Water stain on carpet

I live in Palm Springs, California. I have a landlord trying to charge me for a carpet that was ancient when we got it. However it has a large water stain on it coming from a water leak in the shower that had previously existed before we rented it. We repeatedly asked them to fix the water leak, and were always told that it was "on the list". When they finally fixed it 6-8 months later, they asked if we minded living with the water stain on the carpet for a little while until they got around to cleaning that.

Of course it was never cleaned.

Now that I've moved out and had the apartment professionally cleaned, they are trying to take the carpet cleaning out of the security deposit. Can they charge me for a water stain that was really their problem?

I go back for my deposit check on Friday so I wanted to know going in.

If it was present when you moved in, it should be listed on the move in inspection report. Is it? Do you have one? Did you make the repair request in writing so that you can prove that there was a water leak that the LL neglected to fix?

If you have no proof that it was there when you moved in, it is your word vs. the LL's in court. You will need to sue the LL for this money back and try to conince a judge that it was there when you moved in. Even if they charge you for the water stain, they can only charge you a depreciated value for the carpet. If the carpet is 7-10 years old, it should already be fully depreciated and have no value to deduct.

Some places take out a fee for carpet cleaning in general. So unless they are saying they are specifically taking it out for the cleaning of the stain. usually when you sign a lease theres a bunch of mumbo jumbo about the deposit and any cleaning fees being deducted when you move and so on.

But yeah you would have to have proof that you requested everything in writing.

Like I'm sure you've heard before, they were very apologetic about the stain the day I was moving in, and so I didn't get a inspection report when I moved since they said they would be taking care of it within a few days.

But if I were to take her to court, since there would be paperwork for fixing the water leak, wouldn't the judge assume the stain was the result of that?

...I'm screwed aren't I?

Always do a move in (and move out) inspection for just this reason. If the LL doesn't want to do one, do it yourself and mail a copy certified to the LL. Keep a copy for your records. This proves what damages existed before you moved in so you aren't responsible for them.

Do you have copies of the requests to fix the water leak? Don't plan on them bringing any into court. You need to be able to prove this leak existed when you moved in. Otherwise, they may well say that you caused the leak and are therefore responsible for the carpet damage.

I see that they are only deducting for the carpet cleaning, not for carpet replacement. You said you had the unit professionally cleaned. Did they clean the carpet then? If so, get a statement from the carpet cleaner to say that it was already done when you moved out. They can't charge you to do something you already paid to have done.