State Specific Question About: CALIFORNIA (CA)

WHEN OUR TENANT MOVED IN THE CARPETS WERE BRAND NEW AND SHE SIGNED A MOVE IN STATEMENT STATING THE CONDITION OF THE APARTMENT INCLUDING THE NEW CARPET. SHE HAS HAD EXTRA PEOPLE IN THERE AND WILL HAVE BEEN LIVING THERE 5 YEARS THIS MONTH AND DID NOT CARE FOR THE CARPETS!SHE CALLED TONIGHT AND SAID HER DAUGHTER WAS EXPECTING AND THAT WE HAD TO REPLACE THE CARPETS THAT SHE HAS RUINED AND NEVER CLEANED, BECAUSE OF HER ALLERGIES AND THAT IT WAS A LAW THAT AFTER 5 YEARS WE HAD TO REPLACE. SHE IS VERY ARGUMENTATIVE FOR EVERYTHING AND MY HUSBAND AND I ARE FEELING SO DISCOURAGED. WE DO NOT THINK THIS IS TRUE PLEASE GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS AND HELP I APPRECIATE IT!!

THANKS

Request that she cite this "law" she is claiming.

I may offer to have a pro carpet cleaner go over and clean her carpet but not replace it. Carpet should last a min. of 10 years under normal wear and tear.

Ignore unreasonable demands. 99% chance there is no law requiring carpet replacement. If she can show it to you on the books, run it by your attorney and see what you need to do.

Also, keep an eye on this tenant. I am guessing what is really going on is she's about to have trouble paying rent and is trying to find excuses about why she shouldn't have to pay.

Tenants do ignorant stuff like that all the time trying to shift the blame for their failure to pay with frivolous "requests/demands" for maintenance issues they cause and aren't willing to pay for. Be ready to get the eviction process rolling if she's late.

I am curious: why are you tolerating extra people living in this house? You are the land lord and have a lease, right? I would send this tenant a brief letter:

Dear Mrs. X: Thank you for communicating your concerns about the carpet. As evidenced by your signature on the move-in inspection report, the carpet was new at move-in and should be fine if properly cared for. Please be advised that to maintain a carpet a yearly professional cleaning at minimum should be done. This cleaning is at your expense since it was not provided for in the lease.

Also, it has come to our attention there are people not on the lease living in the house. These individuals must either apply for and be added to the lease or vacate the premises immediately. Failure to comply will result in eviction including court costs and attorney fees, as applicable. Call me with any questions.

Sincerely,

The Management

It is vitally important that you stay on top of who is living in your property. Ex-cons, drug manufacturers, drama kings/queens will set up residence in YOUR house because no one ELSE wants them. When you tolerate these kinds of shenanigans, it sends a message to the tenant that they can ignore the lease and do whatever the flip they want. Which leads to ignorant demands for new carpets, etc.

"What you demand, you get. What you tolerate, you encourage." -John T. Reed

Thank you so much for taking the time to write your responses . You all are so very helpful and we really appreciate it!! Sid sorry for the capital letter I sometimes do that ! I appreciate you going the extra mile with writing the sample letter. I suppose we get a little intimidated with the tenants at times and its not my nature to be really firm with people, but I am learning and listening to advice from all of you gives me more confidence!!' Thanks a million

Regards

There is no law I have heard of that requires carpets be replaced every 5 years. If the carpet is worn out because of wear she could ask for it to be replaced.

Carpet should last 5 to 7 years if it was decent quality carpet.

I choose to pay for professional cleaning once a year and am able to get a carpet life as high as 14 years.

Also, Lori, consider getting a "handle" instead of using your real name. You do not want a tenant to google you and come across your postings that indicate your weaknesses that a tenant can exploit.

CA landlord is not required to replace carpet, if it continues to be safe.

Torn or worn out (with holes) carpet renders the unit untenantable, and carpet must be clean (no accumulation of dirt), but appearance is not a requirement.

ANOTHER reason to eliminate carpet from rentals!

Lori, I'm with SID, something bigger is brewing and this is a SYMPTOM..

Make an appointment IMMEDIATELY and put eyes on the carpet and the entire house. Take several photos of each room. I predict you will need photos for court very soon.

A good STEAM EXTRACTION carpet cleaning pro can do wonders to restore carpet.

I don't know more than what you have posted but my Landlordy-Sense tells me this will get very bad very soon, costing you money.

Lori- lots of good advice here. And Brad's landlord sense is tingling for a reason.

Why is she mentioning her daughter is expecting? Never a good sign. Our Section 8 tenant tried to get a note from her daughter's pediatrician demanding that we replace the carpet due to the girl's allergies. Ridiculous. Argumentative tenant=see you later. Good luck with this one.

I had the carpet cleaned for a long term tenant when he asked to have it replaced. He was happy. He stayed. I sold the building and was glad that the apt. was occupied. He's still there. It was expensive carpet too.

"Dear Resident,

Obviously you are not happy here. If you will move out in the next 10 days, Management will not hold you to the remaining months of the lease.

This offer expires in 10 days."

Another thought: she probably knows you as the OWNER, not as the MANAGER. Makes a big difference.

The carpet problem is a first round of attack to gauge your resolve. The daughter, pregnant, allergies...and more to come...is the res building a case to not pay rent.

Been there. Many times.

Nip this in the bud.

