Carpet care guide
In NSW the carpet test at moving-out time is how it compares with the day you moved in, not whether you hired a cleaner, so knowing where wear and tear ends and damage begins is what protects your bond.
In NSW, moving out does not automatically mean paying for a professional carpet clean. The rule is that you leave the place in about the condition it was in when you moved in. You repair, or pay to repair, damage beyond reasonable wear and tear. So the questions that decide your bond are simple. What did the carpet look like on day one? Is what has changed since then wear, or damage?
There is one exception, and it involves pets. It only applies when three conditions are all met.
Not as a blanket rule. NSW Fair Trading's guidance on moving out of a rental home says a tenant must leave the property in a similar condition to move-in. It also says the tenant must repair, or pay the cost of repairing, any damage that is not reasonable wear and tear.
That test is about condition, measured against the start of the tenancy. It says nothing about who did the cleaning. A lease clause or an agent's checklist that says "carpets professionally cleaned" is worth reading against that standard, and against the pet rule further down.
| Fair wear and tear | Damage |
|---|---|
| Furniture indentations | Stains |
| Traffic marks | Burn marks |
| Water stains from rain through a leaking roof or bad plumbing | Water stains from an overflowing bath or indoor pot plants |
| Source: NSW Fair Trading | |
NSW Fair Trading draws the line in plain terms on its page about fair wear and tear versus damage:
This is the line a carpet argument at the end of a lease is decided on. A worn path from the front door to the kitchen is what years of living does to carpet. The dents where the couch stood are the same. A red wine stain by the coffee table is different. So is a scorch from a heater that sat too close. Those are marks that something happened.
The practical upshot: don't lose sleep over traffic lanes. Put your attention on anything that looks like a spill, a spot or a burn and wasn't there when you moved in.
Your memory of the carpet on move-in day counts for little in a dispute. The paperwork counts for a great deal. According to NSW Fair Trading's page on rental property condition reports, the condition report is the evidence of how the property looked before the tenant moved in. It is filled in at both the start and the end of a tenancy, and it is what a carpet dispute is measured against.
If the entry report already noted a stain in the hallway, that stain isn't yours to fix. If the entry report says "carpet clean, no marks" and there's a burn by the heater now, the report makes that plain to everyone.
The same page says the more detail in the report, including time-stamped photographs, the less likely a dispute at the end, and that tenants should take photos with time stamps to go with the report and return their completed copy to the landlord or agent within seven days of moving in.
The costly version of this is reading the entry report after the exit inspection, when the argument has already started. Read it the week before instead. That gives you time to act on anything that falls on the damage side of the line.
Before moving day
A stain you find yourself, with a week to spare, gives you options. The same stain listed on the exit report gives you fewer.
This is the rule that decides whether a pet clause can be enforced. According to NSW Fair Trading's page on pets in rentals, a landlord can only require you to professionally clean the carpets at the end of a tenancy because of a pet if all three of these are true:
All three must be true
If any box stays empty, the pet rule doesn't require a professional clean.
Source: NSW Fair Trading
If all three are true, the clean must be carried out regardless of the state of the carpets, and the condition still applies if the pet no longer lives there, for example because it has died. If any of the three is missing, the condition doesn't apply. The general moving-out standard still applies either way: Fair Trading says a landlord can ask you to fix carpet staining that isn't fair wear and tear even if the damage was not caused by the pet. A pet stain that wasn't on the entry report is still a stain.
Find the landlord's response to your pet application now, while you can still check the wording. If you're still mid-lease with a pet, our guide to keeping carpets fresh with pets covers the day-to-day side.
Your bond isn't sitting in the landlord's account. In NSW it is capped at no more than 4 weeks' rent. It is lodged through Rental Bonds Online, and it is NSW Fair Trading that pays it back, not the landlord.
The path a bond takes
Claim the bond through Rental Bonds Online.
The landlord or agent has 14 days to accept or dispute the claim.
Accepted: paid two business days after acceptance.
Disputed: the landlord or agent applies to NCAT.
Source: NSW Fair Trading
To get it back, you claim it through Rental Bonds Online, as set out on the page about getting your bond back. Your landlord or agent has up to 14 days to accept the claim, and if your details are correct the money should be in your account two business days after the claim is accepted. The paper Claim for Bond Refund form is only for a bond that isn't in Rental Bonds Online.
You don't need to wait for the landlord to release the bond. Once the tenancy is over you can claim it yourself, and the landlord or agent has 14 days to dispute the claim. If they don't, Fair Trading pays it after those 14 days.
Fair Trading's list of grounds for a claim on the bond includes not cleaning the property to the same standard as the start of the tenancy and damage beyond fair wear and tear. Both are measured against the start of the tenancy. A landlord or agent who claims part of your bond without your agreement must give you a copy of the end-of-tenancy condition report and copies of estimates, quotes, invoices or receipts for the work within 7 days of making the claim. A carpet clean they want you to pay for has to show up in that paperwork.
"The Tribunal is set up to hear both sides of the story about tenancy disputes. This includes disagreements about bond refunds."
If they dispute it, they must apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal within 14 days of receiving the notice. NSW Fair Trading's page on dealing with bond disputes for tenants describes NCAT as set up to hear both sides of a tenancy dispute, including bond refunds.
None of this is arbitrary. There is a claim, a deadline and a tribunal at the end of it. Whoever turns up with the clearest evidence is in the stronger position. On carpet, that evidence is the entry report, the exit report and your time-stamped photos.
At Harbourfresh Carpet Cleaning, our view is simple. Clean because the carpet needs it, not because you assume the law demands it.
Traffic marks and furniture dents sit on the wear-and-tear side of the line, so there's nothing to fix. A stain that wasn't on the entry report is different, and so is a valid pet clause. Those are the cases where a clean earns its place. Deal with either early enough that you're not arranging it the night before the keys go back.
If that's you, and you're moving out anywhere in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie or the Hunter, tell us about the carpet, rugs or upholstery through our free quote form. For the cleaning side of moving out, see our guide to end-of-lease carpet cleaning. To see what we clean, visit our services page.
Ready when you are
Tell us the rooms, the fibres and what you are up against. We will come back with a clear, no-obligation quote for your Newcastle home or workplace.