We just made a huge, ugly red stain on one of the countertops in our kitchen. (There was an accident involving an unnoticed puddle of red food coloring.)
We’re moving out of this place within the next two years. We’ve noticed that when people move out of this apartment complex, lately, the places have been getting remodeled–new carpet, new floor in the kitchen, new stove, new countertops, etc.
My question is, will the owner of this property be within his rights to charge us for the damage to the countertop anyway? In other words, will they be able to bill us for replacing the countertop–even if it could be documented that they were going to replace the countertop regardless?
I have a feeling they’d say, “Well we weren’t going to change the countertop but now we HAVE to” and charge you for it, regardless of their intentions to change it or not prior to knowledge of the stain. Because you probably can’t prove they were going to change the countertops beforehand.
The landlord can charge you for any repairs beyond normal wear and tear. Your stains cannot be considered normal wear and tear so you can be charged for it. It’s up to the landlord if he will take the cost out of your deposit, but he can.
Seconded. I dye wool in my kitchen and have yet to come up with a food-safe dye that can’t be lifted with bleach. You may need to soak the area, though. To keep the bleach in contact with the stain, try leaving paper towels soaked in the Clorox Clean-up on the stain for a few hours and see if that lifts it.
On Sunday, we noticed that a florescent popcicle stain had appeared under the Butlerette’s (3yo) high chair. We were able to remove 99.9% of the stain by making a paste of Oxyclean (Clorox brand version) and letting it sit on the stain. We had to repeat it a couple of times, but the stain is gone to the extent that we have to get on our hands & knees to see it.
We’ve also had great luck removing Kool-aid stains from our countertop by spraying with an undiluted application of Simple Green. (this was before we found Kool Aid Invisible mixes)
Since you have two years you might want to consider checking out the countertops that they throw out. Apartments can be very cookie cutterish so you might find one that fits without a stain and replace it before you leave. . . . My work here is done.
I rented a condo for a couple of years and one tenant’s dog scratched a hole in a the carpet in one room. The carpet was 9 years old and I estimated the life to be 10 years, so I charged her 10% what it would cost to replace the carpet in that room.
I replaced the carpet in the entire condo after she moved out in preparation to sell it, but I might not have had to do that if the dog hole weren’t there.
I don’t think the law is this specific, although it’s possible in some states with very strong landlord/tenant law. Nonetheless, it would be a reasonable line of thinking for a landlord.
It depends on how honest the landlord is. If they were absolutely going to replace it anyway they’d be dishonest to charge you for it, period. But I’m sure there are dishonest landlords out there, as in any profession.
I agree, but this was before we found the wonder of invisible Kool Aid, and it was just Mrs. Butler & I drinking it. Now, if I could find a place that carried the cherry flavor, I’d buy an entire case. It’s tough to find any of the invisible versions during the winter in New England.
I was in a similar situation, with some carpet that was already on its way out when I moved in. The carpet gained a few new stains and smells, but it would have had to be replaced no matter what. The apartment owners had the reputation of being jerks about that sort of thing, and sure enough, I got sued for new carpet that was nicer than what had ever been in there. I lost. So, anecdotally speaking, it really just depends on if your landlord is a jerk on things like that. YMMV in CA.
. . . My work here is done.