lease, but we did not sign a new lease agreement, so is the old lease agreement in effect? If so, how do we go about arbitrating something?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Posts
    1,026

    Default Re: Is Landlord Able to Keep Portion of Deposit for Carpet Cleaning and Replacement

    It is up to you if you wish to continue pursuing this. Again, remember that even if a judgment is made in your favor in a hearing it would still be up to you to collect on this.

    Gail

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