Carpet Cleaning Fees in CA ?

Question

My roommates and I just completed our final walk through in our apartment in CA. We left the apartment in pristine condition...in fact, better condition than when we moved in. Here is the problem, I have a dog and my landlord is trying to charge me for carpet cleaning. My landlord never charged a pet deposit and there were no stipulations in the lease regarding any special cleaning instructions after moving out.

I understand that he is not allowed to charge me for normal wear and tear and the carpet is in great condition...vacuumed and no stains whatsoever. But can he still charge me for cleaning just because I had a pet? Regardless of whether or not I had a dog, wouldn't it be his responsibility to have the carpets cleaned before a new tenant moves in? Is what he is doing legal?

Answer 1

You probably dont want to hear this but because you are a dog owner, you cant smell the smell your dog leaves on the carpet no matter how much you put your nose to it.  Any non-dog owner can smell dog all over the place.  

Anyway, to answer your question, a dog in the house does not constitute normal wear and tear.  They leave fleas and smells in the house that wouldnt normally have had those problems without a dog.  Now the owner can charge you like 300 bucks to clean the carpet, when in fact you could've hired a carpet cleaner for much cheaper and then shown the landlord you had the carpets professionally cleaned and it would've been cheaper for you and he couldnt have charged you carpet cleaning fees.  Anyway, its a good lesson for next time.

Answer 2

Sure it is legal.   He had to get the dander out and it is your pets dander.

Price will depend on the size of both the carpet but the city (SF is more then Fresno).   200-300 would be about right.

Answer 3

What he is doing is entirely legal.  Be grateful that he didn't charge you a pet deposit.  However, lack of doing so does not mean that you cannot be charged to deep clean the carpets, especially if you had a pet.  He is attempting to rid the premises of any and all pet dander in the event that the next tenant is allergic to dogs.