Hi Craig...

I practice in Ore.. Ideally you'd want to avoid s/c court..

however as Or leans left.. Usually the pro ration follows

1. Original cost per yard, sometimes reduced to feet..

2. 1/2 life is also applied in most cases..

3. Confirm did the agreement allow or not pets and exactly what pets and kind..

In 30 odd years.. I've yet to see the full amount awarded..

Negative here. First place Black Light will show Urine and many other things so not a positive sign. As for damages, regardless it is damage, and they stayed

5 year…

Carpet would have to have even new and you have a 20% life left in the carpet… Most you can get… You will never get new carpet... Deduct 500 for the carpet, add 400 interior paint, and 200 for trying o clean carpet, and remove

smell. Add a few other minor damages and move on...

Beyond you SD you do not have much to play with Only a fool on an ego trip would go to court with a 5 year tenant…

Craig,

-I'd ask for the full amount. Too many LLs operate by urban legend about depreciation. (some judges want it - see below)

My lease says to return the house in MOVE IN CONDITION. It had good carpet when you moved in, it must have good carpet when you move out.

When the guy dented my Porsche the repair costs the same no matter how many miles on the car.

-when you DO repair this, I recommend NO CARPET - EVER. It is the highest maint cost item in the whole house. and it holds odor, mold, fleas, stains, age, fade...

Room by room and house by house I have been getting rid of carpet and my turnover costs are going down down down.

-everything is negotiable. I'd demand the replacement cost. If he agrees to it and/or pays, you're golden. Ihave them sign a Promissory Note for the amount so if they do not pay, we go to court over the NOTE, and avoid all arguments about condition, cleaning, depreciation...

-Depreciation: Gotta know YOUR judge. He/she is king and does not always follow the written law.

PS: I charge $2.50 per square foot.

$2.50 sq. ft. is $22.50 a yard carpet. In the real world..

Kind of like that 50 cent sq. ft. Tile install world.

Pass me another beer,

I tell them our prices are high because we don't want to clean up/repair their mess. Judge allows it. Never had anyone complain because they KNOW they ruined the carpet!

(cut a "juicy" square and bag it for possible court)

$1/yd remove old carpet

$1/yd remove old pad

$4.50 install new carpet

$10/yard "contractor grade" carpet

$3.50/yard new pad

=$20/yard

+ my time, shopping, transport, dump fee, seal the floor for odor...

hmm...I just talked myself into raising my price!

Urban legend about depreciation.

Its more than urban legend, of course. Any trained lawyer or judge knows about it, and its place in calculation of damages. If a particular judge fails to apply it, then the defendant is being cheated.

If a drunk but insured driver hits your ten-year-old car, then do you really think that the cost is the same regardless of the age of the car? Do you really think that the insurance company will buy you a NEW car to replace your old one? Or, will the damage payable be limited to Actual Cash Value of the damaged property?

“My lease says to return the house in MOVE IN CONDITION. It had good carpet when you moved in, it must have good carpet when you move out.”

You don’t mean to tell me that IN judges will really recognize such a clause, do you? With no allowance at all for wear & tear? Without looking up IN law, I assume that wear & tear is recognized as landlord responsibility. Any lawyer learned about calculation of damages in law school. Those principles are consistent in all law schools, all over the country, even all around the world. A judge who ignores that is either just plain lazy or ignorant, or was sleeping in law school when they discussed this, or some other such good reason.

Where are IN judges trained? Are most of them locally trained? Inbreeding often causes bad habits to proliferate.

I have always said Indiana Judges bend over for the Tenant,

If the tenant does not show up, they get shafted by greedy LL,

Many low end tenants find this out after they feel the God Bless religious guy stabbing them in the back.

It is not just Indiana..

I have rentals in Oregon. I agree that carpet can really be a major point of contention. The carpeting in my house is over 10 yrs old and it looks fine. The carpeting in my rentals usually needs replacement after just a few years. Cat pee is really bad. If you have particle board subfloor, it will also be ruined. No problem charging for the full SD when you add prorate of the carpet, subfloor, cleaning, etc. You can't get blood from a turnip- chalk the rest up to LL education.

Here is what I have learned to do:

NO CATS- EVER

1 small dog ok on approval.

You will need to seal in the odor with Kilz primer-oil based.

Start installing solid surface flooring. I like Allure. I am still with carpet in the bedrooms but that is easy to replace and cheap.

Get this taken care of and move on it is way easier than revisiting the situation over and over.

In the real world one can only do so much.

I often wonder how many none LL read this forum,

I’d sure hate for the wrong person to be reading some of these comments.

Anyone can access this site, and it is not too hard to find out who is who

Many a Generals has bit the dust from emails....

Moshe, You know I like you!

We both know law SCHOOL and real life COURT are not the same thing.

I don't have a law degree but I've been to eviction court probably more times than any other lawyer in town. I'm simply writing from real life experience and quoting our judge. He speaks for our local LL assoc each year and has addressed our LL group 6 times.

In January he spoke for 2 hours!! about how to present a LL/T case in court and what he will allow/disallow.

Should I listen to the voices or the judge?

HE says "same in - same out" is reasonable. I wrote my lease to match the way he operates.

With your guidance and Mike45, I am VERY careful in my explanations and I specifically stated "MY JUDGE" and "Gotta know YOUR judge".

Too many LLs operate in fear and misinformation, cowering while tenants walk all over them because "somebody said" rather than real knowledge.