State Specific Question About: NORTH DAKOTA (ND)

Got a scenerio for you experienced landlords that I need some help with. All advice is appreciated.

Tenant moves out and says they shampooed all of the carpets. We called the carpet cleaners to get the receipt so we could issue the S/D back (per our guidelines and lease we need receipt prior to issuing back the S/D) The receipt showing only one room was done. Other carpets had 'stuff' on them like stains and garbage (which we picked up with our vacuum) Because this family 'says' they were there when all the rooms were cleaned (even though it was obvious all of the carpets wer not clean) can we deduct for the carpet cleaning? We are thinking of getting an estimate from our normal carpet shampooer (and very reputable, reasonable professional) for the additional rooms and indicating to the family if they can provide a receipt showing they had the entire home done we will reimburse the money back.

The new tenant moved in so we were not able to get the additional rooms shampooed.

I think you have answered your own question, if you have a receipt showing only 1 room being shampooed and cleaned, then only one room was cleaned, deduct from SD the rest. Why give them more chances to lie to you and produce a bogus receipt later?

Will you in fact be able to have the other rooms cleaned since a tenant already has moved in?

"Any tips/advice?"

Best advice is pics, video, and a CLEAR signed statement about condition at move in. ANYTHING short of that and you are where you are now.

Unless the carpet was 100% brand new when they moved in you're stuck trying to prove they are responsible for what is there now.

Your question is about salvaging a bad situation that was mostly caused by your own lack of communication with them "all along"; and the bottom line is that if they push it (court) you don't have much, anything really, to support you.

One of the bedrooms/hallway was new.

We have a check in list (signed by tenants/landlords) Check in list/reminders when the move out/move out letters/vidoes prior to new tenants moving in. Lease also indicates all carpets require professional cleaning and a copy of the receipt must be provided.

When a tenant moves out we offer a pre walk through/do a video of the check out/take pictures of anything that will be deducted (cleaning/stains etc)

To ensure this will not happen again, what addiitional items do you recommend doing? I do not want to run into this issue again in the future.

We have the receipt from the previous tenant showing the carpets were cleaned when they moved out and a check in list, videos prior to this family moving in.

When this family moved out we took pics and videos before we started to clean. Not sure how to proceed.

One bedroom and a hallway was brand new when this family moved in and it had small stains on it when the moved out.

Question for Mr. Rationale...how would we communicate any better in the future? We have a check in list/check out cleaning list/offer pre walk throughs. Take pics/vidoes before they move in and once they move out and during our check out and walk through

What additional items would you recommend us doing in the future? We want to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Thank you all who are responding, it is very much appreciated

HEY another Nodak landlord.

Welcome aboard.

Consider this, tenants have the carpet cleaned prior to moveout, but usually only AROUND their furniture and then it gets dirtied up when they invite a gaggle of firends over to help them move. Also, if they chose to do it themselves or hire someone who loads the carpet up with soap, the attempt at "cleaning" is likely to not meet any marginally reasonable standard.

We provide completely and professionally cleaned carpets at movein and see no reason not to expect the same after the tenants leave. Our "Tenant Rules and Regulations" include:

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13. Carpet and Blind Cleaning

Prior to your move-in, the carpets and blinds have been professionally cleaned. You are responsible for vacuuming the carpet and spot cleaning on a regular basis.

Professional cleanings that may be required during and at the end of tenancy shall be performed by a company specified by the Landlord.

Carpet and blind cleaning at the end of tenancy will be scheduled after you have surrendered possession of the premises and will be deducted from the security deposit.

Sorry if I seemed abrupt. I was still sipping coffee and waking up before ;) But you didn't mention any of that documentary items initially so I ASSumed that they didn't exist.

Starting over You said: "When this family moved out we took pics and videos before we started to clean. Not sure how to proceed."

I don't understand this statement. If you have clear pics of the before and after then it shouldn't be a question where the dirt/spots came from. The cleaning they did do was ALL on their own penny and doesn't impact the SD (they seem to accept that work was their responsibility). This conversation should have been held that day with them.

Other Points:

1) The remaining dirt/spots are weighed against normal wear & tear, age/depreciated value. 2) Unless your lease *requires* all carpet to be shampooed you can't expect them to. 3) In the OP you used the expression "tenant says" which is wide open to interpretation. 4)Your new tenant accepted the condition so it is probably not that bad.

Bottom line: Do your SD calculations the way you believe is correct (you can always adjust later) but just because you think it is correct doesn't mean a Court will.

I won't ever let a tenant shampoo carpets themselves (or hire someone). Only someone I approve or I myself do the cleaning. My Rug Doctor is pretty good at cleaning most anything and has pulled some of the nastiest stains you've ever seen out of a carpet.

Also, my lease states on it that there is a $40 per room or area charge to clean carpets. So two bedrooms plus one living room and a hallway/stairs (counts as 1 area per lease) is $160. This is CHEAPER than what the local Stanley Steamer guys charge to show up in their truck. If a tenant moves out after one year, it's pretty costly to them but gives me something to apply to the next round of flooring. I buy the $30 worth of Rug Doctor soap and spend about 2 hours doing a thorough job. Never had a judge say my fee was excessive since it's less than what a professional would charge.

You did fine and did everything right if that is what’s in your lease. Just do what your lease said. Deduct from SD what they have not provide receipt for as required in your lease. And don’t keep asking or even talk to them to give them time to try and make a fake receipt. Ask once. Then write a letter why you deducted and send rest of deposit back. In your letter if you want to you could give them a couple days to still provide receipt. Also we do not say exactly which company a tenant has to use. Just a professional licensed and insured carpet-cleaning business. Otherwise a judge may think you get a kickback or know the business owner. Or you don’t allow the tenant to shop for the best deal so is unreasonable.

Also once I knew it was not cleaned I would have already had done before new tenant moved in. But if they take you to court go ahead and get the carpet cleaned, even with the tenant there. Tenant will appreciate it and you then have a receipt for your damages. Otherwise if you were able to rent the place it may be hard for a Judge to think the carpet needed cleaning

Hi there Corey we in the Bis area. Where are you from?

Wow thank you all for the advice!!! There are tons of tips in the replies which I greatly appreciate

The family didn't want a 'pre walk through' so we took a video of when we did the 'official' walk through. We called this family immediately and they just 'said' they were there but the receipt says otherwise. They became very defensive and said they had tons of 'pictures' I have to wonder if the home was so clean what could the pictures be of?

We have all of our receipts for the broken items or items thaqt could not be cleaned and required replacement. The entire place was not even close to be clean. We spent over 15 hrs cleaning and repairing and getting ready for the next tenant.

We have started to a video with the tenant upon check in also where they go and point to things or question things on video. That, along with the check in list signed should be good, accurate, documenation in case issues come up during check out. I figured the more documenation we have at check in the less headhace we have later during check out.

BK,