What is resonable amount a landlord can deduct from a deposit?

[yoyo]

I rented my house to 4 UCSD students. They are moving out soon. In the lease agreement states no smoking and no pets. Got inside the house yesterday, saw big bowl of cigarettes butts outside the door and smoking odor inside the house, pet feeding dish in the kitchen. Did not see the dog yesterday, but we have taken picture of the dog on the property one time and warned them it is not allowed. They said the bog belongs to one of tenant’s girl friend and won’t stay long. Clearly they continue have the dog on the property. I normally charged carpet clean and moving out cleaning done by a professional company and dedcut from the deposit and give the tenant the receipt. In this case, it is probably not enough to get rid of the smoking odor and carpet damage by the dog. My question is what I need to do to get rid of the smoking odor and how much can I charge them for it? My carpet is old but we keep it in good condition. I would like to change the whole flooring. Should I even ask them to have the carpet cleaned and charge them for the pet damage? I know there are a lot of landlords on this forum and your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[spdrun]

I’d charge them for carpet cleaning, cleaning, and painting, plus your time, then call it a day. But I’d also think of replacing the carpet with a form of flooring that isn’t as prone to damage. Like tile or Pergo.

[no_such_reality]

California law, you must provide receipts.

And for personal labor, the hourly rate must be reasonable with an itemized list of the work performed and time on each.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml

We just used a Temecula area crew to do a move in/ move out cleaning. Something like $299. Took it from a gross mess to we’d move in clean.

[paramount]

[quote=yoyo] I normally charged carpet clean and moving out cleaning done by a professional company and deduct from the deposit and give the tenant the receipt. In this case, it is probably not enough to get rid of the smoking odor and carpet damage by the dog. My question is what I need to do to get rid of the smoking odor and how much can I charge them for it? My carpet is old but we keep it in good condition. I would like to change the whole flooring. Should I even ask them to have the carpet cleaned and charge them for the pet damage? I know there are a lot of landlords on this forum and your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks![/quote]

How old is the carpet?

Depending on rental demand, it’s likely the carpet will have to be replaced. Per California law, carpet charges are pro rated based on the age of the carpet.

When my last tenant vacated, I followed the law exactly (I’m dumb that way…).

I would review this:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml

[joec]

I would just charge them for everything and make sure to give them detailed receipts…

Having been a renter before, I agree that hiring a professional “crew” is the best idea. In my last few rentals, I cleaned absolutely nothing and still got a decent (nearly all) of my deposit back even if charged. It doesn’t seem to cost that much and they do a much better job and is less stress.

For college kids, since they KNOW they had a dog and smoked, you can state that you aren’t even billing them extra (unknown made up comment) for the extensive smoke and damage and just charge for cleaning and here are the receipts…

They would probably just blame the guy who had the g/f over with the dog and smoked and fight over the deposit since they know they did it amongst themselves. Since you’ve warned them before and have receipts, it sounds like this is pretty to me…

especially since you ARE spending the money on getting it back into rental shape and aren’t pocketing the money.

[yoyo]

Thanks everyone for your good advice. The carpet is about 10 years old and I want to change to laminate anyway. I don’t think I can charge them for replacing the floor. If the tenants have been taken care of the floor. It probably can last one more renter. Now I have to change it. If I charge them for cleaning the carpet, it seems like wasting money. But letting them get a free ride doesn’t suit me well emtionally.

[spdrun]

I’d charge them for the cost of cleaning the carpet (written estimate). Whether you actually clean it or put the money towards a new floor is up to you.

[RoyceKemp]

Technically, you must deduct for actual expenses only, so the suggestions to deduct for carpet cleaning and apply to the new flooring is not legal.

Also, for a 10-year old carpet, it would be hard to justify any charges besides basic cleaning, unless it was in immaculate condition before hand. I have a unit with Italian Wool carpeting at a cost of $120/sqyd that will last 20+ years if properly maintained. We’re in year 9 and it looks great, and it’s a light colored carpet.

The dog being there is a moot point if they are moving out. But any damage is fair game to be deducted from a security deposit.

I haven’t had to clean a place of smoke smell, so I’m not sure of the cost to this, but you should be justified in pursuing this and charging it to the tenant.

If they haven’t moved out, you may wish to do a move-out inspection prior to them moving out to give them an opportunity to remedy some of these issues on their own dime.

Depending on how long they have lived there, you may deduct for other things, like paint, etc. Just depends on the condition you gave it to them, and how long they have lived there, as the longer they have been there, the less you can charge them as the life span of carpet and paint is diminished.1

Good luck.

[strideam]

Room Shocker, you can get it on Amazon. It’s worked on cat pee and skunk, I’m sure it would also work on smoke smell.
As far as the carpet, I feel for you. I had my last tenants paint over my laminate kitchen cabinets, baby blue and purple. Those things would have lasted forever. How I wanted to remodel and charge them the full cost! But I didn’t, because I’m a sucker. Not too much though as I had them professionally painted to a normal color, which was not cheap.
Maybe you could have your carpet super cleaned so it’d last a few more years, then get laminate?

[yoyo]

I”m a sucker too. I probably will repaint the whole house and get new floor. Hopefully I can get rid of the smoking odor after that. The kids need to be taught a lesson. I probably will ask for carpet cleaning just to show them the damage even though
I know I want to have a new floor anyway.

[Hobie]

Smoking odor: bill ’em danno’

Dog: Hard to prove, so go after them on the smoking. Paint, extra wall cleaning, etc.

[EconProf]

If it is 10 years old, replace the carpeting or put in hard surface floors. That plus all new paint should take care of the odor.
These comments are a good reminder of the kind of expense that comes with owning a rental. Beginners routinely underestimate big one-time expenses that are inevitable. A prospective rental property looks a lot less profitable if you are realistic about costs and vacancies.

[yoyo]

Totally agreed with EconProf. Somebody asked about the new project along 56 freeway a while ago. Here is the link to the plan.

http://phrvillage.blogspot.com/

[livinincali]

[quote=yoyo]I”m a sucker too. I probably will repaint the whole house and get new floor. Hopefully I can get rid of the smoking odor after that. The kids need to be taught a lesson. I probably will ask for carpet cleaning just to show them the damage even though
I know I want to have a new floor anyway.[/quote]

In today’s era of helicopter parents just make sure you do things by the book. If one of these kids dad is some kind of attorney that knows tenant laws in CA better than you do, you might be the one that gets taught a lesson.

[Author]

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