Who Should Pay to Replace This Carpet?

[wdwfan16]

My friends are renting a property my mother owns. When they moved in a year ago, there were some bleached out spots in the carpet in a bedroom. My friends told my mom they didn't care about it and she didn't need to bother
replacing it for them.

Their lease will be up at the end of the month. They have 2 cats that peed in the bedroom with the bleached spots and in a carpeted closet under the steps.

My friends and my mom are arguing over who should pay for the carpet replacement. My mom feels they should pay for it because their cats damaged it. (We tried shampooing the carpet and the smell did not go away).

My friends don't feel they should be responsible for the cost of replacing the carpet since there were previous stains and it would have had to be replaced anyway. My mom feels they should pay for it, because if she had replaced the carpet previously, my friends would be paying for the new replacement now. And new tenants might say the same thing about the stains as my friends did.

My friends do agree they should pay for the area in the closet, but what about the bedroom? The closet area is a cheap fix because it's in an area where the rest of the flooring is tile. But the bedroom carpet extends across a hallway and in to another bedroom.

Just curious....what does everything think should happen here?

This is easy. Your Mom pays for the bedroom the friends pay for the closet.

Your Mom never replaced the damaged carpet so her argument (second bolded) is not valid.


Did you mom already get money from a previous tenant for the bleach stains. Most people would not rent with the carpet all bleached but would have pushed for it to be replaced.

Hmm we'll look in to the vinegar thing. Thanks.

We've tried using the Nature's Miracle for Cat Odors with little success.

The carpet was cleaned before my friends moved in. The spots are bleach, we think, so it was not something that came out, but the carpets were in clean condition, so my friends agreed to live with the spots.

There is a lease agreement, but I don't know what the exact wording is, I haven't read it myself.

There was a regular deposit of $1075.

My mother only charged a $100 non-refundable pet fee for 2 cats and a dog since these are my friends. Usually she would charge more like $250depending on the age and type of animals.

If these were not friends, then my mother would probably just keep the deposit and use that towards the carpet replacement. But these people are my best friends and we all do a lot for each other. So I don't want either party to feel 'jipped'.

So a non-friend would have lost their deposit but a friend pays for a new carpet? It seems you mom it the one trying to take advantage of the situation.

 

[surfgirl]

I understand you are stuck in the middle and that is the crux of the isssue.

So... you offer to pay for the carpet - as a peace offering because you don't want either to feel slighted. Whichever ones says, "no absolutely not, I'll pay it" truly cares about you!

--------------
Okay, maybe not a good idea, but you get it.

Why not just have them split it ? Neither are happy, but neither feel ripped off. It would be a compromise that they could both live with at the end of the day.

 

[DaniB]

They agreed to rent the apartment with the bleached stained carpeting....they needed to leave the apartment in the condition they accepted it in less normal wear and tear...and cat pee is not normal wear and tear. The sub flooring may need to be cut out and replaced as well to remove the smell.

Agreed! My husband & I have been both tenants and landlords.

Cat pee is BEYOND normal wear & tear on a carpet and has NO bearing on the issue of the carpeting already being stained.

It comes down to the simple fact that your friends agreed to rent the apartment with the stained carpeting. Your mom did NOT agree to let them have their cat pee all over the carpet.

That smell is hell to get out. A human may think the smell is gone, but other animals will know better and WILL pee in the same spots!

We had to toss the carpet, scrub down the subfloor over and over, AND even replace a piece of the subfloor. Then for good measure, we added a new layer of subfloor on top of it.

Please do not take this as judgement on you, but I think your friends should be offering to cover at least 1/2 the damage if not all. I would never be so disrespectful to my friends' parents.

Your mother should pay to replace the carpet and padding (sounds like that was going to be done anyways) given the condition of the carpet. Your friends should cover any damage under the padding - subfloor, etc.

I think this is a great solution!

 

[DisneyKT]

Agreed! My husband & I have been both tenants and landlords.

Cat pee is BEYOND normal wear & tear on a carpet and has NO bearing on the issue of the carpeting already being stained.

It comes down to the simple fact that your friends agreed to rent the apartment with the stained carpeting. Your mom did NOT agree to let them have their cat pee all over the carpet.

That smell is hell to get out. A human may think the smell is gone, but other animals will know better and WILL pee in the same spots!

We had to toss the carpet, scrub down the subfloor over and over, AND even replacing a piece of the subfloor. Then for good measure, we added a new layer of subfloor on top of it.

Please do not take this as judgement on you, but I think your friends are shameful to expect your mom to accept their damage! I would never be so disrespectful to my friends' parents.

I agree with you. Cat Pee is different than a couple of stains. It stinks up every thing and other animals can smell it. I would be embarrassed if I did this to my friends parents. Their animals their responsibility.

 

[Alexander]

The apartment cannot be rented with the cat pee in the carpet. It could have been rented with the bleach stains. I think the party responsible for the cat pee is responsible for the carpet replacement.

Since these are friends and your mom, maybe they could compromise and each pay 1/2. Maybe your mom could keep 1/2 of the security deposit.

