The Truth About Carpet Cleaning

The Truth About Carpet Cleaning

In a letter dated July 30, 2013, Attorney General JB Van Hollen addressed questions regarding routine carpet cleaning presented to him by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. The questions presented and brief answers are as follows:

¶ 3.  You first ask, based on current law, does routine carpet cleaning at the end of a tenancy fall within the landlord’s duty to keep the premises in a reasonable state of repair as prescribed in Wis. Stat. § 704.07(02)?

¶ 4.  In my opinion, the answer is no. Lanlord’s statutory duty to keep premises in a reasonable state of repair does not encompass carpet cleaning.

¶ 5.  Your second question is: would a provision requiring the tenant to pay for professional carpet ceaning, in the absence of negligence or improper use by the tenant, render a rental agreement void under Wis. Stat. § 704.44(8)?

¶ 6.  In my opinion, the answer is no. Because routine carpet cleaning is not a statutorily-imposed obligation of the landlord, assigning this responsibility to a tenant through a contractual provision does not render a rental agreement void.

To read this letter fin its entirety from Attorney General JB Van Hollen in aswering the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection regarding routine carpet cleaning, please click here