We are getting a house ready for a new tenant at the end of this month. We will be repainting a lot of the house with a better quality paint so it can be wiped and cleaned without damaging the paint finish.
The carpets and underlay are premium quality stain master type and only 2 1/2 years old. The carpets were cleaned before these tenants moved in, but when they moved out after a year of being our tenants, they left a lot of the rooms with quite dirty carpets and with a couple of stains that we are concerned could be permanently set (vomit & juice). In other areas of the house the carpet looks not bad. They said they didn`t clean the carpets because we were coming in after to paint anyway. We did tell them to not worry about the walls too much because we would be repainting, but we didn`t tell them they didn`t have to clean the carpets!
The carpets are fairly good quality we want them cleaned by one of the better carpet cleaning companies with IRC and IICRC certification, especially because the stains could be difficult to remove. The estimate is about $300. A less qualified or uncertified company might charge only 1/2 or 2/3 of that.
So what should be a reasonable deduction from the security deposit be? Can we legitimately charge them the entire cost for carpet cleaning, even if we use a higher priced company and even if some of the house looks not too bad?
I can just hear the objections now from our former tenants - what?? you paid $300 for that??!! I just want to be ready with my response so I would love to hear what you would be inclined to do in this situation.
The carpets and underlay are premium quality stain master type and only 2 1/2 years old. The carpets were cleaned before these tenants moved in, but when they moved out after a year of being our tenants, they left a lot of the rooms with quite dirty carpets and with a couple of stains that we are concerned could be permanently set (vomit & juice). In other areas of the house the carpet looks not bad. They said they didn`t clean the carpets because we were coming in after to paint anyway. We did tell them to not worry about the walls too much because we would be repainting, but we didn`t tell them they didn`t have to clean the carpets!
The carpets are fairly good quality we want them cleaned by one of the better carpet cleaning companies with IRC and IICRC certification, especially because the stains could be difficult to remove. The estimate is about $300. A less qualified or uncertified company might charge only 1/2 or 2/3 of that.
So what should be a reasonable deduction from the security deposit be? Can we legitimately charge them the entire cost for carpet cleaning, even if we use a higher priced company and even if some of the house looks not too bad?
I can just hear the objections now from our former tenants - what?? you paid $300 for that??!! I just want to be ready with my response so I would love to hear what you would be inclined to do in this situation.