Landlord wants me to replace already stained carpet? (Howe: apartment, lease)

[Frank Jr]

I leased an apartment in OKC for a year and prior to living in it, I made a list of things that were already messed up within the apartment such as black stains throughout the (beige) carpet in the entry way, the living room, and dining room, as well as various stains in 2 of the bedrooms.

I moved out at the end of last month, and today I received a notice at my new address asking me to pay $900 towards carpet replacement in the apartment. I'll admit that there was an occasional spill here or there, that was taken care of as best I could, especially being on a beige carpet. So, other than the spills that I helped remove as best as I could, how could they make me liable for the already heavily stained carpet before I moved in. It's noted on the condition of the apartment before I moved in, and they noted it needed to be replaced on the very same document.

Suggestions?

[Floorist]

Tell them no.

[Jen_OKC]

Do you have copies of that document (notating the stains and the carpet needing to be replaced)? If so I would forward a copy of that back to the landlord and tell them that per your move in inspection the carpet was already in need of replacement and see what they come back with.

[fiberpills]

Did you do a walk through when you moved out? If they didn't note any problems then, you're in the clear.

Since it's $900 at stake, I'd rather pay a lawyer $200 to write a letter disputing it. They'll most likely drop when they see that a lawyer is involved.

[Frank Jr]

Originally Posted by Jen_OKC

Do you have copies of that document (notating the stains and the carpet needing to be replaced)? If so I would forward a copy of that back to the landlord and tell them that per your move in inspection the carpet was already in need of replacement and see what they come back with.

Yes, the same document noting the stains when we moved in was the same document used to note that the carpet needed to be replaced. However, we didn't note it needed to be replaced when we moved in, we just noted in living room, dining room, and bedrooms that there were stains in the carpet.

Yes, I plan on sending a copy of this document back to them stating that we already said it was stained, and therefore should not be liable to pay for it since it was like that in the condition when we moved in.

[Frank Jr]

Originally Posted by fiberpills

Did you do a walk through when you moved out? If they didn't note any problems then, you're in the clear.

Since it's $900 at stake, I'd rather pay a lawyer $200 to write a letter disputing it. They'll most likely drop when they see that a lawyer is involved.

No, we didn't. Our last day was on a holiday and they were closed and we turned in our keys the day before as their office was closing. The only problems noted were just the already stained carpet and then stating that it needed to be replaced in the entire apartment.

Actually, with the our deposit and what money we owed for the remaining water bill, they would've been paying us back around $100. I could note that without the carpet being replaced, they would still owe us that money, but I won't be disputing that. I just want to be clear from them and be done, but feel like they are trying to gain money in an unjustified manner, to benefit their establishment.

I'll look more into the letter from the lawyer. For now, I'm going to write a letter disputing it myself and let them know that if need be, I can get a letter from an attorney disputing it.

Thank you guys for all of your advice and time to reply on this matter.
It is very much appreciated!
Frank Jr