How do you assess how much damage dep...

[recycled sixtie]

deposit to give back to the renter now they have moved out.
They paid the equivalent of a month's rent as a damage deposit almost 5 years ago. The condo building was built in 1997 and we still have the original carpet. The carpet was not stained when they moved in almost 5 years ago. The carpet now has several stains in it near the kitchen and in the living room. They have been excellent tenants and paid rent ahead of time. Whether the stains will come out with prof. carpet cleaning I do not know.I know that I have to pay interest on the damage deposit and I will have to have the carpet cleaned before I rent out again. Any ideas on how much of the damage deposit to give back?

[9dreizig]

You got 5 years of timely rent from one renter ???? Let it go,, you did good . Normal wear and tear..
Think about how much you would have lost had you had to find new tenants every year..

[mikester]

you were going to clean the carpets between tenants anyway right?

[MRM]

Normal wear and tear is not deducted from the damage deposit. Cleaning is not deducted from the damage deposit. Unless the stains are something out of the ordinary of what you would expect for five year old rental carpet, it sounds like you should refund the entire deposit with interest. As an extra added bonus doing so will make you feel good and is good karma. If it were me I'd refund the whole thing.

[recycled sixtie]

You all have such wisdom, it is making me emotional

[fastfredracing]

We are pretty happy when we get 5 years out of carpet. If their pay history is as you stated, I think they deserve full refund of the deposit. They lived up to their end of the bargain, now it is your turn. This seems to be the exception in this biz, not the norm.
We had tenants destroy the carpet in 4 months, and burned us on the rent, left us with dog poo soup on the tile floors. and 3 dumptruck loads of garbage to get rid of. It can be much worse.

[john70t]

How appropriate this thread is. I just cleaned carpets for the last 24 hours straight.
It's easy, and costs $30 bucks to rent the machine.
-Hot water.
-Use water only if carpet was cleaned before and no pet smells. There's plenty of soap residue left.
-Work very slow. Get corners.
-Go over with vacuum again to remove puddles.
-Leave windows open, or A/C on.
-If spots remain, use Spot-shot on wet rag, on wet carpet, and rinse immediately with water. Repeat if necessary.

The 2 y.o. "new" pile carpet which we had installed(not the cheapest) is already laying flat and bunching up in spots.
Tenant was a lightweight single woman who was gone most of the time.
Carpet wears out.

Thank your tenants, ask how you can help them transission, and return their entire deposit.

[HardDrive]

Give them their deposit back and thank them for being good renters.

[aigel]

Full refund IMHO. If it were a year or even 2, I'd think differently, but 5 years is pretty much end of life for any carpet, unless you have a total neat freak living there.

You may still prop the carpet back up with a professional clean and then you don't have to worry about the next tenant messing it up as every extra year you get is gravy.

G

[VaSteve]

You got 5 years of timely rent from one renter ???? Let it go,, you did good . Normal wear and tear..

Think about how much you would have lost had you had to find new tenants every year..

X2....full refund and ask them to move back in!

[67R69S]

I would give it all back. I had tenants like that a while back; I gave them back their last month's rent so they would have a free month to help with the move. People treat you well, you treat them well right back, sometimes it's about more than moolah. I know that's not very good business advice but hot damn it sure makes you feel good.

[chocolatelab]

5 years, return the deposits.

Id kill for tenants that stayed 5 years.

[Bill Douglas]

As above.

5 years, wow, lucky you.

[scottmandue]

You pay interest on security deposit?

As others have said... I would let it slide... 5 years, how many years do you get out of carpet anyway?

[schamp]

Give it all back. Be happy for the time they were there. I had a guy get murdered in one of mine. Bled out in the kitchen. The guy that stabbed him stuck around and he had cuts on both hands from the fight. He then bled all over the rental unit. The cops then destroyed a 7.0 foot 80 to 90 year old door and frame to get in. They couldn't go to the side and break in on a newer door. The guy was a druggie and enjoyed an alternate lifestyle (is that PC enough). Cost over a grand to get a company to come in and do a Has Mat clean up. Dead guys family didn't want any of his belonging or crappy furniture. Cost to clean and re-rent - right at $8,000.00. Insurance (state farm) did what they could.
Carpet have a stain- clean it or replace it. Good luck with the next tenant.

[aigel]

Originally Posted by schamp

Give it all back. Be happy for the time they were there. I had a guy get murdered in one of mine. Bled out in the kitchen. The guy that stabbed him stuck around and he had cuts on both hands from the fight. He then bled all over the rental unit. The cops then destroyed a 7.0 foot 80 to 90 year old door and frame to get in. They couldn't go to the side and break in on a newer door. The guy was a druggie and enjoyed an alternate lifestyle (is that PC enough). Cost over a grand to get a company to come in and do a Has Mat clean up. Dead guys family didn't want any of his belonging or crappy furniture. Cost to clean and re-rent - right at $8,000.00. Insurance (state farm) did what they could.
Carpet have a stain- clean it or replace it. Good luck with the next tenant.

There you go - perspective!

I just read the OP again. The carpet is from 1997!!! That is 15 years!

G

[Hugh R]

The tenant inherited 10 year old carpet and used it for another 5 years? You got your moneys worth. After 10 years with kids my expensive carpet was trash, and we cared for it.

[Nostril Cheese]

Sounds more like a cheap landlord to me... deposit plus interest on 15 year old carpet? Really?