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ls a landlord required to replace the carpet after a certain amount of wear and tear?l had some major plumbing issues a year or two ago that resulted in my landlord replacing only the carpet that was damaged, and by law, in such events, he's not required to replace the entire thing. Problem is, the original carpet is thin, one-tone, the new carpet is two-tone shag, and the line down the middle of my living room between the two is seriously ugly. l told someone about this recently, and he said that while legally the landlord wasn't required to replace the entire carpet in the event of plumbing issues, he was required to replace the whole thing after a certain number of years in the place. l've been there nine years come March. Anyone know something about this?
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4 Answers
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I'm not really sure the Tenants Union will be that helpful here, since they had to cut back a lot with budget cuts and they probably have a lot of people getting evicted calling their hotline. Here's the Seattle Information for Tenants flyer - it says landlords are not required to make cosmetic repairs after each tenancy on the first page. I don't see anything in there about a requirement to replace carpets after a certain number of years, but you should read through this anyways.
The fact that they only replaced part of the carpet makes me think they must be really cheap landlords, because who in their right mind would only replace half the carpet in a living room? It really wouldn't have been that much more to do it all, but I wonder if they just got a remnant somewhere.
So even if it's not a requirement, you could ask them to replace the carpet in a letter - you've been a good tenant, right? Is this something that would make you consider moving out? They may replace the carpet and then increase your rent.
You could also look at getting a large throw rug to try to define the space in your living room as a last resort.
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Lots of rentals are languishing unrented right now. Unless your apartment is seriously below market price, I'd think you have some leverage to ask that the entire carpet be replaced.
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Hmmm - I don't know about US tenant law, but usually the Golden rule applies.
Ask nicely in a written letter (or form if they have one for repairs). If there's no response within a month, I'd be looking for a new place, because who wants one that the landlords don't give a crap about?
I hear there's lots of apartments available in Seattle right now.
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The best resource out there is the Tenants' Union for something like this. Landlord requirements vary from city to county to state, and it all depends on where you live. If it has been beyond the point of time when they were supposed to replace your carpet, write them a courteous letter citing the specific law, and send it certified mail to your landlord. This way, you have a paper trail if it gets bad (which hopefully, it won't).
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