Can A Landlord Charge For Carpet Cleaning In California

According to the department of agriculture trade and consumer protection landlords cannot charge for routine carpet cleaning during the lease or from a security deposit no matter what your lease says.

Can a landlord charge for carpet cleaning in california.

A landlord cannot charge for routine cleaning. Also the lease agreement may stipulate that the tenants handle the carpet cleaning before they vacate the property. There is no legal reason to single out the. In other words landlords bear the cost of the routine carpet cleaning when a tenant moves out.

If the carpet originally cost 1 000 and had a life expectancy of 10 years the depreciation charge would be 100 per year. According to california law landlords can only charge tenants for carpet and paint under certain conditions. If a landlord can dictate the method of cleaning the carpet then they can dictate the manner that any other part of or the whole premises is cleaned. In california for example the landlord must provide receipts for any repairs or cleaning over 126.

Also normal wear and tear to carpets drapes and other furnishings cannot be charged against a tenant s security deposit normal wear and tear includes simple wearing down of carpet. If a unit was rented out in a brand new condition and returned very dirty the landlord could charge 200 to 500 dollars to get things clean depending on what. A landlord can charge for cleaning if the carpet is excessively dirty and or damaged. A landlord cannot routinely charge each tenant for cleaning carpets drapes walls or windows in order to prepare the rental unit for the next tenancy.

If the carpet cleaning does not exceed a professional cleaner s normal rate and the carpet doesn t have any actual damage landlords should not charge a tenant for dirty carpets. The amount that a landlord can charge for cleaning a unit depends on the state the unit was rented out in the state the unit was returned in and the general rules of wear and tear. This action allowed by security deposit laws is generally called a wrongful withholding of security deposit or a wrongful retention of security deposit lawsuit. Once you learn whether or not you as a long term tenant will pay those costs you.

Thus if the tenant s damage cheated three years out of the carpets life the landlord under california law could only hold the tenant responsible for 300. A landlord has the responsibility to make a rental property habitable and california law specifies what a property must.