Can A Landlord Make A Tenant Pay For Carpet Cleaning?


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Who Is Responsible
For Keeping The Carpets Clean In A Rental?


When you live in or own a rental home, who should be responsible for keeping the carpets in the rental clean?
Is it the tenant or the landlord?

This question is asked a lot, especially after a tenant has moved out of the rented property and is trying to get back their security deposit. On occasion, the owner of the property will claim that the tenant has left the carpets in a bad shape. The landlord may then proceed to deduct the cost of cleaning the carpets from the tenant’s security deposit.

Is it legal for a landlord to do this?

Usually, the lease agreement contains the terms for allocating financial responsibility for carpet cleaning. Most US states also have laws on this issue. If there is a conflict between what a state’s law says and the terms of the lease, the law of the state will prevail. What do most state laws say about who is responsible for cleaning the carpets in a rental home?

State regulations differ somewhat on how they treat this matter, but there are some laws that are common to most states. These common aspects are what we will focus on. Here are the basic guidelines for carpet cleaning in a rental property.


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Landlord Responsibility


The landlord is responsible for carpet cleaning before the tenants move in. It is the owner’s responsibility to ensure the carpets in a rental property are clean and in good condition before they hand the home over to tenants. This is part of the landlord’s obligation to provide a dwelling that is habitable.

In the period between tenant move-in and move-out, carpet cleaning is the tenant’s responsibility. The tenant is expected to be responsible for their handling of the landlord’s property and not subject it to uses that will result in damage. This responsibility includes cleaning the carpet in the proper way.

But, after a tenant moves out, responsibility for carpet cleaning reverts to the landlord and this is when most of the conflicts over carpet cleaning occur. The landlord may feel the tenant has not cleaned the carpet in the way they would like. The owner may feel obliged to hire a professional carpet cleaner to clean the carpet all over again.

If the landlord does this, they are not allowed to charge the tenant for the cleaning. The law views the landlord’s cleaning of the carpet as routine cleaning and routine carpet cleaning after tenant move-out is the landlord’s responsibility. Landlords may not deduct the cost of routine carpet cleaning from a tenant’s security deposit.

The only time a landlord can charge a tenant is when there is unusual damage to the carpet.

Based on this, a landlord cannot:

• Deduct the cost of carpet cleaning from a tenant’s security deposit, even if the lease says the property owner can.
• Force the tenant – while they are living in the home – to clean the carpet in a certain way or use a specific cleaning company. It is the tenant’s home, and they have a right to clean the carpet any way they prefer.
• Require the tenant to pay for carpet cleaning in advance. Any payments in excess of the rent are considered part of the security deposit and must be refunded at the end of the lease.


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Tenant Responsibility

The tenant must pay for carpet cleaning if the carpet in a rental is excessively dirty or damaged. Depending on the state where the rental property is located, the landlord is allowed to deduct this cost from the tenant’s security deposit. Unusual damage is damage beyond what is possible through normal wear and tear.


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What Is Normal Wear And Tear On A Carpet?


Carpets wear away through constant contact with shoes or heavy objects being dragged across their surface. This damage is most evident in high-traffic areas. Shoes may also transport soil particles and deposit them in high-traffic areas, where they can cause damage. Also, some parts of the carpet which see a lot of sun exposure will be more likely to fade.

However, the carpet can also be damaged in unexpected ways, such as:

• Stains from food, pet urine, garage grease carried into the home by shoes and paint or oil spills.
• Embers from a fireplace may land on the carpet and burn it.
Burns that are in areas not close to the fireplace – may be due to cigarettes and falling candles – is unusual damage.
• Rips in the carpet as a result of dragging heavy objects across its surface or a dog chewing on it.

These types of damage are considered unusual and if they are present in the carpet, the tenant will pay for the damage.

Beyond these marks of unusual damage, there is a simple way to determine if a carpet is unusually damaged.
When the cost of cleaning the carpet exceeds a professional cleaner’s normal rate, it is unusual damage, and the tenant should pay for carpet cleaning.

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