I’m Moving Out of My Elwood Property – Do I Need to Get My Carpets Steam Cleaned?

I get asked this question time and time again is it necessary for tenants to have the carpets steam cleaned when they vacate. And believe it or not there is no law that can enforce this. Obviously the tenant has a responsibility to take care of the property and also has the responsibility to try and keep it clean, taking into account normal living circumstances.

It's fairly easy for most tenants to uphold this by giving the property a regular clean whether it be vacuuming or trying to clean up carpet spills when they happen. This falls under ‘normal incidents of living’. It's completely up to the tenant to have the carpets steam cleaned during their tenancy as there is no law to enforce this. For example, if they have spill on the carpets they are under no obligation to have the carpets steam cleaned until they come to the end of their lease.

Vacating

When you move out you have to hand the property back in a clean state. And by that the landlord can’t expect you to hand back the property in the same state as when you moved in. If the tenant has done their best to keep the property clean and attended to any carpet spills when they happened then in the eyes of the law they've done their best to comply with the legislation.

A lot of the time when property managers draw up a lease agreement they always add a clause to have the property steam cleaned upon vacating. Now by law if this isn't in your contract you don't actually have to you have the carpets steam cleaned. And if it is then the landlord or the agent has to provide a receipt or show proof that they have had the carpetsprofessionally cleaned prior to you moving in.

Another important factor is you don't have to you steam clean carpets to fix any problems that you didn’t cause or weren’t responsible for. For example; if there was a burst water main or a leaky roof which caused some water damage to the carpets than it’s the landlord’s responsibility to pay to have the carpets cleaned.

If you’ve been advised by the agent that the landlord is going to demolish the property or renovate/replace the carpets make sure you get that in writing so you don't have to fork out for a carpet cleaning bill. Having the carpets cleaned in this circumstance isn't going to benefit the landlord whatsoever.