newSinga wrote:Like everyone else we are being taken on a ride and have to pay for a very expensive rug in our fully-furnished apartment ($1200).
She has charged us for 3 years use out of a '8-year' use rug.
My question is if I have to pay for her to get a new rug due to a supposed 'stain', can I ask that we have the old rug? Seems like this is fair since she supposedly has to by a new one.
Thanks
I'm not quite clear what the circumstances are, for example how long have you lived in this apartment?
What the landlord appears to be doing (in part) is applying asset-lifes to fixtures/fittings/furnishings in the
property. For example it might not be unreasonable to expect a rug in a rental property to have a working lifespan of eight years. Company accountants have asset registers of everything from partition walls to PC printers and will depreciate the aggregate portion of the asset register each year (sorry if this is egg-sucking to you).
From what you describe your landlady seems to have forgotten that her furnishings are subject to your 'fair wear and tear' (check your tenancy agreement, you should see the clause there). This means if you have lived there three years, then three years fair use and wear is allowed for. If she is saying it has a lifespan of eight years (which on the face of it might be reasonable, though based upon experience as a landlord I'd argue 5 years (max) is more realistic in a rental) then she can expect to get the rug back 37.5% worn-out (100% being replacement time).
I'd say you have a choice of having the rug cleaned, if that is required, to bring it back to 37.5% worn-out condition; or if she maintains that the rug is 100% worn out before it's time and hence must be replaced, if you were to replace it then I think you're perfectly entitled to keep the old one (since she is claiming it is 100% worn out and hence presumably of no value).
I would be clearer if I knew how long you've lived there, and also if you could clarify why in the landlords mind a rug with 3 years of say 8 years 'useful life' wear and tear has to be replaced. Still I hope that gives you a couple of pointers...