Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen Issues Formal Opinion Concerning Residential Lease Provisions Requiring Departing Tenants to Pay for Carpet Cleaning
MADISON — Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen today issued an opinion to Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary Ben Brancel in which Van Hollen concluded that Wisconsin law does not prohibit residential lease provisions that require a departing tenant to pay for routine carpet cleaning. Van Hollen determined that such a provision is not in conflict with a landlord’s statutory duty to maintain the premises “in a reasonable state of repair” under Wis. Stat. 704.07(2). Because routine carpet cleaning is not a statutorily-imposed obligation of a landlord, assigning this responsibility to a tenant through a contractual provision does not render a rental agreement void.
The full opinion letter is here:
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/misc/oag/recent/oag_4_13
NOTE: This opinion does NOT permit the deduction of the carpet cleaning from a security deposit.
So then what does this do for owners?
Very little to collect extra money from tenants. However, it forecloses tenants’ arguments that we had a common law duty to clean between tenants, i.e. cleaning is not part of a reasonable state of repairs.
I can also see this being used when DNS issues orders for housekeeping on the owner rather than the tenant.
It also clarifies you can have a lease that requires a tenant to clean when they move. You just have to bill them outside of the deposit.
Bottom line: Personally I never felt an across-the-board fee for carpet cleaning was anything more than a fee for moving out, which is probably a bad business practice even if it were legal. Cost should be imposed on those tenants that do not leave the place reasonably well, while those that take care of the place should be treated in a manner they would rent from you again or tell their friends to do so.