Q: problem with my tenant
tenant's two cats made a big mess on the carpet, we just had the floor clean by a professional carpet cleaner four months ago, she said the mess is coming back, who is responsible for cleaning it again?
A: I presume that the carpet cleaner cleaned the carpet and not the underlying floor. Does your lease have any useful provisions about cleaning carpets? Failing that, tenants are responsible for the behavior of their pets. Some carpets can be salvaged by cutting out the offending portion and splicing in replacement carpet. If that is not possible and the only way to make the room acceptable is to replace the carpet, bear in mind you do not get to charge for brand new carpet, but the price of depreciated carpet. The amount depends on the age and the original cost. If the carpet was 3 years old and had a life expectancy of 5 years, you get to charge the tenant for 2 years use, or 40% of the replacement cost.
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