[~elle~]

Tennants have left multiple bright red stains on the carpet in two bedrooms--- right in the middle of the rooms , so very noticeable.

Carpet cleaning has not fixed it and the Agent (who I'm pretty mad with) has only supplied one quote regarding replacement (when I specifically asked for several)... in which he (Carpet quoting person) specifically says these carpets cannot be patched to repair the stain damage.

He quotes for replaceing the carpets ( ie the whole carpet in the room ).
Seems straight forward to me Tennants pay for the damage as per the quotes.

Now the agent is telling me the stain are only an Xfactor?Magical-no-name percentage of the whole carpet area. And wants me to tell her a sum that I would accept in repayment of the damage.

How can anyone be expected to come up with a figure like that????

Can anyone offer any advice please?????

Small Update - Jan 13.

Well the tenants have been out since the end of Oct and are now accusing the Real Estate Property Manager of photoshopping the stains onto photos.

She has since ( in late NOV) taken them to the property and physically shown them and they are both crying foul - suggesting that it is spilled red bull.

Bull****.

I went with the $100 per stain as that was my absolute bottom line - I have the quotes for replacement and removal of the carpet - but the agent says I will never get that. I have statements saying repair is not possible and statement from the contracted carpet cleaner.

They have until Monday (the tennants) it sign a form saying they release the damaged amount from their bond. If they do this I get the $500 plus the amount that they have not paid for their outstanding water bill. They then will recieve over $900 from their remaining bond.

Otherwise it all goes to the tribunal and we have to be heard infront of a Magistrate(????) and if he says what I want is reasonable, they will release the bond money, split as above.
Has anyone gone before a Bond Tribunal / magistrate before. The Agencey want to charge me $75 per hour until it's finalised.

I think I remember something last year or the year before - but can't remember any names or hat section it was in.

Theagency say they will hand over the paperwork so I can go in there myself - does anyone else have any helpful advice on how to present myself and the statements in the best way???

This post has been edited by ~elle~: 12/01/2013, 12:14 PM

[CrazySingleMum]

Well, it would depend on the age and state of the carpets before the red stains.

If they were brand new, you'd certainly have a better argument for the bond covering most of the amount. If the carpets weren't in pristine condition, then the amount would probably be reduced.

I can't see anyway you'll get money out of the old tenants beyond the bond money though. Do you have insurance that covers this if the bond money doesn't?

[galba]

I was under the impression that the tenants only need to pay for repair/replacement of the actual damage - so say 10% of the room area so 10% of the new carpet price.

[Femogan Boop!]

The value of carpets on a rental property depreciates - for tax purposes - which has an impact on the amount you would get from a Tribunal.

Basically within 7 years of it being laid, the carpets are considered to have no value. That doesn't mean you'll get no money for the stains, but it's a much smaller amount than it would be if they were new.

For example, if the carpets are 7 years old or older, you might get compensation of $50 per stain (I just pulled that figure out of the air) depending on the size and location of the stains. This is purely to compensate you, not to replace the carpet as they were probably due to be replaced by then.

If the carpets were brand new, you would probably get close to the whole amount of replacement costs if the tenants stained them.

My advice is to leave the carpets as they are, stains and all. You can still accept a negotiated amount of compensation from the previous tenants so I would expect this. Get carpet cleaning done and try to minimise the appearance of the stains.

The next tenants will probably be happy they don't have to worry about brand new carpet. Carpets in a rental property are bound to be stained.

This post has been edited by BetteBoop: 20/11/2012, 08:18 PM

[JRA]

It sucks. It is one of the worst things a tenant can do, and get away with, as far as I am concerned.

It p*sses me off massively

[Drowningnotwavin...]

How old is the carpet? How long we're they there?

[~elle~]

Tennants have been in for 6 months.
Carpets were perfect - not a mark.

Previous tennants were in for 1 yr.
No marks.
Carpets was installed at this point.

[darcystarflight]

Carpets are covered under your home contents insurance under accidental damage. Found that out when DS decided to splash food dye around!

[Kristina13]

Not much help I know but this is the exact reason we bought our rental property - it had wooden floors or tiles throughout.....

This post has been edited by Kristina13: 20/11/2012, 08:24 PM

[Drowningnotwavin...]

Ok first I assume you have landlord insurance?

Which brings me to second point - do you make sure they have insurance (contents insurance with liability insurance attached)?