Would you charge this?

[Matt C.]

Hi all! First of all thanks for reading.

We recently ended a lease with a tenant. In the terms of the lease, she was required to provide a receipt of professional carpet cleaning for 3 bedrooms which she did not do. The lease states that "Unless the carpet is cleaned in the manner provided herein, Landlord reserves the right to use a portion of the Security Deposit to professionally re-clean the carpet".

After looking at the house we decided to tear up the flooring in the living room, and while we were replacing some flooring we tore up the carpet in the bedrooms too which were filthy. Obviously, then we did not clean the carpet. Would you charge for a carpet cleaning that was not done by her considering we had to deal with the flooring in that state? Or does the fact that we did not clean the carpets negate the responsibility?

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Matt C.:

@Nathan Gesner-- my thoughts exactly. The problem is the house is listed, so she can see the pictures on the listing where there is clearly no more carpet. I don't think it'll be relevant, but she's trying to be nitpicky.

First, you need to give her the itemized list of charges and any refund, then cut off communication! There is no law that requires you to continue answering questions or arguing with her. Block her number, refuse emails, and move on with your life.

Second, what if? What if she sees the listing and gets upset? She has the right to take you to Small Claims court where she could accuse you of keeping her money and not cleaning the carpets. Where's her proof? You could have cleaned the carpets three times, decided it wasn't working, and tore them out. She has no evidence of what has happened. All you need is a copy of the lease showing that carpet cleaning was required, and then a picture or two showing that the carpets were not cleaned by her.