Landlord is Making False Claims of Stains and Pet Odor (lease agreement, tenant)
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We just moved out of a rental home after renting for two years. Our lease ended on 5/30, but we extended it one month to 6/30. We gave the landlord the required 30-day notice of move out at the end of April.
A preface to the story: we have two well-trained cats and paid an additional pet deposit of $250 per cat. Our cats stayed in the master bedroom the entire time we lived in the home - there were baby gates preventing them from wandering into other rooms in the house. Their litter box was located in the master bedroom (and underneath it was a waterproof container). The cats never had any accidents.
During the month of June, the landlord put the home on the market (as he was allowed to do by AZ law and per our lease) and we had numerous showings. The home is decent and the carpet was new when we moved in. The kitchen and bathrooms, however, are in need of updating. We saw the listing for the home and that it advertised the home as "updated", which it is clearly not - and the kitchen/bathrooms are not comparable to other listings in the area. By the time it came for us to move out the home had not yet rented. We figured this was because a home with tenants living in it does not show as well as an empty home and due to the fact that the home needs updating.
Right after we moved our stuff out (but before we got a chance to thoroughly clean the home), we allowed the landlord's broker to install a lockbox. At this time, they also removed the listing from the MLS. Moreover, the broker sent us an email detailing areas of the house we needed to "focus" on before our walk-through. It was at this time that she mentioned to us that the carpet was stained in the common areas and that the house had a "pet odor". She said to get the home professionally cleaned and the carpets steam cleaned (neither of which were required in our lease). We pointed this out to her and she conceded that it wasn't necessary as long as we could turn the home in in the same condition we received it.
However, we were worried about our security deposit, so decided to get the carpets steam cleaned on 6/29. The company who cleaned the carpets stated that there wasn't any pet smell or evidence of pet urine anywhere in the home. Furthermore, they stated that the "stains" in the common area were not stains but worn carpet fibers that were matted (the carpet is a cheap 100% polyester with a low face weight and density that doesn't hold up well in high traffic areas).
So, the day of our walk-through comes and we go through the house with one of the landlord's brokers. They don't mention anything about the pet smell and said that on the whole, the carpet looked great other than one wear area in the hallway. A few days pass (the house is still off the market at this point) and we receive an email from the landlord stating that he will be witholding $800 of our security deposit in order to replace the carpet in the common area and hallway as they are stained and had a pet odor. He stated that the carpet in the bedrooms were fine though (which is funny, because the bedroom is the ONLY place our cats ever were!). The carpet also needed to be re-stretched due to poor install, which he did not charge us for.
We've gone back and forth with him in several emails detailing why we are not responsible for this and why there is no pet damage to the carpet as our cats were never in those areas. Moreover, we have explained to him that the carpet is not stained - it is worn only. We provided receipt of the professional carpet cleaning along with what they told us about the carpet (it wasn't stained and didn't have any pet damage). Yet, he seems to refuse to listen. Moreover, the house is still off the market and we drove by and saw a contractor at the home doing work. We are under the impression that he is updating the kitchen/bathrooms in order to get it to rent. He, however, claims they pulled it off the market because the realtors/clients were complaining of a "pet odor". Even if there was a pet odor during the showings, this gives him no right to hold our deposit as we (and the cats and litter box) were still living there - and the house hadn't been cleaned and the carpets hadn't been professionally steam cleaned yet.
We're not sure where to go from here. We believe we are entitled to the return of the partial deposit he is holding and that he is claiming false damage. Any advice would be appreciated!
Forget the fact that the home is on the market and is or is not updated. Not your concern.
Did the landlord follow the required provisions of the arizona landlord/tenant act? Did he provide you with an itemized list of deductions within 14 days, and return the remainder of your security deposit?
Did you take pictures of your move out walkthrough?
Send the guy a demand letter, keep a copy, and then sue in small claims court. Plenty of landlords out here have no idea about what they can, are allowed, and are supposed to do. Tenants are usually worse- and they have cats.
Did the landlord follow the required provisions of the arizona landlord/tenant act? Did he provide you with an itemized list of deductions within 14 days, and return the remainder of your security deposit?
