In short

A landlord expects the carpet back in the condition you received it, less ordinary wear, and your lease says whether a professional cleaning is required. Clean after the furniture is out and before the final walkthrough, keep a dated receipt and photograph each room afterward. Stains, burns, pet damage and odor are what a deduction usually targets.

Worth remembering

  • Read the lease first. It states whether the carpet must be professionally cleaned and what proof the landlord wants.
  • Clean once the furniture is out and before the walkthrough, with time left for the carpet to dry.
  • Ordinary wear is generally not chargeable. Stains, burns, pet damage and odor can be.
  • Keep a dated receipt and photographs of every room.

Normal wear and what a landlord can charge for

Carpet that has been walked on for a year or more looks lived in. Light matting along the routes people use, a little fading beside a window and slight flattening where furniture stood are ordinary wear, which is generally treated as normal use and not as damage. Burns, pulled loops, dye marks, stains that cleaning cannot lift, pet damage and lingering odor are different. Those are the items a deduction from a security deposit is usually written against.

Ask for any deduction as an itemized list in writing, instead of a single line that says carpet. For what may be deducted at all, your lease and New Jersey's security deposit rules are the references, and a tenant resource can explain them. Ask also how the charge was figured. The age of the carpet is a fair question, since a carpet that was already old when you moved in has little value left to charge for.

Read the lease before you book

Lease wording varies. Some leases ask for a professional cleaning and a receipt, some ask only that the carpet be left clean, and some say nothing at all. A rental machine may satisfy the second kind, but phrases such as professionally cleaned or hot water extraction point to a hired cleaner. If the wording is unclear, send the landlord a short message and ask, and keep the reply.

Find out too whether the landlord requires a particular company. Some name one, and others leave the choice to the tenant. If the lease names a method, say so when you call the cleaner so the cleaning matches it.

Timing the cleaning

Clean last. Once the furniture is out and the movers have gone, nothing else will cross the carpet before the walkthrough. Cleaning a furnished room leaves squares of untouched carpet where the sofa stood, and they show the moment it leaves.

Leave room for drying. A few hours is the usual wait for carpet, longer for wool or thick pile and on a damp day, so schedule the cleaning with a margin before the walkthrough and keep the keys until the floor is dry. A fan or the air conditioning helps, and a window helps only while the air outside is dry.

What cleaning can and cannot undo

Cleaning removes soil, most fresh spots and general odor, and it brightens traffic lanes that are made of dirt. It does not close a burn, restore a bleached patch, bring back a pulled loop or lift every old stain. Pet urine that reached the pad may not come out of the pad at all.

Point out every problem spot when you ask for a quote. Flying Carpet Cleaning NJ explains what the cleaning should achieve and what it will leave before it starts, so you know in advance what to expect at the walkthrough.

Paperwork that settles a dispute

A cleaning only helps your deposit if you can prove it. Keep these together in one folder.

  • An itemized receipt that shows the date, the address and the rooms cleaned.
  • Photographs of each room taken after the cleaning, with the date stored in the file.
  • Photographs of the carpet from the day you moved in, if you took any.
  • The messages in which the landlord stated what the lease requires.
  • The itemized list of deductions, when the landlord sends it.

Related service: Carpet cleaning in New Jersey.

Questions, answered

Do I have to hire a professional to clean the carpet when I move out?

Only if your lease says so or the carpet needs more than you can do yourself. If the lease is silent, the usual expectation is a clean carpet apart from ordinary wear. A receipt from a professional is the simplest proof either way.

Can I clean the carpet myself and still get my deposit back?

Possibly, if the lease allows it and the result is clean and dry. A rental machine can leave residue and moisture behind, though, and a landlord who sees stains or a damp patch may still deduct. Check the wording, photograph the result and keep your rental receipts.

Should I clean before or after the movers leave?

After. Movers track soil across the carpet and can scuff or mark it with furniture, so a cleaning done first is partly undone. Wait until the rooms are empty, clean, let the carpet dry and take your photographs that afternoon.

Keep reading