In California Can Landlord Charge Tenant Carpet Cleaning

Deductions cannot include normal wear and tear essentially a landlord would have to sue a tenant as a separate matter if they did not pay for routine carpet cleaning required by the lease.

In california can landlord charge tenant carpet cleaning.

Any carpet cleaning charges they collect in advance must be treated as part of a security deposit which must be subject to a refund. If a landlord can dictate the method of cleaning the carpet then they can dictate the manner that any other part of or the whole premises is cleaned. There is no legal reason to single out the. This action allowed by security deposit laws is generally called a wrongful withholding of security deposit or a wrongful retention of security deposit lawsuit.

And the longer a tenant has lived in a place the more wear and tear can be expected. According to california law landlords can only charge tenants for carpet and paint under certain conditions. If the carpet cleaning does not exceed a professional cleaner s normal rate and the carpet doesn t have any actual damage landlords should not charge a tenant for dirty carpets. In other words landlords bear the cost of the routine carpet cleaning when a tenant moves out.

If the carpet originally cost 1 000 and had a life expectancy of 10 years the depreciation charge would be 100 per year. Once you learn whether or not you as a long term tenant will pay those costs you.