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over some carpet

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psayhey

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? indiana


My ex-landlord of four years sent me a bill for $500 instead of a refund of my deposit with an itemized bill including a $1000 charge for replacing all carpets in the house. Of these carpets, 88 square yards, only two rooms were new when I moved in four years ago. The others, I'm pretty sure, were from the early seventies. Per his request, I had the carpets professionally cleaned when we moved out and presented him with a receipt. We have dogs and they were included in the lease. Now, the LL insists that the carpets HAD TO be replaced because of an odor left by the dogs and he wants me to pay the entire cost of such replacement. I think, at best, I should pay only a percentage of the carpet as the old stuff should have been replaced anyway and the "new" stuff he laid down four years ago didn't appear to have sustained anything more than normal wear and tear.
Should I sue this guy in small claims?? Would it benefit anything more than my pride??
I've since moved from Indiana to Colorado and making it back for an iffy trial is, well, iffy.
Also, do I need to prove that I didn't damage his business or does HE have to prove that I DID??
What is the name of your state?
 


Yeah, well, good luck fighting that one.

I rented a house some years back and they raked us for $1000 for a bunch of similar crap. It's their way of NEVER having to incur expenses for normal wear and tear. Heck, they even charged us to landscape the yard that wasn't landscaped in the first place!
 

justalayman

Senior Member
The LL will probably be able to win regarding the need to replace. The only real issue to you is what you have to pay. Since the "new" areas were 4 years old, there should be 4 years of depreciation figured. If the other areas were as old as you say, the carpet was more than likley worthless since depreciation would have lowered the value to $0. You are not responsible for replacement cost but depreciated value of the carpeting.

Now the problem is is it worth it to you to fight this? If it goes to sourt, probably not. I would engage an attorney to review this and write a letter offering a more proper amount and hope for the best. If the LL refuses to accept the lesser amount, although you should prevail in court to having the total amount lowered, you will still lose. If your expenses to fight it would exceed the benefit of fighting it, you may be better off financially to just pay up.
 

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