Tenants and carpets?

Tenants and carpets?

11:10 AM, 30th June 2014, About 10 years ago 7

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I would like to learn what to do when a property has been rented out whereby the keeping of clean carpets and relatively free of stains are of paramount importance and the tenants were informed of this.

We lived in the property for two years and were very careful to maintain the carpets in a good condition – the carpet is of a light colour. The property has been rented out and the tenants have had the carpet cleaned but there is a massive stain in the middle of the room which is so noticeable and seemingly cannot be easily removed – maybe because the spill was not dealt with immediately and therefore left to settle.

Is this classed as general wear and tear or is the tenant responsible? I would be very interested with some help as I want to be fair with the tenants but also do not want to compromise our side either.

Thanks in advance for putting some light on the matter.

Claudinecarpets


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Comments

Neil Patterson

11:12 AM, 30th June 2014, About 10 years ago

Hi Claudine,

First question is that I am assuming the tenant's deposit is protected and they have had the prescribed information in the correct timescales?

11:28 AM, 30th June 2014, About 10 years ago

Hi Claudine,

The most important question is "Did you have an inventory documenting the condition of the carpet on move in"?

If the answer is "yes", then you can deduct replacement of the carpet from the deposit.

If the answer is "no", then you have no leg to stand on and you cannot do anything.

It really is that cut and dried. That is why an inventory is so critical. Without one, a deposit dispute will almost always find in favour of the tenant, unless the damage is very extreme and the tenant could not have moved into a property with that amount of damage in the first place.

Ian Ringrose

12:05 PM, 30th June 2014, About 10 years ago

Is the carpet so hard to keep clean that someone that make the case that it is a defect carpet that is not up to standard to use in a rental property?

Also how old is the carpet now, you can’t expect a tenant to pay the complete cost of replacing a 2nd hand carpet with a new carpet.

Otherwise I agree with Vanessa.

DC

16:05 PM, 30th June 2014, About 10 years ago

I would certainly not accept it as general wear and tear and would politely but firmly advise that it is either cleaned again by a professional cleaner or replaced with a new carpet at the tenants' expense.

As has been stated though, to get this resolved it is important that the inventory, tenancy agreement wording and deposit protection was properly dealt with in the first place by you otherwise you may be on to a loser.

10:57 AM, 5th July 2014, About 10 years ago

“Betterment” is the crucial word here. Landlords cannot benefit from this.

The life of a carpet is fairly finite, so an appropriate allowance has to be made.

Presumably, a professional carpet cleaner has said the stain is irremovable.

Jeremy Smith

1:23 AM, 6th July 2014, About 10 years ago

Landlords soon learn to select carpets appropriate to the use of the property.
It's very difficult when the carpet is already there, but is not suited to it's new owners.

Perhaps a very large 'over-carpet' would have been a good idea, but easy to say after the event.

Some carpet cleaning companies guarantee to get rid of stains, perhaps they're worth a go.

Gilly

10:25 AM, 6th July 2014, About 10 years ago

One stain that no company can get rid of is red candle wax - which leaves a pink stain.

Everyone has just about covered the problem you have - Inventory, betterment etc but try not to get too hung up on recompense. You had the carpet for two years, your tenants for another year (?) and amazingly they have had it cleaned, as requested; there wasn't too much life left for a rental property anyway.

If you have many properties it is often worth buying a roll (which does about five rooms)) or negotiating a deal with a local carpet company. I put down super carpets (not the cheapest, but bleach-cleanable) for about £80 - £120 per room, in which case the most I would deduct after 3 years would be about £30. Is it worth the hassle?

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