vacating rental, questions

[~clover~]

I have a few questions, biggest one regarding the carpets in the house I just moved from after 2.5 years.

When I moved into this house, the first question I asked was what the carpets were like. I was told they were old & that the owners had considered replacing them, but decided not to when they decided not to sell.

So, when after 2.5 years of kids living on these carpets, the carpets being cleaned twice in that time by me, I'd really like to know my rights.

My tenancy was terminated, on no grounds. The owners have finally come to the decision to renovate & sell... which would mean replacing the carpets, painting, etc. We cleaned the carpets, as you're supposed to (not even sure if thats something you legally have to do or not), but just used mum's Vax.

Seems Vax isn't good enough. They now want me to have them professionally cleaned. There are stains that I admit, were us, but is it really fair that I pay someone to clean them again, when they will be ripped out anyway???

The marks in the main room & 2nd bed are only wear & tear. No actual stains. Track marks. But I'm told on my 'list to do' that there is heave staining in every room. When we did the bedrooms (I'd only done lounge & 3rd room in the past) the build up of sand was way more than 2 years worth. Mum lived in her last place for 4 years & didn't get that much crap out of the carpets.

The carpets are clean. Which I'm not even sure I HAD to do, shouldn't that be enough??

Also, if I were to have deductions from the bond, simply coz I can't afford the carpet cleaning, or the petrol to go over again for the few little things they want done, how will this affect my future rentals? Does this go against my name? Forever? Coz thats what I assumed it was for. Security for the LL as well as the tenant, if something came up??

I can't afford to even go back & mop the floors (again, coz apparently the slate floors are filthy slate never looks dirty!!)

I dunno, I just want to do the bond thing & forget about it, but I can't really have that against my name...

[~clover~]

I did just find this though, for anyone else wondering

Prohibited terms
Section 19(2) of the Act says: “Terms having the following effects must not be included in a residential tenancy agreement:

1.that the tenant must have the carpet professionally cleaned, or pay the cost of such cleaning, at the end of the tenancy [unless the cleaning is required because animals have been kept on the premises during the tenancy],

[HotI]

We have always had to show a receipt at the end of a lease that the carpets had been dry cleaned.

[Miss.September]

It was in all our contracts that we had to get the carpet steam cleaned when we vacated. It seemed pointless in two of the properties - the carpet was revolting to begin with, but we still had to do it.

[~clover~]

It might be different in VIC, but the tenancy board in NSW say its not to be included in the lease that the carpets are professionally cleaned, & whats the difference? I would like to know why you wouldn't be allowed to use a home carpet cleaner over a professional?

[Miss.September]

Maybe the difference is that a professional company is supposed to be thorough, and a home carpet cleaner could be a bit hit and miss (and I'm not saying that you're hit and miss or anything, I'm just trying to figure out why they'd specify - I'm sorry if that's come out wrong. I can't really figure out what the difference would be.)

Is there an area in your contract about how the house is to be left? If they've put that the floors need to be cleaned professionally, but the tenancy board says that's not allowed to go in, maybe ring the tenancy board and see where you stand?

[~clover~]

Its not in my tenancy agreement. I had the RE go though & make a list of anything I overlooked, the suggestion of a professional carpet clean was included

[MummyOfTerrors]

while we didnt need to show a receipt it was stressed (kindly) that a professional had to clean the carpets

ps if the slate is old and not been resealed then its breaking down!!!! not your fault in any way! i know this because our rental had slate and the landlords explained why my floors wouldnt stay clean (this was after a pregnancy hormonal cry cause i scrubbed my floors only to have them still dirty)

pps if its not in the agreement them your not binded

ppps we are currently filling in rental apps and a question is about your bond being affected so it may come up again

xoxox

[Miss_Dee]

I'm on my phone so cant see which state you are from. My best advice would be for you to call the tenancies branch and discuss the situation with them. They can tell you all your rights and responsibilities. You may not have to do anything with the carpets depending on their age - after a certain time (different in each state) the landlord is required to replace the carpet and tenants can not be liable of anything due to wear and tear. Same goes for paint.

[Kazbah]

Did you include carpet staining on your entry condition report? If so, then normal wear&tear is allowed.

[Ilithyia]

Hey hun,

Gotta love a rental hey!

Most real estates expect a carpet cleaning reciept at the end of a lease. Unless it was stipulated in your lease agreement that the carpets didn't need to be cleaned, then i'd say you'll have to clean them professionally Or even hire one of those ones from Woolies and keep the reciept from it.

Wear & tear is definately a factor you can put to them.

Maybe even ask the real esate to speak to the owners about whether they are planning to rip the carpet up. I'd surely be pi**ed if I paid $200 or so for them to go and rip the carpet up!

Here is the link to the "Getting Your Bond Back" page on the Fair Trading NSW webpage.

It has a table which lists fair wear and tear.

HTH!
x

[YoYo]

Clover - I'm a landlord and know that a tenant should have carpets professionally cleaned when a tenancy ends.

But.... In saying that, in the circumstances, you having to move out because of owner renovating and selling, I.... Personally wouldn't expect you to.

Perhaps you can write a letter to the landlord asking if it is required in the circumstances. Hopefully they'll be nice and let it go. I would

[Jennifer13]

We haven't had to have carpets steam cleaned when they weren't done professionally before we moved in or where the house was being pulled down.

Otherwise, we've always been told it was needed.

PS we did make sure on the house where they clearly hadn't been cleaned when we moved in that we wrote that on the entry condition report, so that we couldn't be asked to do it when we left.

[Amy_jellybean]

Another landlord here, we made sure it was in our lease that the tenant have all carpets and suede lounges (its leased fully furbished) professionally cleaned upon vacation.

[BeautifulMadness]

I had this problem with my last landlord...nightmare i tell ya.

By law you have to have them professionaly cleaned ,always keep the docket. Even if they are selling the house you still have to have them cleaned.

what you call clean and the LL/agent class as clean are totally diffrent.

As for the mopping of the floors, thats petty and if they truly werent happy theyd let u go and fix the problem.

[forshelby]

It won't affect you adversely if you lost a little bond for some carpet cleaning. That's what bond is for, afterall. Anyway........... in my experience, it's always been stipulated in the lease that carpet cleaning must be done by a professional upon vacation. BUT, if they're ripping it out anyway..... wtf? I'd question that. Does it say on your lease you're supposed to clean the carpets?

Definitely talk to your agent, or LL, and ask them why they need the carpet clean to throw it into landfill. Talk about a double-waste.

[BeautifulMadness]

it doesnt matter what the LL plans to do with the carpet, you still have to clean it.

[~StarBright~]

It was in our lease to have the carpets cleaned, even though they werent cleaned before we moved in!!!! On our condition report we had stated there were huge stains on the carpet in one of the bedrooms, and after we got the carpets done - wa-la.. no stains!!!! Even the RE Agent noticed when she inspected the house!!! She had remembered the stains!! i made a sneer comment about how i dont think they were done before we moved in, and it would have been nice if they had of been lol!!!!

I think sadly that yes, you have to get them proffessionally done and show the receipt on your final inspection. It MAY be worth asking if the carpets are being ripped up- its worth a shot you never know. As for the slate, i dont know, about that. I do understand the bother of having to keep going back and do more things, we live over an hour away from where we moved and I made sure that I got the RE agent to inspect while i was there so if anything else needed doing, i was right there and i could do it!!!

Good luck!!! I hope you dont have to lose too much of your bond!!