[kristenmw]

I moved out of my apartment a week ago. Prior to move out I asked to schedule a walk through with the apartment manager. She told us no, she would be out of town and told us we were not allowed to walk through it with her. Now, a week later, we are given phone calls (no written notice) that the carpet has a foul odor and we will be charged for the replacement of the whole carpet. We spent 3 days straight cleaning that carpet there is NO way it smells bad because of us. Any reason it would smell bad would be water under the carpet that leaked from the air conditioner that they never fixed even though we complained about it twice. (I gave them written notice that the air conditioner was broken and leaking water under the carpet). Can they do that? What do you suggest I do to dispute it? What are my rights as a tenant?

[XenoSapien]

Do you still have a copy of the lease? What do they list as the 'carpet life' ? Was it new when you moved in? Where I am, after four years, you can't be charged for new carpet. Hold on to the written notice about the leaking a/c--that will definitely make a smell, and you'll need that for evidence.

XenoSapien

[allbut8]

A similar situation happened to me in that the landlord is charging me for having the carpet replaced. What state are you located/is the apartment where you lived? Different states have different laws on Residential Landlord and Tenant rights. One valuable lesson when renting: ALWAYS get everything in writing and if you verbally communicate with the landlord, follow up with a written letter. Not being allowed to perform a walk-through inspection is unheard of. Where I live, you can ask to be present, but you have to request it in writing within a certain time frame. In addition, phone calls to you about the carpet is not acceptable; Generally the landlord would have to provide a move-out inspection list of the damages (in writing, of course) and how they apply to your security deposit (if you have one). Anyway, what state? I'll find the Landlord-Tenant Act for your state if one does exist.

[ScottGem]

There are links to the state laws at the top of this forum.

You made a mistake by not doing a walkthru with a third party. The problem you have is that, most likely, this landlord will have a cleaner who did the work and will verify the order. You say you cleaned the carpet, did you do it or have a professional do it. Without proof its going to be hard to fight this in a court.

[kristenmw]

I live in Pennsylvania. But what if the foul odor from the carpet is due to THEIR air conditioner which leaked onto and underneath the carpet so much that it leaked into the next room? The ac had leaked at the beginning of summer and we requested maintenance, they came once, and "fixed it" yet it still leaked, we called a couple times to get it fixed, it continued to leak. We kept a bucket there to catch the drips which weren't significant... but the week of moving out, we noticed water on the carpet and saw that the pipe which led to the floor (probably the ac unit downstairs) had been leaking also, which we didn't realize till everything was removed from the closet. After three phone calls to 2 different maintenance #'s and no response, we left the bucket to catch the drips, tried to seep up some water with towels, and left a note with the keys. We also turned off the ac so it would not keep dripping. A week went by of a non air conditioned apartment in 100 degree Pennsylvania humid heat before we heard a word. So, is their faulty ac and bad maintenance follow up STILL our fault? How can we be charged for damage to the carpet when the damage was obviously NOT caused by us?

[ScottGem]

But what can you prove? If you sue the landlord for this, you may win if you can satisfy the judge that the A/C dripped caused the damage. If you threaten to sue the LL may back down. Or he may have an unscruplous carpet man (who makes a lot of money supplying carpeting to the LL) who will state that the damage was more extenaisve then mightbe caused by an A/C leak.

Just playing devil's advocate

[GoldieMae]

When they came to fix the A/C, did they leave a form for you that showed they came in? Did you keep it? I hope you did because it is evidence.

Here is what I would do if I were you. Ignore the phone call. Pennsylvania law requires landlords to "provide a tenant with a written list of any damages to the leasehold premises for which the landlord claims the tenant is liable." This is mandatory, not just if they want to.

If the landlord fails to provide this written list within 30 days of termination of the lease or 30 days after "surrender and acceptance of the leasehold" (i.e. you give them the keys and they take the keys from you), the landlord forfeits the right to withhold any money you put down as a refundable deposit (escrow) or to bring suit against you. If they don't give you the list, they can't sue you. If they sue you, you file a motion to dismiss based on failure to comply with Landlord Tenant Law.

If the landlord fails to give you the written list, and doesn't give you back your deposit, you can sue them for double the amount of the difference between the deposit and the claimed damages. But they still have to prove to a court that you were responsible for damages regardless of what they do.

If they give you the written list within 30 days, you will need to show that you cleaned the carpet and that the damages were not your fault, but theirs. You can do this by presenting the evidence of their attempted repair, and of the notice you gave them to repair it. The landlords usually keep phone call notes when you call for repairs. If they sue you, they must give those notes to you.

[kristenmw]

What if there was no written record of the ac being broken at least? There are 2 maintenance men for this whole apartment complex and the way they run things is not very professional... I was never given a paper to write down things that were wrong when I first moved in, never allowed a walk through, never given anything except for receipts that my rent had been paid in cash. Nothing to document any maintenance issues. So am I totally screwed?

[GoldieMae]

what if there was no written record of the ac being broken atleast? There are 2 maintenance men for this whole apartment complex and the way they run things is not very professional...I was never given a paper to write down things that were wrong when i first moved in, never allowed a walk thru, never given anything except for receipts that my rent had been paid in cash. Nothing to document any maintenance issues. So am i totally screwed?

Did you save a copy of the letter you sent them to repair the ac? Is it on your computer hard drive?

No, you are not totally screwed, even if you didn't save it. They still have to give you a written report. No report, no lawsuit. The phone call won't cut it under Pennsylvania law. I'm not sure where you live in Pennsylvania, but if it's close to a law school, go to the law library and look up the statutes that apply. If you don't live near a law school, you can get a lot of the information off the internet if you Google Pennsylvania landlord tenant law, 30 written report of damages, escrow. Or something to that effect.

[allbut8]

In addition to Goldie Mae's advice, hopefully you provided your forwarding address in writing to your landlord. If not, he can use that as a reason as to why he did not mail you a list of damages in writing within the 30 days. Section 250.512(e) of the PA Landlord Tenant Act: "Failure of the tenant to provide the landlord with his new address in writing upon termination of the lease or upon surrender and acceptance of the leasehold premises shall relieve the Landlord under any liability under this section." We cannot say it enough: from here on out, every communication you have with this landlord must be in writing, not by telephone.