Carpet Stains and Bond

Hi,
My tenant has ended her lease and 2 bedrooms (kids rooms) have what look like paint stains on the carpet. This property is only 3 years old and the carpets were basically in new condition at the start of lease. Obviously paint is not wear and tear so tenant is liable to fix however my property manager suggests compensation is only done for the portion of carpet damaged and they don't have to pay for the entire replacement.

My understanding was if the stains cannot be cleaned out the entire room would need to be re carpeted (minus 3 years depreciation?) at the tenants cost. Who is right?

 

You must allow for fair wear and tear, which allows for the occasional accident, and would include a smear of paint or boot polish. Or a stain from a dropped food item.

You can't expect 3 year old carpets to remain pristine. And further discounted as you say "basically" new condition.

Your PM is right, you can't expect the tenant to pay to recarpet the room. If it goes to the tribunal you will be lucky to get $100, or possibly nothing.
Marg

 

So kids painting your carpet is considered fair wear and tear? Facepalm

 

I don't think you can have it replaced entirely at their cost. The paint doesn't really render the carpet unusable

 

Plucka, I'm not sure how it works in Qld but in NSW I understand that the carpets should be in a similar condition at the end of the lease to what they were at the start of the lease, and if not then the tenant needs to rectify any issues.

Any forum members should feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...

 

Hi @Plucka

This is not my specific area in the business so I have run this past Luke (our Principal) and Jodi (our BDM) who used to be a senior dispute conciliator for the Qld RTA. This was their combined response.

"The problem is this: (from the Queensland RTA)

"The term fair wear and tear is not defined in the Act or the tenancy agreement. The standard terms of the tenancy agreement gives an example of what may be fair wear and tear:

- wear that happens during normal use, or
- changes that happen with ageing"

I do not believe paint would/should be considered fair wear and tear, as it is not normal use, but it is completely subjective and if it went further would be at the discretion of the adjudicator. I would subjectively consider it damage but it obviously depends on the specific case.

So the next problem is it is carpet. Small hole in a wall, would you expect the whole wall to be replastered and painted? Would that be reasonable/a justifiable position? Probably not. Not so easy with carpet.

The whole concept of entry/exit is to return the property in the same condition accounting for normal use and ageing. Replacing the entire carpet doesn't do that, it improves it. An agreed compensation would be the best bet i believe as well.

The tenant should pay compensation for the portion damaged and would not be awarded full cost of replacement - unless quotes can be provided for repairing/removing just the stains that the tenant made (then it's clear cut). If not, then quote to replace full room and an agreed compensation amount as per sections damaged."

I hope that helps!

- Andrew

 

I think they are up for something, but you won't win trying to get new carpets, ask your insurer maybe.

On a side note, I went to pick up something from a house in Syd, just an average 1.5 mil house, anyway the outside looked like a pig stye & I was thinking must have been nightmare tenants, I went into the house to look at something with the owner, was suppose to go into a bedroom, on the floor the cream carpet that was not that old had texta markings of every colour and crayons mashed into the carpet except for where furniture was, I would not even step in there cause I did not want it getting stuck in my boots, in the rooms and living it had writing on every wall, the cooktop and oven were filthy... etc etc

I asked the guy, is this your house ? he said yes & I was wondering why he did not comment on any of the filth and mess, anyway he proceeded to tell me they just moved out and were about to rebuild......I had to ask him to clarify, I said, so this is your home, you lived here ? he sais yes.....all I could say was, nice location (good luck with the new place was my thinking).

 

I had a similar issue with a property in the ACT.
Tenant lived there 18 months and had (among other things) left the new carpet in a disgusting condition.

I was only able to get ~$100 to replace the carpet in three bed rooms. Although this was compounded by the property management companies very poor quality condition report. (Black and white photos, printed slightly larger than passport photo size, and only posted to me after I'd requested a copy 5 times.)