end of contract?

[dustinleepowell]

I live in Nebraska.
I lived in an apartment for about a year, and then moved out. We received our full deposit back after the landlord looked over the apartment and told us everything looked satisfactory. A month after getting our deposit back, we received a letter that stated we owed them for damage done to the carpet. In my opinion, there was no damage to the carpet beyond normal wear and tear. Is there any legal merit in their claim?

 

[LL]

Maybe. The landlord will have to prove there was damage, but he is allowed to charge for damage that is found only after a time has passed.

Just for example, do you know that carpet stains which are cleaned, often come back? Just one reason sometimes is that, if you spill something oily (last time it happened to me, it was olive oil spilled by a middle-eastern tenant) on the carpet, you can clean up the stain on the top of the carpet, but the carpet will act like a wick to soak up oil remaining on the floor. Then the top of the carpet is also wet, and dirt sticks to it, turning into a dark stain. That means a carpet that looks clean, can have stains re-appear after weeks.