For right now, this is the most important item. ARS 33-1321
D. Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as prepaid rent and security may be applied to the payment of all rent, and subject to a landlord's duty to mitigate, all charges as specified in the signed lease agreement, or as provided in this chapter, including the amount of damages which the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with section 33-1341. Within fourteen days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays or other legal holidays, after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant the landlord shall provide the tenant an itemized list of all deductions together with the amount due and payable to the tenant, if any. Unless other arrangements are made in writing by the tenant, the landlord shall mail the itemized list and any amount due, by first class mail, to the tenant's last known place of residence.
E. If the landlord fails to comply with subsection D of this section the tenant may recover the property and money due the tenant together with damages in an amount equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld.
For right now, this is the most important item. ARS 33-1321
D. Upon termination of the tenancy, property or money held by the landlord as prepaid rent and security may be applied to the payment of all rent, and subject to a landlord's duty to mitigate, all charges as specified in the signed lease agreement, or as provided in this chapter, including the amount of damages which the landlord has suffered by reason of the tenant's noncompliance with section 33-1341. Within fourteen days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays or other legal holidays, after termination of the tenancy and delivery of possession and demand by the tenant the landlord shall provide the tenant an itemized list of all deductions together with the amount due and payable to the tenant, if any. Unless other arrangements are made in writing by the tenant, the landlord shall mail the itemized list and any amount due, by first class mail, to the tenant's last known place of residence.
E. If the landlord fails to comply with subsection D of this section the tenant may recover the property and money due the tenant together with damages in an amount equal to twice the amount wrongfully withheld.
Yes, he is within the 14-day rule. He emailed us a very basic and vague deduction list such as:
Security deposit $xxxx
+ Pet deposit $xxx
- Carpet damage $xxx
= Amount due tenant $xxxx
Today we received a letter from him via certified mail, which since we were not able to sign for will be picked up tomorrow. I'm assuming it contains the security deposits minus the carpet damage amount.
Does he have to show us evidence of the carpet damage or receipts to prove that he replaced the carpet? His broker actually told us that he is having the common areas tiled instead to "avoid this issue in the future".
It seems to me that you have all the evidence necessary to prevail in small claims court and that he's trying to save money by having you pay for renovations. If the waiting letter contains nothing more than what he's already told you via email, respond via return receipt certified mail. Tell him that, as previously documented in email correspondence, you dispute the charges and that if these are not deducted from the accounting and the balance of the security deposit isn't returned within 7 days you'll have no recourse but to file a small claims suit. Do not process any cheque he sends with the letter.
If there's no response or just a continuation of the argument, don't bother any more, just file your claim. If he either refuses or doesn't pick up your RRCM response, retain it unopened. Good luck!
You have a statement from the professional cleaners that what the LL is claiming is not true. And I'm going to assume that statement is dated from before the LL even said he was taking part of your deposit. I think in court, that would be sufficient proof that your LL's claims are bogus. Sounds to me like the LL wants you to foot the bill for making updates to the unit.
Did you take pictures of your move out walkthrough?
Was the damage urine stains or urine odor? If the latter I guess photography won't help.
Also note, people who live with cats get used to their odor and may not be qualified to know if there is any odor.
I've been in happy cat homes where the odor was strong enough to knock me over! Lucky me my buddy I was visiting is a visit in the garage and drink beer over an open car hood type, which is where we always visited. At least the odor was tolerable in the garage.
I don't allow cats in my rentals. It's in the contract. Lots of landlords do not allow cats.
Was the damage urine stains or urine odor? If the latter I guess photography won't help.
Also note, people who live with cats get used to their odor and may not be qualified to know if there is any odor.
I've been in happy cat homes where the odor was strong enough to knock me over! Lucky me my buddy I was visiting is a visit in the garage and drink beer over an open car hood type, which is where we always visited. At least the odor was tolerable in the garage.
I don't allow cats in my rentals. It's in the contract. Lots of landlords do not allow cats.
The LL is claiming that it was a generalized "pet odor" in the common area only. Our cats were in the bedroom all of the time, yet there was no pet odor in that area. He has no evidence or proof of urine stain or odor. I don't really see that he has a case. Furthermore, he has never set foot in the house and is only going off what his real estate broker told him (if that matters).
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