Heck I had a security deposit kept once because I didn't clean the oven when I left the apartment!!!

 

[DisneyFan32WI]

Cat urine is impossible to get out as far as the smell goes. Sometimes, even the baseboards need to be replaced! Bleach stains and cat urine are two totally different things. You can live with bleach....

I think that the cost probably isn't that much to replace the carpeting/pad etc. Your mom should get an estimate for both areas and go from there. Since they are your friends, I would tread lightly on this one.

 

[apnep]

My friends do agree they should pay for the area in the closet, but what about the bedroom? The closet area is a cheap fix because it's in an area where the rest of the flooring is tile. But the bedroom carpet extends across a hallway and in to another bedroom.

Just curious....what does everything think should happen here?

I think your friends should pay for it. If she had replaced it, the cat would have peed on it. You can't get cat pee smell out no matter what you do. It's ruined.

Was that their reason for not wanting her to replace it in the first place, because they knew the cat would ruin it?

Ang

 

[apnep]

I understand you are stuck in the middle and that is the crux of the isssue.

So... you offer to pay for the carpet - as a peace offering because you don't want either to feel slighted. Whichever ones says, "no absolutely not, I'll pay it" truly cares about you!

Ahaaha! Good one Surfgirl!

Ang

 

[tiggerplus5]

If things were to get nasty and ended up going to court, the judge will take into consideration the age of the carpeting and the previous damage done and most likely prorate any settlement.

Of course, every state has different laws regarding damages. I live in a very liberal state where housing court judges often side with the tenant. If the carpet had reached its useful life, the tenant would most likely NOT be responsible at all. Carpeting depreciates quickly (5 years according to IRS depreciation tables). With the prior damage, a judge would prorate the cost of the carpet if it was fairly new. If the subfloor is damaged, that is a whole different scenario. It has a much longer useful life. It would be hard to argue that was just "normal wear and tear".

I am a property manager and I wouldn't even bother bringing this in front of a judge if the carpeting was close to 5 years old. It's a waste of time. I would just replace the carpet. It's just part of doing business.

When I make a decision about my renters, I always consider how it would play out in housing court. That's the rule of law and the fair answer (usually).

 

[disneychrista]

Most apartments replace carpet after every tenant but not all do.

I do not know of any apartments that change the carpets between renters...cleaning yes, new carpet no. Most apartments I know change carpet only if they have to.

 

[cglaura]

I would go with the idea of the parents paying for the new carpet and padding since it would have to be done sometime anyway, but the tenant pays to fix the subfloor.

I have experience with this as an elderly cat and dog just having kidney issues and not making it to the box or outside. The subfloor will either need to be replaced or painted over with an oil based primer/paint. Otherwise any humidity or subsequent floor steaming and cleaning is just going to soak/draw up the cat urine from the sub floor into the new carpet.

Just putting in new carpet and padding will not fix the problem.

 

[mrsklamc]

I would go with the idea of the parents paying for the new carpet and padding since it would have to be done sometime anyway, but the tenant pays to fix the subfloor.

I have experience with this as an elderly cat and dog just having kidney issues and not making it to the box or outside. The subfloor will either need to be replaced or painted over with an oil based primer/paint. Otherwise any humidity or subsequent floor steaming and cleaning is just going to soak/draw up the cat urine from the sub floor into the new carpet.

Just putting in new carpet and padding will not fix the problem.

I agree.- mom should be responsible for carpet and padding but nothing else.

DH lived in an apartment before he bought our house. Embers burned the carpet and DH was prepared to replace it. Apartment complex said not to worry about it because they replace all carpets between tenants anyway.

Not saying mom is obligated to do that but since the carpet was previously damaged she should replace it.

 

[angwill]

I think your friends are correct. When renting some renters will opt not to have new carpeting put in knowing that their pets/kids will probably do damage anyway and they do not want to be responsible for the cost when they move which is fair.

You mother would have had to pay for replacement before they moved in anyway so she should have just put the money in the bank and would have to replace it now anyway.

I do believe they are responsible to replace the carpet in the closet however. Also why would she have to pay for the other rooms of carpet that the cats didn't pee on. The carpet layers can replace only the bedroom carpet and put a mental or wood piece that goes over the edge of the hallway carpet and the new bedroom carpet to tie it together.

 

[Leajess99]

Agreed! My husband & I have been both tenants and landlords.

Cat pee is BEYOND normal wear & tear on a carpet and has NO bearing on the issue of the carpeting already being stained.

It comes down to the simple fact that your friends agreed to rent the apartment with the stained carpeting. Your mom did NOT agree to let them have their cat pee all over the carpet.

That smell is hell to get out. A human may think the smell is gone, but other animals will know better and WILL pee in the same spots!

We had to toss the carpet, scrub down the subfloor over and over, AND even replace a piece of the subfloor. Then for good measure, we added a new layer of subfloor on top of it.

Please do not take this as judgement on you, but I think your friends should be offering to cover at least 1/2 the damage if not all. I would never be so disrespectful to my friends' parents.



