California Renter Rights Carpet

Under california landlord tenant guidelines a carpet s useful life is eight to 10 years.

California renter rights carpet.

The 1998 printing of this booklet was. Civil code 1950 5 b 2. Landlords have no right to involve themselves with the means a tenant uses to leave a carpet in a. Uc berkeley terner center faculty director carol galante.

According to california law ca civil code 1940 1954 05 under a lease tenants have certain rights such as the right to a habitable dwelling due process for evictions and more landlords also have rights such as the right to collect rent and to collect for property. Any carpet cleaning charges they collect in advance must be treated as part of a security deposit which must be. When a tenant moves out of a unit the landlord may deduct from a tenant s security deposit to repair damage to the premises that is caused by the tenant but only for damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. A tenant of longer duration may be able to attain the required state by renting a carpet cleaner.

Department of housing and urban development 451 7th street s w washington dc 20410 telephone. A landlord has the responsibility to make a rental property habitable and california law specifies what a property must. In california a lease exists whenever there is an oral or written agreement to exchange rent for inhabiting a property. Most disputes over security deposits come down to what constitutes normal wear and tear.

Thus if the tenant s damage cheated three years out of the carpets life the landlord under california law could only hold the tenant responsible for 300. The cost of replacing the carpet after 10 years falls to the landlord. A new note in atcp 134 06 3 c makes it clear that even though a landlord is allowed to write a lease saying the tenant has to pay for routine carpet cleaning they may not take this out of the security deposit. Landlord s responsibilities in california regarding appliances and carpets.

California is taking a big step forward today to protect the most vulnerable tenants at this moment of acute crisis.