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Updated almost 6 years ago,
Ruined carpet and security deposit question
I'm sure someone has run into this issue so I figured I'd reach out but first a little back story. Tenants signed a 1 year lease in July. Paid rent on time if not early every month. A few months ago they asked if they could replace the carpet in a few rooms at their expense. Didn't know if they were staying for a while and I said I would be ok if they did everything so it all matched, but I never heard anything more until they said they were hoping they could get out of the lease early. I took it as a chance to get more rent and placed it on the market and had it rented in 1 day (should have asked for more rent in hind sight). They then started asking for their security deposit early because they needed it for the new place. Of course I explained why that could not happen.
While showing the place I noticed some coloring on the walls and what I thought were marker stains on the carpet. They fixed the walls but the carpets are pretty bad after only 6 months. I found out many of the stains are kool aid and probably won't come out..... They are in every room. I had not planned on replacing the carpets for quite a few years but now I will have to if a cleaner can't get them out.
My question is: How much of the deposit can I legally count towards replacing the carpets now if the stains don't come out? Also, on a side note, they smoked in the garage even though the lease states "no smoking on the premises" and when I showed the house it smelled like cigarette smoke in there. Thanks for the help!