“So does DC define how often carpet needs to be replaced?”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

I saw a recent post from a landlord asking for help from the community so I thought I would follow up and ask the community about withheld security deposit from the renter.

Currently in a dispute with my landlord over $300. He is withholding $250 for the basement carpet that he says is damaged and needs a steam clean and sections need to be replaced. Even though I lived in the house for three years and steam cleaned it once a year. So does DC define how often carpet needs to be replaced? I also know the carpet has not been replaced in at least 5 years as a friend lived in the house before me.

He is also withholding $50 because soap dish fell in the bathtub 2.5 weeks before we moved out we alerted him to the problem and he didn’t do anything and then charged us for it. The bathroom where it fell from had humanity problems for over 2.5 years and finally was fixed in December of 2018.

He did not mention any of these problems during the walk through. I understand that its only $300 but he is selling the home and i feel like he is just withholding cause he doesnt think the amount is worth our group house going after him in small claims court. All these things fall under normal wear and tear.

Finally he did not give us any interest on our deposit even though we lived in the house for three years. Side note the first check he sent us bounced and he had to send a second check.

Any help/pass experiences or resources would be greatly appreciated!”