Question : landlord upgraded carpet to hardwood after I left?
I returned keys a week early (on 25th, though I paid rent through march 31st, 2010), had a walk through.
I was told that they would charge me for half of the carpet replacement. Later on monday 29th my wife found out that they already put hardwood floors over the weekend. Can they charge me for such an upgrade? Aren’t they supposed to show me a receipt for carpet, so that they can charge me half of it? I stayed in this apartment for 4 years 3+ months.
I told the management to charge me for cleaning, and did not agree on the carpet issue but told them to send me an estimate/quote for the cost.

What should I do?
Rental property is in Bay Area, Sunnyvale, California
To Ryan: Answer 3 is the one I want to find out more about, preferably relevant law. Yes there’s nothing about charging half of the carpet, that was a verbal comment from my landlords, quite greedy husband and wife, and I found out that they lie quite often.
bay area property management

Best answer:

Answer by Ryan M
1) There is nothing in the law that they can only charge you half. In fact, anything above wear and tear is 100% your responsibility to pay.
2) Was there a “wear and tear” clause in your lease? For most places, if you live there for more than 2 years….they cannot charge you for carpet wear.
3) They cannot charge you for carpet replacement, if they did not replace the carpet. You are not expected to help pay for THEIR remodeling costs…which is what they are trying to pawn off on you.