Security Deposit Dirty Stove and Mouse Infestation

[gabby101]

Hi,

My husband and I rented our house after I got laid-off and got a job in another state. The tenant lived in the house for 15 months and based on what we saw when we got back, did not do much cleaning during that time. When we arrived at the house, 7 days after they moved out, we noticed that the backdoor had been left open and that there was mouse poop on the kitchen floor and especially on the stove. The stove was filthy with/without the mouse poop and we decided to replace it rather than try and clean it (we are moving back into the house). The stove was 2.5 years old when they moved in and I don't honestly think it could have been cleaned back to the state we left it in. I know we can charge them a fee for cleaning the stove, but can we argue that they caused us to replace the stove and then prorate the life of the old stove? Also, there is damage on the stainless steel fridge - how do you charge for that? Obviously, it is just cosmetic, but it cannot be fixed, so I don't know how to charge for that.

To clarify - the entire time we lived in the house, we never had mice.

Thanks,
Gabriel

 

[army judge]

Hi,

My husband and I rented our house after I got laid-off and got a job in another state. The tenant lived in the house for 15 months and based on what we saw when we got back, did not do much cleaning during that time. When we arrived at the house, 7 days after they moved out, we noticed that the backdoor had been left open and that there was mouse poop on the kitchen floor and especially on the stove. The stove was filthy with/without the mouse poop and we decided to replace it rather than try and clean it (we are moving back into the house). The stove was 2.5 years old when they moved in and I don't honestly think it could have been cleaned back to the state we left it in. I know we can charge them a fee for cleaning the stove, but can we argue that they caused us to replace the stove and then prorate the life of the old stove? Also, there is damage on the stainless steel fridge - how do you charge for that? Obviously, it is just cosmetic, but it cannot be fixed, so I don't know how to charge for that.

To clarify - the entire time we lived in the house, we never had mice.

Thanks,
Gabriel

California is a very tenant friendly state.

There are also time limits insofar as to when you must refund (or explain why you failed to refund) the deposit.

Read this, but be careful. You can end getting sued by your tenant.

You might wish to consult a CA real estate or tenant-landlord attorney in your county.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/sec-deposit.shtml

http://www.courts.ca.gov/1049.htm

http://www.caltenantlaw.com/Deposit.htm