I don't know about tenant/landlord laws in Connecticut, but you may want to take that into account too.The odds of your tenant fighting a small charge for the carpet--slim, but every dealing you have with a tenant builds a public image of you (not to mention speaks to your character).If the carpet is only a year old, then I, personally, would charge them replacement cost... any older than that, and it would be a depreciated replacement cost.The fact that you were going to replace the carpet (though it may speak to the carpets age) wouldn't directly have any influence in my decision to dock the security deposit.

After two years of fighting fierce competition on other properties I lost, I wasn't about to lose this one.  

I've  got no dog in the fight so to speak

Technically that is not correct, and could bite us in the butt, but I haven't had to fight it yet....After they vacate the property, within 45 days, you need to send them a final accounting of the damages, cleaning, etc and how their security deposit was applied..

But fighting your renter probably isn't worth it.

We are constantly  bombarded by requests to go here and there and get news cars and we are always fighting through that to stay on track of our goals.

The head of the estate had to fight in court at the time because of a dispute among the siblings at that time.

In most areas that system is sized not based on consumption but on the ability to deliver water to fight a fire.

As real estate investors we fight the constant battle of getting approved for funding.

If they say that I write in the LOI buyer broker is getting 2.5% and listing broker is getting 2.5%.If that is what their listing agreement says they do not fight it.