tenant 'cleaned' carpet herself. Would you charge for a pro?

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@Mike Franco - what is your reason for not charging July rent? It seems that you're a kind man. You tell us that you spent $3000 due to frivolous reasons and you don't know if you should charge her $110 to professionally clean your carpets. I want you as my landlord.The good is that for the most part she respected your home. That $3k is a sting too harsh to let slide...if I were you, I'd deliver the following in an upbeat and positive manner, "You took good care of the house, which is wonderful. Other than a charge to professionally clean the carpets, I'm going to return the rest of your security deposit".

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@Mike FrancoYes. Because my lease states “professionally cleaned” wrt carpets.

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If they can't produce a receipt then it wasn't done. You should make them do it or charge them. I don't have my tenants shampoo carpets because I know they'd do a crappy job anyways. I bought my own shampooer and do it myself. Less wear and tear of them doing it and them me redoing it. Plus I worry that the upstairs tenants would use too much or spill water and cause ceiling leaks downstairs.

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I would not expect a tenant to have the carpet professionally cleaned on moving out. That's my job as a landlord. I expect the place to be "broom clean", and I don't trust what kind of job the unknown carpet cleaner will do. I know you are angry because the tenant cost you money on the asbestos, but I think you should let this go. If this were different renter who stayed 4 years, paid on time, and left the place in good condition, would you be nitpicking about the carpet like this?

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@Mike Franco Hi Mike. I'm still very new and at the learning phase but my approach may be to get the carpet cleaning professional in at your cost do the clean and provide a report and photos of the water before and after. And photos of the carpet before and after. I'm 100 percent sure photos of Clean water turning black or brown is proof enough that the carpet was not cleaned to the level required with general dry vacuum. I would also if you have access too it look up the suggested maintenance spec of the carpets which I'm sure would include an advised "steam clean" or wet vac of the carpets every x years. This can then be provided as support on why you have deducted this off the rent.All of the above of course if with the time and setting the president for future items as this.

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If it's in the lease to have the carpets professionally cleaned, then that would be the expectation upon move out. If they don't provide the receipt, the amount of a pro cleaner should be withheld from the deposit. Pretty straightforward.

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Mike,Sorry about the asbestos situation - sometimes you can't win them all no matter what.And add another yes vote to charge for the carpet cleaning. I actually suggest doing this if possible for each tenant turnover as a business policy and not giving the tenant the option to do it.

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Any place I have rented that has carpet always specifically stated will be professionally cleaned with receipt. If not then a deduction will and should occur. I’m a big supporter of I provided you a clean and functional property. ANYTHING that isn’t as expected is charged for. I also don’t do work myself because i can’t charge for my time but I can charge them for my property managers or cleaners or painters or handyman’s time. Typical things I charge for- professional carpet cleaning (Removed all the carpet so that is no longer an issue for my current properties)- professional cleaning services- ovens cleaned out- vents filters or anything else replaced - all keys returned (I have and charge a rekeying fee in my lease)- all outlets tested and charged if they were broken - 5 year deprecated for paint (4 years equals they would pay for 20% of any painting needed)- light bulbs (per light bulb not working)- non reported leaks or holes or issues. - broken items in the property are also fixed and charged My rent basis is 700-800 so my security deposits are one months rent. Normally they won’t receive anything but a bill when they move out. Some people aren’t clean or know how to take care of things.

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@Mike Franco I'm in Arizona. I think if you expect renters to have the carpet cleaned, you should put that wording specifically in the lease. We all know that a lot of renters are irresponsible, and most don't have a lot of extra money, especially when they're moving. Spell it out in the lease, or charge a non-refundable cleaning fee upfront, if California allows it.

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@Mike Franco$110 is cheaper than my time to fightPay it and get them clean you fixed the contractMost people want to move into a place knowing the carpets were professional truck mounted cleanedIt’s in all my leases when the give me my 30 day notice I remind them about the professional truck mount and tell them I expect the receipt