State Specific Question About: MONTANA (MT)

What is the ramification if a tenant was to have NO PETS. And after they moved out, there is evidence by hair and kitty litter of a cat.

There is no such thing as "automatic loss of deposit." Period.

You figure out the damages for the unit and substract that from their deposit. You send them documentation of that as required by your state law -- along with any remaining deposit (or a bill if they owe you more).

- John...

I had a log term tenant that hid the fact that she had two cats. Every time I'd need to make a repair or inspect the unit, there was no evidence of pets.

So I conducted a pre-move out inspection and she had the carpets professionally shampooed before she moved out, which seemed funny to me. Than after she moved out she had the carpets shampooed once again.

I know this was for some unknown reason. So with a pair of pliers I pulled back the carpeting and pad from a corner in each room. I FOUND PEE STAINS on the backing of the carpet, on the top and bottom of the pad and onto the wood floors underneath.

Since the carpet and pad were older than 5 years, I could not charge the tenant for them, they had been fully depreciated. But the DAMAGE to the old wooden floors was a different story.

I obtained estimates from three local flooring companies. The cost to remove the damage wooden planks, replace them and then sand the wood flooring even was $10 (Ten Dollars) Per Square Foot.

180 square feet of damaged flooring x $10 per square foot, cost me $1,810.

I deducted that amount from the tenants deposit. She ended up suing me in small claims court.

In court the x-tenant said:

A) She had the carpet professionally cleaned and there was no smell or damage.

B) Her cats used the litter box.

I had with me around 50 pictures showing me pulling back the carpeting and pee stains on the carpet backing, the padding on both sides and the damaged wood flooring.

I also had a a video of me walking from the sidewalk past the property address and mail box showing her unit number and me walking to her unit, opening the door and showing the damages. She had claimed that wasn't her unit....

I presented my estimates and the paid invoice.

The tenant said that since I'm going to put back carpeting, why should she pay to replace flooring that would never be seen!

I took out from a box samples of the carpet, pad and old wood flooring with pee stains. The samples were sealed in zip lock plastic bags. I let the judge open the the bags and the stench of pee was overwhelming.

Robert J has a story for everything. :)

I am curious -- you visited multiple times and didn't smell anything. You also didn't smell anything when you went searching afterwards. But when you had some of the carpet in a baggy for the judge, "the stench of pee was overwhelming"? Seems odd to me.

Also -- was the carpet brand new when that tenant went in? If not, how did you prove that the damage underneath was from her? Especially when, again, it appears that the carpet did NOT smell when you were in their multiple times and even after she moved out and you were hunting for a reason to shampoo...

- John...

"Robert J has a story for everything"

When you have been doing this for as many years as he has and have as many units as he has had you will undoubtedly have a story for everything.

Some things you just can’t make up or even dream of. I am continually amazed at the things that come up, things that tenants do, oddball situations and stories. Nobody could randomly come up with the level of detail Robert does unless they experienced it.

I wasn't doubting -- I was just curious.

Again, how did you prove that the wood underneath the already installed carpet was not damaged or stained at all before she moved in?

My judge would want to see BEFORE pictures if I'm going to prove damages AFTER with pics...

- John...

John,

The before / after pics question before a judge is a good question that I would not have thought to ask about. Your curiosity about the next step is good, and a good way to read any question.

I'm not Robert, but I have watched too many CSI reruns. I am guessing that when Robert took pictures and video of pulling back the carpet, you could see matching stains on each of the layers - the back of the carpet, the carpet pad, and the wood floor. Those, combined with the ripened urine smell from the storage of all 3 layers in a ziploc bag would be pretty convincing. She was also a long-term tenant, and stains on some surfaces tend to look different if they are really, really old vs. only slightly old.

"evidence" of her having a cat is not automatic loss of deposit. Any damages or extra cleaning for what ever reason is deducted from the deposit. If there are not any damages, then the deposit needs to be returned. If damages exceed deposit you can take her to court to try to get it.