Landlord/tenant rights, dealing with problems, where to get help...
Issue with Ex-Landlord regarding Carpet
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richieav Posts: 1
Posted On: 5/21/2015
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Hi- I occupied a rental unit in Toronto with one other person for 4 years.
I vacated the unit at the start of this month.
The landlord is currently trying to make me pay to replace the carpet in my bedroom at a cost of approx $400.
The carpet was steam cleaned at my expense since I vacated but there is wear and tear from years of regular usage and obvious patterning from areas which had furniture over them (bed etc) being less worn than others.
I believe that I took a reasonable level of care of the carpet, vacuuming it regularly when I was living there and generally taking my shoes off while in the room.
While there is wear from several years of usage I would contend that there is no specific unusual damage (gouges, burn marks, spillage stains etc).
Having checked the Ontario Landlord and Tenant Board website for information I found the following text in the section under "Tenant's Responsibilities - Repair Damage" which relates specifically to this issue:
However, the tenant is not responsible to repair damage caused by normal "wear and tear". For example, if the carpet has become worn after years of normal use, the tenant would not have to replace the carpet.
I quoted this text to my landlord but he is still insistent that it is my responsibility to pay for replacement to the carpet and that the rental agreement means I have to restore the unit to its original condition.
In my opinion having had the carpet professionally cleaned this seems to be the limit of my responsibility as a tenant, taking into account the information from the Ontario Landlord & Tenant Board on tenant responsibilities.
The situation is complicated by the fact that I am no longer resident in Canada and as such not able to represent myself in person in any legal action.
Could anybody with experience of this or similar issues please offer me advice/opinions regarding what you think the resolution of this situation should be?
Thank you and much appreciated.
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Moderator Moderator Posts: 4142
Posted On: 5/26/2015
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Hello,
Thank you for sharing this situation and your question with us.
We can appreciate that you would be concerned about this situation.
You mentioned that you are currently outside Canada. You are right that it does make it difficult to resolve this issue.
However, you may want to try and contact the Community Legal Clinic directly to see if they can provide you any information.
If you call their Toronto number you may have to pay long distance charges.
We hope that others who have been in this situation can share some information with you.
If we receive any updates or additional information we will post it.
I hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have further questions and if there is any follow up to your question/situation.
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Anna
Settlement.Org Content and Information/Referral Specialist, CIRS
Settlement.Org
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