You are not going to like what I'm about to explain to you with regards to carpeting and tenancy in California. Many City's give free information to tenants that call up asking questions on carpets and deposit deductions. For example West Hollywood tells tenants that yes, a landlord must replace carpets after 5 years. But their City Codes has a final sentence after that statement that reads, "IF NECESSARY". They forget and leave that out. I've been to Beverly Hills court for West Hollywood issues because I refused to replace carpet because tenants wanted a newer look after being there 5 years.

Now to answer your question. An owner will depreciate the cost of new carpet over 5 years. So if a tenant stays one

Robert J is absolutely correct in what he points out.

But I would like to make the situation a little more clear.

There is a concept called "useful life" of a carpet in CA. But that applies to calculation of damages to a carpet that must be replaced because of tenants' fault.

"Useful life" does NOT apply to any mind of responsibility of landlord to replace the carpet. A landlord in CA does NOT have to replace the carpet after its "useful life" is over. The only law that applies is the law of habitable premises, so that a carpet which is not safe (e.g., ripped, holes, mold, etc.) must be replaced, but NOT a carpet which simply does not please the tenant. For such an unpleasing carpet, there is NO LIMIT on its age, unless it is unsafe.

SRose's report that the judge backed him(her) when the lease provided that carpet must be Professionally Cleaned by a Truck mounted Company, was probably because the carpet was dirty after having been walked on for a year or more, so it needed to be cleaned to restore it to its condition of cleanliness when the tenant moved in. A lease clause requiring cleaning is fine although unnecessary, but a clause requiring "Professional" cleaning is not fine, neither is a requirement specifying what kind of cleaning or type of equipment. Clean condition when tenant moved in is clean condition when tenant moved in. Less than as clean as when tenant moved in is a cost that can be offset from security deposit.

Tenant for over 20 + yrs, her carpet is totally unsafe with rips, holes and staples(something sharp I’m guessing staples?) in several places popped out, and after she had it cleaned it smelt like mold for days after, carpet cleaning guy said there’s no more padding under the carpet it’s completely worn and mold could be under the carpet. Landlord refused to change it … My guess is that the letter her daughter wrote requesting carpet replacement did not include these things and perhaps it came across as esthetic… Trying to help her out I said if rewrite a letter of request, she’s an elderly woman says she can no longer walk barefoot on the carpet it hurts to much. She is definitely paying below market for her unit. Been there for over 20 yrs my guess is that’s why they don’t want to change it. Help me help her please!!

After you solve this Carpet problem, I highly recommend that you pay for cleaning once a year by your chosen company. I get a minimum eight or more years on carpet because I put it in good quality and I clean it annually.

Helping a friend and Lee, there are so, so many things that can be causing the issues you/your friend are having. I have quite bad allergies, and a bit of arthritis, I’ve dealt with many of these things personally.

Some points:

Most landlords don’t want a tenant for twenty years. We need to get in there and refresh the place, not something that can safely be done with a tenant in place.

Landlords frequently get blamed for things, when it can be the tenants health, or things the tenant purchased and brought in the home. Pins and needles, for instance is how diabetes caused neuropathy feels, and most often it is more apparent when one has been sitting for some time. So, sit in a comfy chair in living room watching telly, get up to go to bed, and yikes! - pins and needles. Carpet gets stapled around the edges within two inches of the edge. We did live in a rental with a tack strip where the carpet met vinyl flooring between living room and kitchen. That had sharp points that could be felt if one stepped right on the two surfaces. Brand new apartment complex, we just learned to step OVER that strip. Problem solved!

New carpet outgasses, can cause runny nose, swollen sinuses in sensitive people. So does new vinyl flooring. When we built a brand new house, my ‘sensitivities’ were way up. Allergist didn’t find any allergies upon skin tests, but said I looked allergic. Suggested I move to a brand new house. I said we just did! For other reasons, we ended up moving out of that state, and bought an older home. As we remodeled, when new material, such as new carpet or vinyl flooring, my sinus/allergy/thingie would get bad again. So, we learned to air things out, which helped.

Haven’t remodeled our own house in some years, but about two years ago, my spouse wanted to try a different mattress. Yikes! Allergy overtime! Good thing there was a 100 day return policy. We’re back to the twenty year old sleep number mattress that I love. Spouse has a health (kidney) issue which makes sleeping uncomfortable, so the change in mattress was hopeful thinking on his part anyway.

Asbestos in ceilings is fine. It does cause allergies or itching, it protects the property in event of a fire ( non-flammable, which is why its used in brakes, on ships, on hvac, in firefighters gear. Asbestos is a concern when friable-that is when its crumbly, loose. So, don’t poke the ceiling and you are good. Recent best practices in managing asbestos is, if it is in good shape, intact, then leave it. Likely your ceiling has several good coatings of ceiling paint.

So, Helping, have your friend checked for diabetes, Lee, take some allergy meds. Loratadine works well for me. I get really itchy hands if I go two or three days without loratadine. Oh, and linoleum is likely not being installed. It is VERY expensive now, as most prefer vinyl flooring. Linoleum was used quite a bit in the 1920s to oh, maybe 1960s, but most flooring now is vinyl, ceramic, carpet, or wood. Linoleum is considered better for allergy sufferers, but exhobitantly expensive.

30 day non renewal notice if legal in your state. No reason needs to be given. Get them gone.