What portion of damaged flooring can I charge for?

Question

Hello - I have a tenant who damaged the flooring in several areas of my rental.  The carpet in the living room area has a couple of large areas that almost look and feel like the carpet has been burned.  Also, the vinyl flooring in the laundry room has large two rips in it.  How much of the area can I charge her for?  Can I charge her to replace the entire room with the damaged flooring or can I only charge for the particular area that was damaged.  
Thank you in advance!

Jon Holdman · Answer

I'd tread very carefully trying to charge anything in that case.  Even the IRS thinks its outlived its useful lifetime.  Nevermind that well cared for carpet could easily last 20 years.  In a rental, that's just not reality.

Allison Cannie · Answer

Thank you.  I didn't think about that.  The flooring is a little older than 5 years.

Robert Adams · Answer

How old is your existing flooring? If it is too old you will not be able to collect for it as they will say it is natural wear and tear and that it needs to be replaced anyways. If it is newer than that is a different story.

Lynn McGeein · Answer

Allison, age of the carpet could be a factor.  We had a tenant completely ruin the carpet, but our property manager told us that since it was over 5 years old, the tenant would not be held responsible for the replacement cost due to age, anyway.   As for the vinyl flooring, it might be better to think about replacing with tile floors as they are more durable, especially if tenants are moving their own washer and dryer.

Jon Holdman · Answer

"Legal limits" are going to vary depending on what judges might say in your area.

I doubt you can charge her your replacement cost.  Flooring depreciates quickly.  The IRS says five years.  I've been told that judges around here think its more like three years.  So, if your flooring is older than three years and you try to charge a tenant anything, it will get thrown out.

I had one tenant wreck carpets in a couple of rooms some years back, before I heard about the three year guideline.  Based on the IRS five year number, I took the original cost of the installed carpet, looked at the remaining life I should have gotten (IIRC it was about 30 months out of the 60), and the percentage of the total in those two rooms.  Would have been less based only 36 months lifetime, but the total charges were well over the amount of deposit.  I deducted that amount from their deposit.  I ended up replacing all the carpet with laminate.  We'll see how that hold up.  So, my actual costs were much, much more than I charged the tenant.

Allison Cannie · Answer

Great thank you both!  I am almost 100% sure the entire room would need to be replaced but I wanted to make sure I stay within my legal limits with charging her.

Prashant P. · Answer

I would contact a flooring repair/install contractor.  They should be able to tell you if they can repair it or you need to replace the whole thing.  I would charge the tenant the amount quoted by the contractor.  This also provides written proof for the cost of repair or replacement.

David Egger · Answer

What's your actual cost going to be to repair?  If the damage necessitates replacing all the carpet in that room, then they get charged for that room.  If the vinyl is sheet vinyl and the whole room has to be replaced, they get charged for the whole room, if it were vinyl stick-ons, you'd just charge for the few tiles you have to replace.