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Can the Landlord charge for carpet cleaning?

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pixidance

Junior Member
I live in Washington State.

I recently moved out of a duplex that I rented for 18 months. I got a partial refund from my security deposit today and one of the charges listed was.

"Carpet was not professionally cleaned or completely vacuumed - $125"

Whether the carpets were completely vacuumed is up for dispute, but I made the mistake of not signing anything at the walkthrough, so she can say what she wants and I can't prove or disprove it.

I assumed that carpet cleaning between tenants was standard and not something that I would be charged for. Especially for professional cleaning. Also, the carpets were not professionally cleaned prior to our moving in (again, not something I got in writing)

There is nothing in our lease agreement that stated we were to professionally clean the carpets prior to moving out. There was also nothing in the lease stating that there was a nonrefundable carpet cleaning fee.

I've looked through WA RCW and read the entire Landlord Tenant literature. I can find nothing specifically referring to carpets, unless it's considered under "normal wear and tear".

edit* for clarification

I don't expect to get the carpet cleaning fee back, I'm just interested to know what the law on this is since I can't find an RCW that pertains to this particular issue.
 
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Carpet cleaning.

Did you leave the carpet looking like a pig sty? Did you ruin the carpet? Does your lease have a non refundable cleaning deposit for such things? I get really tired of tenants that think they can leave a place filthy "just because" they think the LL has to clean it after they leave anyway. sheesh!

I have two brothers that are moving out of my place right now and they used the carpet as an ashtray. Yesp I'll be cleaning the carpet, providing I can save it.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Generally, you should leave an apartment the way you found it. If the carpets were only vacuumed and not professionally cleaned before you moved in, I don't see why you should have to pay for it after moving out, UNLESS the carpet was very dirty or stained.
 

pixidance

Junior Member
No, I didn't leave the place a pig stye. It was quite clean when I left it, that's why I got some of my deposit back.

The carpet was cleaner when I left than when I moved in.

As stated in my original post, NO, there was no carpet cleaning clause in my lease. The lease provided for a $500 deposit and mentioned nothing about professionally shampooing the carpets.
 

Gail in Georgia

Senior Member
"the carpet was cleaner when I left than when I moved in"

I'm curious. How do carpets magically get cleaner in 18 months without being professionally cleaned?

Charges for carpet cleaning tend to be a very, very common issue between landlords and tenants.

Gail
 

mare1954

Junior Member
We had a tenant for one year that ruined a whole house (plus stairs) of carpet. I didn't even want to know what they had done to the carpets, but even though they were stainmaster quality, they could not be saved. It cost four thousand dollars to replace the carpets. The tenant paid a $1750.00 security deposit. They left some holes in the wall which they tried to patch, but did a lousy job and then did not repaint the walls. and they ruined a slider door (and it had to be completely replaced by a screen company who builds the doors)**************..the problem is that their security deposit did not even touch the ruined carpet cost, let alone the repairs that had to be re done and the painting, and the door replacement. Is this fair to the property owner? It came out of our pocket, and all this had to be done before another tenant could move in. It is hard for us to believe that renters think this is okay**************....and then when they didn't get any of their deposit back (we sent them every receipt for proof and written confirmation from the professional carpet cleaner that the carpets were not cleanable), they had the gall to take us to small claims court! These are the things that renters don't understand**************.....landlords get screwed over these situations too!:mad:
 

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