Can my landlord charge me to replace all carpets in my apartment if only one room has a stain?

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Can my landlord charge me to replace all carpets in my apartment if only one room has a stain?

When I moved out of my apartment I had all of the carpets professionally cleaned, however there is one room that has a stain that could not be removed. Now my landlord is trying to charge me to replace all of the carpets in the whole apartment. There is no damage to the carpets in any room but the one. I have pictures. Should I take my landlord to court if they don’t mitigate the charges? I feel I am being taken advantage of.

Asked on June 2, 2012 under Real Estate Law, Arizona

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 11 years ago | Contributor

It depens on the exact circumstances. If tenants stain carpet, the landlord is entitled to replace it; whether or not he can replace all of the unit's cargpetting, or just in that room, depends on whether the landlord effectively can restore the unit to it's pre-stain condition by only replacing one room's carpeting. In most cases, it would seem to be the case that that landlord could; however, if, for example, the carpetting carries through other rooms of the apartment but the landlord cannot get a good match for the damaged piece, the landlord would not be required to have mismatched carpetting in his apartment. In that circumstances, the landlord could likely require the tenant to pay to replace all the carpeting.

So if the landlord could restore the unit to it's pre-stain condition by only replacing the carpeting in one room, that's what he should do; but if he has to replace it all beause of the way the carpetting is laid or the difficulty of finding a match, he may do so.


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