Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

A few months ago I called a cleaning lady to come in and clean my apartment. The cleaning lady was referred to me by the leasing office in my building. The leasing office has also posted the contact information for the cleaning lady in our elevator. The cleaning lady came in and spilled bleach on my carpet. Upon moving out of the apartment I am being charged $1000 carpet replacement fee , am I liable for this? Can I be charged for this at all? And if yes why do I have to pay for entire carpet replacement if the damage is only in one room? One more bit of information .... The situation was reported to an employee in the leasing office by me as well as the cleaning lady at the time the incident occurred. We were told not to worry about it but none of this was documented.


Asked on 3/03/11, 11:00 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Of course you are responsible for it. The cleaning lady doesn't work for the building. So they are not responsible. You are as responsible as if you had hired her off craigslist. If you can track her down, you can take her to small claims for reimbursement, but as between you and the apartment building, you owe for the damage. As for why you have to pay for full replacement, maybe you do and maybe you don't. It depends on the condition of the carpet. If it was new, then it is not reasonable to replace everything if the same carpet is available. If, however, the carpet was part way through its useful life you can't put new carpet in one room and leave the rest. That would look terrible and reduce the value and rentability of the unit. The same is true if the exact brand, style and color is no longer available.

Read more
Answered on 3/04/11, 8:08 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in California