I Have a Tenent Whose Dogs Destroyed The Carpet…
Some Questions & Answers
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Q1
Is there any legal reason why a landlord would not be able to take a copy of a prospective tenant’s SS card and driver license?
A1
The shortest answer is No! A longer short answer follows.
A landlord can request and make copies of any documents considered material to making an informed business decision. I considered the two items you mentioned to be at the top of the list and the minimum of what should be required. That being said, however, there are at least a few caveats.
First, as with most issues related to landlording, it is important that the same procedures be followed with all applicants, at least for a particular vacancy. Better yet, the procedures should not be changed every time there is a vacancy, but should be followed for a significantly long period, with changes being justified by changing business conditions such as supply/demand in the rental market. The policies and reasons for change should be documented and retained for at least the statutes of limitations of relevant statutes, ordinances, and regulations related to fair housing and other discrimination issues.
Second, a landlord will be safer to ask for two (or more) ID items out of a possible list of four or more items. It is important however to choose items that are relevant and material to identity verification and any other misrepresentation or fraudulent activity against the landlord or others. There are potential legitimate reasons why an applicant cannot come up with a requested document.
Third, landlords must be concerned about security of any such documentation – both computer and paper records – to avoid potential liabilities related to identity theft.
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Q2
I have a tenant whose dogs destroyed the carpet….it was so bad I had to seal the floors and a portion of the walls because the odor was horrific. What can I legally charge her? The carpet was 2 years old when she moved in and her tenancy was almost 6 years. It was expensive carpet as I had previously lived in the house [like 20 year carpet].
The new carpet I put in is 10 year at the cost of $1750 plus $250 to tear it out. Can she be charged the full $2000 or a pro-rata amount? It looks like I will be going to small claims on this one…appreciate your advice.
A2
Technically, charging a tenant the full replacement cost for any major building component would be unfair because the landlord had some period of benefit for the component – in your case, 8 years as I understand the facts. Most states do not have a specific statute regarding the issue, but many tenants are aware of the issue and many judges would not allow charging full replacement cost if the matter went to court. Probably few, if any, judges would allow it if the issue were raised by the tenant or an attorney for the tenant.
You are correct that the charge must be prorated. The tenant can be charged only for the expected remaining life of the carpet had it not been damaged by the tenant. The tenant should be charged for the fraction of replacement cost calculated by dividing the expected remaining life by the expected useful life of the particular carpet being replaced. However, when replacing any component with one of lesser or greater quality, there are potential issues that can be raised, the most basic issue being charging the tenant for something of higher quality than what the tenant damaged.
For a 20-year expected useful life and 8 years of use, the tenant would be charged for 12/20 of the replacement cost. For a 10-year expected useful life, the tenant would be charged for 2/10 of the replacement cost. Hence, the manner of calculation is quite important.
However, in view of the fact that a 10-year life carpet is replacing a 20-year life carpet, the tenant or her attorney could raise some issues. First, one could reasonably question if the 12/20 fraction can be applied to the 10-year replacement carpet cost. One might argue that the 12/20 needs to be applied to the cost of the original carpet. One would almost certainly insist that using the 20-year life requires proof that it really had an expected life of 20 years. One might also argue that the useful life of a normal rental grade carpet is 10 years and that the tenant should not be penalized for the fact that a higher quality carpet was used because it was your personal residence at the time of installation. Accordingly, a judge might agree that the 2/10 fraction must be used. Finally, the tenant might claim that the carpet looked like it had a lot more than 2 years use at the beginning of her occupancy and you may need proof of condition such as the move-in checklist, photos, and/or a witness.
Since 2/10 of $2,000 is $400, whereas 12/20 of $2,000 is $1,200, there is a significant difference in the charge. The tenant is more likely to argue the issue for the greater amount compared to the lesser amount and the risk of you losing in court probably increases with the amount involved.
It is possible that you would get away with using the 12/20 fraction because the tenant does not contest the matter or, if she does, isn’t represented by an attorney, doesn’t herself come up with good arguments, and you’re before a judge who doesn’t care. You will need to decide whether to use the smaller fraction (that you can likely successfully defend in court) or go for the maximum, assuming that the worst will be the lower of the two fractions (not necessarily true if the judge decided you were trying to cheat the tenant).
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Q3 (continuance of previous Q2)
This one will go to small claims court. What can I charge for my time? I have spent approx 40 hours cleaning. All tile grout had urine stains and needed to be hand-scrubbed….couldn’t hire anyone to hand-scrub. Can this be reasonably accounted for?
A3
What would be considered reasonable – assuming anyone raises the issue – will depend on the type of work (including skill level & physical requirements), the local economy, and the particular judge. I think $20 to $30 per hour would be considered reasonable in most jurisdictions, with CA being on the high side compared to MS. You could consider using a number in the high twenties, as it will not seem as high as $30. There’s a reason why most merchants price something at $29.99 rather than $30.00. You could use $27 or $28 so as not to appear too cute. You will also want to have a written log detailing your work, logging time in tenth-hour or 10-minute increments. The hourly rate is probably more debatable than the number of hours because data can be found supporting lower levels of pay than you would want to work for, whereas, it’s harder to prove the hours required for such work, particularly as cleaning time depends on a number of issues including the type of dirt/stains, the item and type of material that is dirty/stained, and the worker’s knowledge of cleaning products. Accordingly, a judge might look more favorably on billing for more hours at a lower hourly rate, particularly when you can show a realistic looking detailed log.