Stressed out over carpet!

[november]

My boyfriend and I recently moved out of our apartment and the last day of our lease was November 19th. We paid $99 security deposit, $300 pet security deposit, and $25 additional monthly pet rent. We steam cleaned our carpets twice (we borrowed a steam cleaner so we don’t have receipts for cleaning), vacuumed at least twice a week, and spot cleaned the carpets as needed. The carpets appeared to be in excellent condition when we left aside from normal wear and tear. We received a phone call from the apt office on November 20th that our carpet showed evidence of pet urine in the fibers in the living room and dining room. The spare bedroom, master bedroom, walk-in closets, and hallway would not have showed evidence of pet urine because we did not allow our dog in that part of the apartment. The apt representative told us that aside from taking our $399 deposit we owed an additional $655 to re-carpet the entire apt and re-seal the floors in the entire apartment. They said they could not re-carpet just the living room and dining room because a seam would show and the color may not match exactly. The carpet was 2 years old when we moved in. Prior to their inspection we were told that we would be given the opportunity to walk through with the carpet rep if damage was found. When they called my boyfriend on Nov 20th they said if we didn’t come over then, we wouldn’t be given the chance to see the carpet at a later date. We both were at work and were unable to leave to go back to the apt. They began replacing the carpet on Nov 21st. Also, I had them fax me a copy of the walk through sheet. It was not completely filled out and was filled out by the apt rep (not the carpet professional) also it is not signed or dated. My questions are…

1)Are we responsible for paying to re-carpet the entire apartment when only a portion of the original carpet was damaged? (re-carpeting the damaged portion would not affect the functionality of the carpet, only the cosmetic fact that the color may not match exactly).

2)They have given us until December 13th to pay them $655 to replace the existing carpet. Is this a reasonable amount of time? (23 days)

3)Because we weren’t able to see the damage to the carpet and the document they provided was not completed, signed, or dated by the carpet professional, can they still hold us accountable?

[ohiolandlord]

1)Are we responsible for paying to re-carpet the entire apartment when only a portion of the original carpet was damaged? (re-carpeting the damaged portion would not affect the functionality of the carpet, only the cosmetic fact that the color may not match exactly).

I think you would only be responsible for the damaged portion. And you would only be responsible for a pro-rated amount of the new carpet. If the expected life of the old carpet was 7 years, for example, and they got 3 years out of it then you would be responsible for the value of the remaining 4 years. Say the carpet cost $1000 to replace. You could argue that they received 3/7's of the value or 42.8% so you would owe the remaining 57.2% of the value or $572.

2)They have given us until December 13th to pay them $655 to replace the existing carpet. Is this a reasonable amount of time? (23 days)

What's the penalty if you don't pay in that amount of time?

3)Because we weren’t able to see the damage to the carpet and the document they provided was not completed, signed, or dated by the carpet professional, can they still hold us accountable?

I wish you would have taken pictures of how you left the apartment. You can ask for a professional invoice or you could refuse to pay based upon their failure to cooperate (although there is no legal right to refuse to pay based upon this). You may simply say that you'll take your chances in court.

[november]

We haven't asked them what the penalty for late payment yet because we didn't want to imply that we are verbally agreeing to pay. But we just found out that they sent information to by boyfriend's parent's address (we used it as our forwarding address for our 30 day notice because we hadn't signed a lease yet) I'll have to review what they sent us in the packet.

We didn't take pictures because there was nothing wrong with the carpet to the naked eye...I'm guessing they found something on the underside of the carpet.