Advise on damage caused by tenants

frugallass

are your tenants long-term or short-term?

Are you looking to replace the carpet soon or only when they move out?

Morally, you can't charge them for damage to a carpet that you are going to dump and surely you wouldn't let them waste their money in having the carpet cleaned if you're going to dump it.

lil_me

So they aren't planning on moving out? Wondering why you have done inspections if not.....does make me curious that some landlords do this when to be honest, there is nothing needs questioning until they move out, they are entitled to live in the property without being pestered.

Anyway, with the carpet, if you make a claim from their deposit, I am doubtful any court would allow you to claim more than a small percentage of the cost of the original carpet due to it's age and will usually ask for a receipt. They would also consider if it was of sufficient quality to last that length of time of course, it. If you were planning on replacing to make any such claim would be unjustified and unprofessional as a landlord. Do you have photographs of what the carpet was like in your inventory aswell? The court would also disagree with your request for professional cleaning, you wouldn't be able to claim for that one either I don't think.

Always remember more and more tenants are asking landlords for references now aswell as the other way round, if you rip someone off it'll no doubt come back and bite you on the bottom!

tbs624

lil_me wrote: »

So they aren't planning on moving out? Wondering why you have done inspections if not.....does make me curious that some landlords do this when to be honest, there is nothing needs questioning until they move out, they are entitled to live in the property without being pestered.

Yes a tenant has the implied right to "quiet enjoyment" of a property which would preclude *having* to agree to things like viewings by potential purchasers/new tenants butthat has to be balanced against the fact that LLs have S11 repairing/maintenance obligations under the LL & T Act 1985. That Section 11 also includes this:

"(6) In a lease in which the lessor’s repairing covenant is implied there is also implied a covenant by the lessee that the lessor, or any person authorised by him in writing, may at reasonable times of the day and on giving 24 hours’ notice in writing to the occupier, enter the premises comprised in the lease for the purpose of viewing their condition and state of repair. "

(my highlighting)

If tenants try to refuse access for repair/condition inspections they are likely to find it harder to make complaints about repairs not getting done at a later date.

Additionally, it may be in this case that the LL had originally said "no pets without prior consent/agreement, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld", and later agreed to cats being in the property but only if they were prevented from causing damage, and this would need to be checked on now and again.

In this case I think if I were already intending to replace the carpet I'd notify the tenants in writing that the damaged carpet had been noted (because it is not FW&T)and that they were to ensure no other similar damage occurred elsewhere within the property or they would be charged for the repair/replacement as appropriate. ( think I'd also be talking to them about flea treatments too if that hasn't already been made a condition of the cats being allowed in the property.)

Wings

Bf109 wrote: »

So to get it right - Its a ten year old carpet, therefore probably at the end of its life anyway, which is borne out by the fact that you're going to rip it out anyway.

I'm always amazed that slumlord swine like you can just come and post about how you want to rip off your tenants, without any shame at all, on a site thats supposed to protect consumers.

I hope you lose lots of money.

EDIT - And the fact that you know this and admit to wanting to keep the age of the carpet secret from your tenant speaks volumes about the quality of your character, or lack thereof.

Absolutely right, what a disgraceful person/landlord to attempt to recover monies from a tenant, for damage to a 10 year old carpet, that this landlord intended to replace anyway. How this person has the front to make such an admission is beyond belief..

[Deleted User]

The fact that you are thinking of installing laminate flooring shouldn't matter. Business is business. Your tenants ruined your carpet and should pay up towards the cost of replacing it.

However, if other than that they are good tenants, pay rent on time, look after the property well etc., then I'd turn a blind eye, just this once. I'd tell them that if they cause any more damage in the future you'll have to charge them.

Wings

The following is what the OP/Landlord stated:

“We might replace the flooring to a laminate anyway, (but we have not said anything to the tenants)”

and

“Carpet has been there for about 10 + years (again tenants don't know that)and we would have been looking to replace it at some point anyway.”

