Determining Charge to Security Deposit

[Curtis Mears]

So I have had my first real disaster with a tenant. They left the house a mess and completely destroyed the carpet. All the carpet needs to be replaced. I am going to replace with laminate wood tile. So my question is, how much can I charge against the tenant's security deposit? I realize I can not charge based on the laminate as it is more expensive per square foot. But, what price of carpet do I charge against? I bought the house with this carpet, which was in excellent condition. I do not know how much it cost, or how old it was. My best guess is it was maybe 2 years old when I bought the house, and the tenant lived there for 3 years.

[Ethan Jacobsen]

We have a flooring company go and measures to give us a bid before doing the install. What I suggest is to ask a company to give you two bids. One for the laminate wood tile that you are planning to install. And a second bid to replace "like for like". Even though you won't use that bid to replace the flooring, you can use that to show what it would have cost to replace the carpet. We trust the professional flooring company to give an accurate bid depending on type of carpet. Carpet for rentals can be pretty cheap, but this one looks a little bit better than the low end stuff for standard rentals. That way you are charging to replace what was there and not the upgrade you make. Also, don't forget to pro-rate the charge for flooring. We say flooring should last 8 years, so if the carpet was 5 years old and they destroyed it, you will need to charge 3/8 of the total cost of the bid to replace like for like. That's just how we process deposits. 

By the way, I'm so glad you took pictures at move in and move out. That makes things so much easier! Good luck!