carpet replacement issue senior apt in NY

By Margaret

I am writing on behalf of my 90 year old mother. She moved into a new senior housing unit 5 years ago. She had an elderly cat who moved in with her. The cat did not develop any issues until  2012   we finally put in down in late in that year. There were yearly inspections on this unit and for the first three years  she did not receive any unfavorable inspection notices.  For the 2012 inspection she received a notice that simply stated she was in violation of her lease because it was obvious that her apt was found to be untidy. That’s it, now explanation of the violations found, no examples listed. She was given 10 days to tidy up and upon the 2nd inspection the manager informed her verbally that her apt was found to be  fine. She did not receive another notice cancelling out the  first notice. My mother and also my brother questioned the manager about  getting a new notice but never received one.  In 2013 my mother became ill and was hospitalized for weeks and came to live with me when she was released. She has since been hospitalized again and is now on the waiting list to go into a  nursing home.  Upon her illness we kept her apt  going in the hopes that she would return, It was cleaned and uninhabitated for four months. The rent, cable, phone and utility bills were all paid.  We received  her lease renewal notice and knew at this point that she would not be returning so opted to not renew the lease.  During these months the apt was once again inspected. We did not  receive any notice of the  inspection findings but assumed that all was well.  We packed up the apt and vacated on Aug 31, 2013. The keys were returned but because of Labor Day the manager was out until Sept 3.     16 days later I contacted the  rental office regarding her deposit security via email.  I received an email stating the entire carpet, three rooms would have to be replaced due to a strong urine smell and their attempts to clean the carpet were not successful. They informed me that my mother would be  billed for the difference between the carpet replacement and her deposits.  My questions  are how can they do this when the cat has been gone for over a year and they inspected the apt twice in that time and never found any smell. Also how can they expect someone to pay for an entire replacement when there was no way the carpets were  that bad?  It seems very unfair to me and I  am so upset over this.  They not only inspected the carpets but had a vet come around on an annual basis to inspect the animals as well.  Shouldn’t they have said something sooner?  I am sorry for the length of this post.  Thank you for your assistance.

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Holy Cow, we couldn't find any other related post. Sorry. :(