I think this is a great solution!

As for the bolded, how do we know that this is not in fact the case here. We have yet to read WHY there are bleach spots on the carpet but it honestly appears that the previous tennant's animals were peeing in said spots and thus the use of bleach so they could get out without paying.

 

[dd50]

My friends are renting a property my mother owns. When they moved in a year ago, there were some bleached out spots in the carpet in a bedroom. My friends told my mom they didn't care about it and she didn't need to bother
replacing it for them.

Their lease will be up at the end of the month. They have 2 cats that peed in the bedroom with the bleached spots and in a carpeted closet under the steps.

My friends and my mom are arguing over who should pay for the carpet replacement. My mom feels they should pay for it because their cats damaged it. (We tried shampooing the carpet and the smell did not go away).

My friends don't feel they should be responsible for the cost of replacing the carpet since there were previous stains and it would have had to be replaced anyway. My mom feels they should pay for it, because if she had replaced the carpet previously, my friends would be paying for the new replacement now. And new tenants might say the same thing about the stains as my friends did.

My friends do agree they should pay for the area in the closet, but what about the bedroom? The closet area is a cheap fix because it's in an area where the rest of the flooring is tile. But the bedroom carpet extends across a hallway and in to another bedroom.

Just curious....what does everything think should happen here?

Your mom should pay for it as it should have been replaced before this girl moved in. If she then damaged it she should pay for it. I really dislike when landlords do things like that.

 

[dd50]

As for the bolded, how do we know that this is not in fact the case here. We have yet to read WHY there are bleach spots on the carpet but it honestly appears that the previous tennant's animals were peeing in said spots and thus the use of bleach so they could get out without paying.

 

[dd50]

Since there was talk of the carpet being replaced before they move it it would have had to have been done after they did move out anyways so I don't think they should be charged. If it has soaked through to the floor underneath then they should be partially responsible.

Exactly. In most cases the pet deposit is to get the carpet cleaned.

If she is your best friend that is probably why she didn't want your mother to go to the expense of replacing the carpeting before she moved in and now it seems that your mother is trying to take advantage of the situation.

 

[cbg1027]

Two questions
What did the $100 non refundable deposit state that it was for? Depending on what that states, that is all that she may legally be able to charge them for pet damage.

If the bleach spots were there when the last tenant moved out, why wasn't that tenant charged to replace it??

The $100 was a pet fee. My understanding is that it is to cover the wear and tear pets put on a house.

I have no idea what happened with the tenant that left the bleach stains.

I understand you are stuck in the middle and that is the crux of the isssue.

So... you offer to pay for the carpet - as a peace offering because you don't want either to feel slighted. Whichever ones says, "no absolutely not, I'll pay it" truly cares about you!

--------------
Okay, maybe not a good idea, but you get it.

Why not just have them split it ? Neither are happy, but neither feel ripped off. It would be a compromise that they could both live with at the end of the day.

Haha.

My mom has suggested to me that she will probably just ask them to split the cost with her.

I think your friends should pay for it. If she had replaced it, the cat would have peed on it. You can't get cat pee smell out no matter what you do. It's ruined.

Was that their reason for not wanting her to replace it in the first place, because they knew the cat would ruin it?

Ang

I highly doubt my friends thought their cats would ruin anything. They just didn't care much about the stains. They are in 1 room of a 3 bedroom house that they were only going to be in for a a few years at most. I feel I know these people quite well - that was certainly not their thinking. They own a house in a different city, but the wife is here in medical school for a while, so the stains were not something they had to live with a long time. And they're not in the master bedroom. They're pretty easy-going people.

As for the bolded, how do we know that this is not in fact the case here. We have yet to read WHY there are bleach spots on the carpet but it honestly appears that the previous tennant's animals were peeing in said spots and thus the use of bleach so they could get out without paying.

I don't know why the bleach stains are there and what happened with the previous tenant. I will have to ask my mom.

 

[PinkJade]

In my opinion, your mom should handle this situation the same as she would any other tenant.

You can use carpet that has stains on it. I have rented several apartments, only one of them had new carpet and that's because it was a new apartment. She would have a really difficult time renting a place that smells like cat pee.

The mistake I think on your mom's part was giving the impression that she was going to replace the carpet because of the stain. And I don't think your mom would make a big deal about this if it was some other type of stain that she could rent the apartment. But it's not the same as them leaving another bleach stain or juice stain, etc.

If your mom was going to replace the carpet anyway, then she probably shouldn't charge them for that. But any extra work that has to be done, should be the responsibility of the tenant. But from what you said it doesn't seem like your mom thought she was going to replace it.

If mom collected a deposit from them she should use it. And consider this a lesson learned.

 

[Kellydelly]

Who allows their cats to continuously pee on someone else's carpet anyway ? That is just inconsiderate, irresponsible, and rude. I think the tenants should pay to disinfect/deodorize the carpet that they ALLOWED their cats to ruin. I would withhold a portion of their security deposit to fix the problem.