Now business might be business, but I try to be reasonable when dealing with tenants who have been reasonable and fair to me. It is landlords such as this poster, that the government decides to legislate for the Tenancy Deposit Scheme.

caringa

Why does it seem that every tenant thinks they are being ripped off by every landlord? We have always tried to be fair with our tenants, given them more than a second chance when their lives have taken a turn for the worse etc. and nearly every time they do the dirty on us - either dont pay the rent, mess up the property or worse still, both - and do a runner! Not all landlords are super rich - we have worked hard and saved hard to try and better ourselves - putting our money into property instead a pension. We have to pay a fairly large mortage and make very little return. We recently took on a disabled lady into our one bed flat and despite signing the agreement that it was unsuitable for pets, she has now got two Husky type dogs in there and what was once a lovely homely flat now looks and smells like a dog kennel! She has not paid us any rent and there is nothing we can do about it for 6 months - and then we will probably be labelled as "heartless" for trying to evict someone who is vulnerable!

Doozergirl

caringa wrote: »

Why does it seem that every tenant thinks they are being ripped off by every landlord? We have always tried to be fair with our tenants, given them more than a second chance when their lives have taken a turn for the worse etc. and nearly every time they do the dirty on us - either dont pay the rent, mess up the property or worse still, both - and do a runner! Not all landlords are super rich - we have worked hard and saved hard to try and better ourselves - putting our money into property instead a pension. We have to pay a fairly large mortage and make very little return. We recently took on a disabled lady into our one bed flat and despite signing the agreement that it was unsuitable for pets, she has now got two Husky type dogs in there and what was once a lovely homely flat now looks and smells like a dog kennel! She has not paid us any rent and there is nothing we can do about it for 6 months - and then we will probably be labelled as "heartless" for trying to evict someone who is vulnerable!

Eh? Not everyone on the thread is a tenant and no one said that all landlords are bad.

You're reading this thread according to your own personal issues I think. No one is going to judge you badly if the information you've supplied is correct. Tenants need to pay rent Not allowing pets (or children for that matter) isn't really regarded as a fair clause, but that's another issue which is far less important than the lack of rent.

meester

Van1971 wrote: »

The fact that you are thinking of installing laminate flooring shouldn't matter. Business is business. Your tenants ruined your carpet and should pay up towards the cost of replacing it.

Well no, they didn't. 10 years of wear and tear did.

It's absolutely unbelievable the number of amateur landlords who think they can just spend the rent (or at least send it off to the mortgage company), and not to any maintenance.

Landlords need to budget for, inter alia:

• new kitchens when old one get worn/old
• new bathrooms, as above
• new carpets, a quick google search suggests the following 'I am a landlord. My husband is in the carpet business. The average life expectancy of carpet in a "family" home is 10 years. We replace the carpet in our rental houses every 3 to 5 years as needed.'
• interior and exterior painting, regularly, wallpaper if applicable
• repairs to outbuildings, sheds, greenhouses, will rot and need repair/replacement

All of these things come out of the landlord's profit, i.e. the rent, NOT the deposit.

Unless the carpet is some magic carpet that lasts hundreds of years, and costs accordingly, the tenants haven't caused any actual damage.

The way you would calculate damage would be:

cost of carpet * (lost life / expected life span)

E.g., if the carpet costs £150 including fitting, and in the expert opinion of a carpet specialist should be replaced after six years, then a tenant spending 4 years in a property with new carpets who ruins them should pay 2/6 * £150 = £50 in damages

In this case it's very difficult to believe the carpet should really be expected to last any more than 10 years, but given the OP's evident dishonesty in not wanting the tenant to know that fact, his intent to charge when their clearly is no actual loss since he wants to put in laminate any way, and his evident unwillingness to do normal routine maintenance, there's little point in discussing what is the right thing to do, as there seems to be no other advice he wants than how to con and cheat his tenant.

Francesanne

lynn09 wrote: »

Was just wondering how to broach it with the tenant as it is technically damage - carpet was not in that bad a condition but we would def need to do something about it when they do move out.

I wouldn't think after 10years wear and tear most carpets would be worth keeping. Think I'd just replace it once they leave. Suppose you could always keep part of their deposit but if they've been good tenants personally I couldn't be so penny pinching.