Dirty dishonest tenant and what to charge her after move out

[Account Closed]

I purchased a home with renters in it, the lease was for two women and they signed an estoppel agreement stating such. When I inspected the home I found a boyfriend and dog living in my home. I was very concerned since they just lied on the estoppel form just days earlier.

I was informed that it was temporary and they would be out soon, well four months goes by and they finally move out then a month later my tenant gives me 30 days notice. She moves out and expects a refund of her deposit that day. I already knew some things were not right and told her to to not clean the carpets and just pay me the 100 dollars it would have cost to clean them since I was going to replace them because they were dirty and worn out.

I did some checking and found out this carpet was only 4 years old and a mid grade carpet at that. My floor guy pulls up the carpet and we find pet stains in most of the rooms of the house and it has gotten into the sub floor and smells. They also kept the dog in the laundry room that smells of pet urine pretty bad and the dog chewed up the dryer vent. This pooch also dug many holes in my lawns and they had to be patched and re seeded.

My floor guy says since the carpet was four years old I should charge her 75 percent of the replacement cost for the carpet and pad plus full price for the clean up and sealing of the floors. What do you think I should charge for the grass pulling up the linoleum treating the floor and sealing it and installing new linoleum? Also the dog chewed up one of the blinds So I am charging for that. The child that lived there wrote on a couple walls so the family room needed repaint, they never opened windows while showering ruining the finish on the cabinets and causing mold problems ruining the bathroom paint.

This is an old updated 1940 home with no exhaust fans in the bath or kitchen so common since says  a window needs to be open when showering or cooking nut they were not.

I documented everything with pictures and I have a letter from the flooring company stating what they saw. What should I charge for all of these repairs? My realtor says repairs probably exceed her deposit and I am trying to figure out a price to give her. Also I am in California amd she has been in the place almost four years shouldn't I have had 60 days notice?

What do you guys think?

[Kevin Yeats]

Jon, why wouldn't you use the current cost of replacement carpet in your calculation?

I agreed with your formula except for that one part. What you paid for the carpet last year, last month or even yesterday is irrelevant if the cost to replace it went up.

My $0.02