Can I get my landlord to pay for new carpets?

[Jen Maree]

Hi, (long story)

My fiance and I moved into our current rented house about 6 months ago, prior to this house we were living in another house for 5 years and our landlords loved us because we took extreme care with our rental properties (by keeping them clean and even refurbishing certain elements like curtains, paint etc at our cost) and to top it off we paid our rent well in advance. We moved into this current house for location purposes with the same upkeep intent.

When we moved in the previous tenant had lost her bond because she didn't take care of the house, literally it was in bad shape, the shower had never been cleaned for the 8 years she lived there , she somehow managed to bypass rent inspection due to medical reasons, the vertical blinds were broken and stained with oil and sauce? there was cat pee and human odor throughout the house, the front door had been smashed in and it was without a security screen, the kitchen bench tiles were breaking off and the wood underneath was sinking in due to it constantly being wet and moulded out, the skirting boards were disgusting and the shower had so much soap scum that it took me 8 times with bleach and hard scrubbing to get it halfway decent followed by another 6 times to get it to where it was clean enough. We took the house because we were lead to believe that the landlord would have it professionally cleaned with all the locks and security being taken care of before we moved in.

Well...It's moving day, we pick up the keys and the house hadn't been cleaned at all, the real estate agent said her hands were tied as the landlord decided to go overseas and had become unreachable, the only thing the agent could do was get someone to come in and steamclean some of the rooms and get a cleaner in to wipe down the benches and stove, needless to say I was so distraught, the very thought of moving and then cleaning an absolute disgusting mess made me irate.

After the steam cleaning, the steamcleaner came out while I was driving into the driveway and told me that he had tried his best but that there is a severe stench of human urine scattered throughout the rooms that he found almost impossible to deodorize and clean out, he said air out the whole house for a few days and then see how it goes?

I did that, needless to say still to this day the smell is so bad, it permeates the whole house and gives everyone a headache, I have complained to the real estate but they are insisting that their hands are tied.

After literally spring cleaning for well over 3 weeks everyday after we moved in, I finally got the house up to the standards it should've been in before moving in and what we were lead to believe what would happen. I however am so upset with the state of the carpet, it hasn't been updated since the late 70's, it's worn thin, sinks in certain areas, it covered in stains and smells terrible, I have had it steam cleaned 3 times since we have been in here and it hasn't helped at all.

I am at a loss as to what I am able to do from here as we are in a 12 month contract.

Any advice on how to proceed would be very much appreciated.

The landlord is nonchalant about it all and says it's only an investment property, I am at my wits end, we are 5 months in advance with rent, I have forked out well over 500 dollars for steam cleaning, I have spent almost everyday spring cleaning and have spent money on replacing the tiles for the kitchen bench.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.