Re: Tenants ripped out carpet - Landlord Forum thread

Re: Tenants ripped out carpet by NY-LL on June 20, 2012 @15:11

It is not necessary to evict a paying tenant for a single lease violation.
(This is not meant to trivialize the severity of the lease violation and unauthorized removal of carpet.)

The tenants should be issued a bill statement for the replacement or repair of the carpet damages. This will ensure the carpet does not become a major security deposit deduction at lease termination. If not paid within the specified time, with has already lapsed, then landlord file a small claims court case to obtain judgment.

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Re: Tenants ripped out carpet by Greg on June 20, 2012 @16:51	[ Reply ]

While it's not necessary to evict for this type of lease violation can you think of any instance where you would not evict for this? If I had a tenant rip out carpet without notifying me and then ducking payment on the carpet then out they would go. What's the next thing they're going to rip out? It's always worth talking to a tenant before jumping to conclusions but this might be one big leap. Greg in Phoenix

Re: Tenants ripped out carpet by Anonymous on June 20, 2012 @17:13	[ Reply ]

You can always start eviction proceedings and then offer the tenants the opportunity to settle things out of court (with money to replace things) and then you can just decide not to proceed with the eviction...if and only if you have money in hand for the replacement etc. A promise to pay is not good enough.

Re: Tenants ripped out carpet by NY-LL on June 20, 2012 @20:05	[ Reply ]

The tenants obviously want to continue renting the premises, otherwise they would not continue to pay the rent. The process of evict would likely cause the tenants to stop paying rent, then the landlord would be at least two to three (2-3) months in rent payment arrears -- (probably more than the carpet is worth). The landlord never provided the reason the carpet was removed by the tenants. First, obtain a small claims judgment for the value of the carpet. Second, file for immediate eviction if the judgment is not paid. The eviction process might be expedited with the support of the judgment for existing property damages. The objective is to not have the tenants commit another lease violation and be responsible for the existing damages to the carpet. With one judgment on file, the tenants will not likely risk going to court for a potential second judgment issue for non-payment of rent. Even if the eviction is necessary, at least the landlord will have two judgments -- one for the full replacement value of the carpet, and the second for the non-payment of rent and security deposit deduction damages. Been there. Done that.

Re: Tenants ripped out carpet by Sara (Fl) on June 20, 2012 @21:09	[ Reply ]

"First, obtain a small claims judgment for the value of the carpet. Second, file for immediate eviction if the judgment is not paid'" You can not file for immediate eviction because the tenant did not pay a judgement. A seperate small claims judgement can not be enforced under the lease. What would be the violation or grounds? The landlord would still have to serve the tenant with proper notice to cure as per Florida law. As long as the tenant still occupied the rental, the court would say this is a security deposit action. The proper course of action is to follow Florida state law in recovering damages from the tenant under the Landlord Tenant Act. Also if the landlord has won a judgement for the carpet, the landlord would not be able to apply the security deposit towards the carpet damage when the tenant vacated. "Been there. Done that" Well in Florida, you might wind up paying the tenant money for such actions.