how much would you charge?

easy...how much will it cost? thats how much i would charge them...and if its greater then their deposit just keep the deposit and call it even..but if less then refund them the difference.

well, they didn't pay a deposit and I have no clue how much it will cost...right now we don't have the money for the repairs, but in the future we'll want to fix it.

You should get an estimate. Go to one of the home improvement stores, and look at the kind of countertop it is (not something more expensive, the same as what you have now). Look at the pricing of it, then you should be able to estimate what the cost would be. Do the same for the carpet. I would say they need to cover at least 75% of the cost. I would fully expect, if I ruined a carpet or countertop or anything else for that matter in a rental home, that I would have to pay 75%-100% of the damage.

Use their deposit, that's one of the things security deposits are for. If it is within the deposit range, let it go & just inform them that their security deposit has paid for the damages. If it is significantly under the deposit, upon leaving only refund them the difference.

i agree with april.... but good luck getting the money.... this is exactly why people have security/cleaning deposits.

My poor landlords just evicted the people behind us for not paying rent... they even let them use the deposit as rent cuz they promised to pay it back.

well they broke the walls, poured bleach on the carpet and left it a complete mess. so landlords had to fork out all the money for it.

good luck

Get an estimate and then have them pay the repair. If it was you, the owner isn't responsible for your mistakes. It was a mistake - right? The owner is responsible for the "mechanical" repairs, but burning rings in carpet and countertops isn't mechanical. Just fix it. Pretend you owned the house (if you are the renter) and treat the owners they way you would want a renter to treat you. If you are the owner, I don't think you are responsible for their damage. That's what the security deposit is for. Remind them that if they want it back, they need to do the repair themselves. If they don't, the security deposit will fix it for you.

you get the estimate done, and they pay for it. If they don't, then take them to court, and the judge will issue a judgement in your favor. Next time, sign a lease, have a security deposit given, than is what they are for. You need to look out for you when it comes to leasing out your home, so please take extra precassions!

The courts will tell you that they are only responsible for the current value of the original cost of the countertop and carpeting. Which means you have to find out the depreciated cost of each item at the time they were damaged.
To do that you will need receipts to prove the original cost of each, and then the depreciation is taken off that price by how old those items are.
You may be able to find depreciation calculators on the internet if you do a search.
Sorry, but the law states that the owner can only be made whole, not brand new.

If they didnt pay a deposit then Id get an estimate and subtract the difference between cost then and now and make them pay the difference.

You break it, you buy it. Make them pay.