How to Charge Tenant for Damages

[Ashley Britt]

I have a tenant who destroyed the carpet in my rental property. I am unsure of how to charge for carpet damage as the carpet was not even close to new, but was in good condition. We also do not have record of when the carpet was last replaced. They only issue with the carpet on the move in checklist were some bleach spots on the carpet next to the washer/dryer. They are claiming we said we were going to replace the carpet after they moved out anyway (we never said that) so they shouldn't be responsible for paying for carpet damages. The apartment also has a strong pet odor (they had two cats). They paid $400 in a pet deposit and I am not sure how to charge the full $400 for replacing the carpet, which is going to cost roughly $1800 for the whole house from Lowes. The damages are worse in certain rooms of the house but are too extensive to clean, they appear to be wine/soda, hair dye, and candle wax. They are the type of tenants to threaten taking us to small claims court for keeping their entire $1400 deposit.

They also had a $1000 deposit but has been used for other damages they caused.

Before:

After: