SHOULD I MAKE MY TENANT PAY FOR THIS? NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE!

Question

Hello folks,

First of all, thank you reading this post, I value everyone's feedback and I would like to see what you think about an issue my tenant called me with last night.

STORY: I rent out a single family home to wonderful tenants who pay me above average rent for the past 2 years. Their son occupies a bedroom on the first floor, and in the middle of that room, they put down this 8x8 Transformer carpet/rug/mat. It has been there for over a year. My tenant called me last night and said as she was vacuuming and she pulled up the rug and noticed there was mold on the bottom of the rug and on the carpet under the rug. The carpet was also damp, not drenched, just wet to the touch. The bottom side of the rug is smooth sealed plasticy feeling material - not sure how to describe it.

I talked to my uncle who is a home inspector and has inspected the property in the past and he said that what most likely happened was the slab, which is largely made up of water, sweat and the rug sat on top of the carpet and trapped moisture between the slab and the rug b/c the carpet could not breathe. This is why the carpet felt wet to the touch and caused the carpet and under side of the rug to mold. We have ruled out moisture from any other sources - no rain in New Orleans, Louisiana recently, carpet is only wet in the center of the room so it couldn't have come from another area/pipe that was leaking, the child did not spill anything(so they say), the ceiling was not dripping anything.

• Has anyone every heard of this, I believe my uncle, but I have never heard of such a thing? I live in New Orleans, where the humidity is high, that is the only reason this somewhat makes sense.
• Would you pay to have the carpet cleaned or replaced or make the tenant pay for this since they caused the damage? I know every lease varies, but just generally speaking, what you do as a landlord.

Thanks folks! Please let me know if you have any questions!

SCOTT

Brent Causey · Answer

I would make my decision based upon what type of tenant they are. You mention they pay above average rent. If they're paying on time and take care of the house, then spend the $ to get the carpet cleaned and chalk it up as an expense. I'd rather have good tenants who pay and spend $100 here and there than have a crappy tenant I have to deal with all the time.

Thomas S. · Answer

Since you were aware the tenants had put down the mat, and did not stop it, they are not responsible for the damage. Carpets directly over cement are prone to mold. This is not the tenants fault or responsibility.

Carpet should never be installed directly on cement. I would get rid of the carpet and either put down a insulated sub floor, if you still want carpet, or find a more suitable floor covering over cement.

Tyler Ansell · Answer

I have heard of condensation building up between surfaces but being that it's only in one part of the rug I don't know if that's the case. Seems that if the slab was sweating that the entire carpet and rug would be wet.

Was it an incredible amount of mold or just a few spots?

Carpet cleans are only like $30-50 bucks so I'd make them pay it if you can't locate an exact problem ie leak or something.

Account Closed

Account Closed · Answer

Wow, thanks everyone for the quick, detailed reaponses! I really appreciate it!

I am leaning towards handling it the way @BrettCausey mentioned above. They are excellent tenants, and I definitely dont want to damage that relationship. If I am totally honest, I am also afraid of having that uncomfortable conversation, something I need to get over as a landlord. But at the same time, I definitely understand everyone else's point of view - it is really awesome to get all these different opinions, thanks folks!

Scott

Ralph R. · Answer

@Jeff B.   Jeff I dunno what happened there. I never posted that I was still writing it and the website froze up. Then it asked me if I wanted to close it and I did. When I went back the post was on there like that.

Jeff B. · Answer

Sorry Ralph, posting in HTML will not retain your formatting :grin:

JD Martin · Answer

I am with Greg on this one. It also doesn't sound like the carpet is damaged in any way, since the carpet itself has a built-in moisture barrier. IE, the only thing it sounds like here is some mold/mildew on the floor and the back of the carpet backer. Clean the back of the carpet with a good bleach solution (don't get it on the fabric), clean the floor, and plan on putting your own vapor barrier over the floor at some point in the future (i.e some type of solid vinyl floating floor or similar). You didn't mention the carpet smelling or anything like that, so I would just take care of it. And tell them not to put the carpet back down without either a dedicated vapor barrier under the carpet (i.e. a piece of plastic sheeting if nothing else) or something to leave an air channel to prevent moisture from building up.

Ralph R. · Answer

@Greg S. and your uncle are right.  concrete sweats in the driest of climates.  so much so that many contractors use red wood 2x4's as plates for walls being installed directly on concrete, particularly if the concrete is directly on the ground or in a basement.  The cause of the mold is the plastic backing of the 8x8 rug.  a dehumidifier most likely won't stop this as the moisture is trapped between the rug and carpet.  Its not common or good practice to put carpet directly over concrete in a basement.   The tenant didn't do this.  your carpet installer should have known better.  If you as the owner didn't know this how was your tenant supposed to know it?  I wouldn't in good conscious be able to charge a tenant that's already paying over market rent for my mistake.   There could be mold under legs of furniture, dressers, and other heavy objects resting directly on the carpet.  If its possible get the carpet cleaned and mitigate the mold.  It is also possible that the moisture is present under any walls between the baseplate and the concrete.  that's why contractors will sometimes use redwood baseplates.  If its cheap and they are already paying over market rent then man up and forget it.  how much  a good tenant is worth is up to you, but if they move out over some paltry charge how much will that cost you??  Remember you don't get big by acting small.

Robert Leonard · Answer

Sounds like they are really good tenants - because they called you and it wasn't something you all "discovered" at move out.  Moisture in our environment is a real issue and although I haven't heard of this situation, your uncle's explanation makes sense to me.

Depending on how bad the damage is, I would get a quote from a reputable carpet cleaning company and if it's a reasonable amount and they expect it to come clean, offer to split it with the tenant.  If the carpet cleaning pro is hesitant about whether or not it will come clean, get another opinion.  If it's a consensus that it's not likely to come clean, move on to getting flooring replacement estimates.  This all needs to be done ASAP - no time to waste with a moisture problem.

I would first ask the tenant how they plan to take care of it, if it ends up needing replacement.  If they sound like they are unwilling or unable to pay for it, I would then offer to share the expense to take care of a good customer.  Carpet for one room, if you go back with that, is a pretty low cost flooring.  This is not something that can wait until they move out.  If you know it will need replacement when they move out, you effectively have  reduced your security deposit by what it will cost to replace the flooring.

SHOULD I MAKE MY TENANT PAY FOR THIS? NEVER HEARD OF THIS BEFORE!

Most Popular Reply