My sister owns a rental property (house) in Northern California.

The lease specifically specifies that "no smoking is allowed on the
property".

Now the 1 year lease is up. On inspection the WHOLE house smells of
cigarette smoke and she found cigarette butts and an empty cigarette
pack in the home.

Can she use the deposit to recarpet the whole house...probably about
1,000 sf. ?


Will this take care of the smell?

What are her options as a landlord ?

Any input ?

Thank you,
Ava

I'd make sure she takes photos (place a newspaper with the date showing in
the photo) that shows the cigerette butts in the home. Also she should
contact an attorney to find out exactly how much of the deposit she can
keep.

wrote in message
oups.com...
My sister owns a rental property (house) in Northern California.

The lease specifically specifies that "no smoking is allowed on the
property".

Now the 1 year lease is up. On inspection the WHOLE house smells of
cigarette smoke and she found cigarette butts and an empty cigarette
pack in the home.

Can she use the deposit to recarpet the whole house...probably about
1,000 sf. ?


Will this take care of the smell?

What are her options as a landlord ?

Any input ?

Thank you,
Ava

wrote:

I'd make sure she takes photos (place a newspaper with the date showing in
the photo) that shows the cigarette butts in the home. Also she should
contact an attorney to find out exactly how much of the deposit she can
keep.


Putting myself in the shoes of the tenant here, if the landlord did
this, I'd immediately deny everything and point out that the
landlord might well have set up the evidence in the photos, maybe
inorder to get the cleaning paid for.

wrote in message
oups.com...
My sister owns a rental property (house) in Northern California.

The lease specifically specifies that "no smoking is allowed on the
property".

Now the 1 year lease is up. On inspection the WHOLE house smells of
cigarette smoke and she found cigarette butts and an empty cigarette
pack in the home.

Can she use the deposit to recarpet the whole house...probably about
1,000 sf. ?


Will this take care of the smell?

What are her options as a landlord ?

Any input ?

Thank you,
Ava





--
Ian

"Ian" wrote in message
...
wrote:

I'd make sure she takes photos (place a newspaper with the date showing
in
the photo) that shows the cigarette butts in the home. Also she should
contact an attorney to find out exactly how much of the deposit she can
keep.


Putting myself in the shoes of the tenant here, if the landlord did
this, I'd immediately deny everything and point out that the
landlord might well have set up the evidence in the photos, maybe
inorder to get the cleaning paid for.

yeah, and tell that to a Judge that will look at the teneants yellow hands
and tell them they are FOS.


wrote in message
oups.com...
My sister owns a rental property (house) in Northern California.

The lease specifically specifies that "no smoking is allowed on the
property".

Now the 1 year lease is up. On inspection the WHOLE house smells of
cigarette smoke and she found cigarette butts and an empty cigarette
pack in the home.

Can she use the deposit to recarpet the whole house...probably about
1,000 sf. ?


Will this take care of the smell?

What are her options as a landlord ?

Any input ?

Thank you,
Ava





--
Ian

wrote:

"Ian" wrote in message
...
......


yeah, and tell that to a Judge that will look at the teneants yellow hands
and tell them they are FOS.

That wouldn't be conclusive evidence in this case - continuing my
role as lying tenant, I'd say, yes I do smoke but only outdoors and never
inside the leased property.
It'd then up to the landlord's attorney to prove I had. Not easy.
(I do have two mahogany-colored fingers on my left hand,
incidentally!)
--
Ian

Generally, she can use the deposit to remove the smell. And depending
on the law where you are, she might even be able to get more than the
deposit if the cleaning costs more.
Replacing just the carpet may not do it.
Call a fire smoke damage company and have them come over to produce an
estimate. Be sure they write on the estimate they detect the smell of
smoke, not just that they will remove the smell of smoke. Having a
neutral third party put in writing that the house smells of smoke
bolsters your case. Also, I assume you took pictures of the butts and
pack.
You don't have to hire the company, by the way. You mainly need proof
in case the tenant takes you to court.

On 20 Jul 2005 19:37:15 -0700, someone wrote:

Can she use the deposit to recarpet the whole house...probably about
1,000 sf. ?

She should ask her lawyer.

Will this take care of the smell?

She should ask her carpet contractor - but I no it will not. The
carpet is certainly NOT the only thing in the house that was subject
to the smoke.




Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 18:47:25 GMT, someone wrote:

That wouldn't be conclusive evidence in this case - continuing my
role as lying tenant...

Poor sap, you misunderstand what legal "proof" IS. "Proof" is
evidence that is believed by the judge (in a bench trial) or jury (in
a jury trial). Testimony can be proof. If the judge/jury believes
one witness and not the other, the believeable one's case is "proved".

People all the time think that all they have to do is come up with
some alternate story, and they will get off because it can't be
"proved" otherwise. Uhh uhh.

Now if the judge/jury doesn't know who to believe, then the Plaintiff
can't win. But a "civil" matter doesn't even need to be proven
"beyond a reasonable doubt" (that's for criminal trails). It only
needs to be "preponderance of the evidence" so 51% can do it.


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

, fuming, wrote:

On Thu, 21 Jul 2005 18:47:25 GMT, someone wrote:

That wouldn't be conclusive evidence in this case - continuing my
role as lying tenant...

Poor sap, you misunderstand what legal "proof" IS. "Proof" is
Poor? Well, that bit's way out anyway!

evidence that is believed by the judge (in a bench trial) or jury (in
a jury trial). Testimony can be proof. If the judge/jury believes
one witness and not the other, the believable one's case is "proved".

You may be right.
I would of course, have retained a first class attorney to plead my case ....
and hope the landlord had an inferior lawyer.

People all the time think that all they have to do is come up with
some alternate story, and they will get off because it can't be
"proved" otherwise. Uhh uhh.

I'd have said, that I, as lying tenant, wouldn't have to prove a
thing.It's up to the
prosecution or plaintiff to prove the case to the satisfaction of the
judge, I'd have thought. But see below. .

Now if the judge/jury doesn't know who to believe, then the Plaintiff
can't win. But a "civil" matter doesn't even need to be proven
"beyond a reasonable doubt" (that's for criminal trails). It only
needs to be "preponderance of the evidence" so 51% can do it.

I'll take my chance!

Actually I asked my real estate agent who also manages some investment
)leased) property for me, what she made of this one, and she
opined that while she didn't know the law in.... California was it,
here in Texas a landlord would have to call in a carpet
fitter/cleaning or similar expert to declare inwriting that the smell did
emanate from the carpets;
this could apparently be laid before a judge as part of the
landlord'scase.
And in any case, regardless of who had been smoking in the premises,
it seems that the carpeting would have to be replaced or restored at
the tenant's cost to its original condition as it had been at the
start of the lease.
But that is in Texas, so may not be of much help to the original
inquirer.
--
Ian