Re: charging for damages - Landlord Forum thread

Re: charging for damages by Nicole (maryland) on March 15, 2012 @11:43

I was told it was called "the cost of doing business". I just wanted to verify , the amount of damages were excessive, but not anything beyond my ability to repair. Holes in the wall, bathtub caulking, shampooing carpet because of odor and stains, toilet repair, damaged blinds, etc... very frustrating because I try to keep it a very nice apartment. Anyway, I did the repairs and in the past never had an issue with charging for my labor. I just didn't want to continue to do so and have an issue because of this "cost of doing business"

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Re: charging for damages by Anna Mouse on March 15, 2012 @12:28	[ Reply ]

It has to do with your state law. Some states allow the charges for the labor hours of the LL and others do not. Here is what important and an example for lets say cleaning. The LL should get a few estimates of the hourly rate for cleaning. In my state it averages from $30 to $40 an hour from a professional company. So as a LL I could A) hire a service and bill the SD for what they charge. B) I might decide I wanted to clean and then charge for my supplies and maybe $20 an hour. That would likely fly very well in court. I am not a professional cleaner but I am charging $10 to $20 less than a pro would. I am going to look up your state and see what I might find

Re: charging for damages by Nicole (Maryland) on March 15, 2012 @13:29	[ Reply ]

Thank you both so much for the input. I had tried to look for my state but, I am not as experienced as you probably are Anna. Any and all help you can offer is greatly appreciated.

Re: charging for damages by P-Bone in WNY (NY) on March 15, 2012 @14:06	[ Reply ]

It doesn't appear to be that specific. It looks like it says the landlord would have to prove the actual costs claimed on the security deposit settlement, but makes not specific metion of the allowability or inability to claim personal time for certain functions.

Re: charging for damages by Anna Mouse on March 15, 2012 @15:03	[ Reply ]

Okay! I searched and searched and finally found this website: http://www.bni-maryland.org/Documents/Tenant_Intro_Packet.pdf I even read through the dang thing and found that it did say in Maryland you can charge for your own labor. I want to make a note to what I said earlier. Be certain that you charge less for cleaning that what 3 or 4 services would charge you. While searching it was said that maybe minimum wage was a fair price for cleaning? In that case I will NOT be lifting one sponge or spraying one product for that price. I will absolutly hire a cleaning service and be sure to be there during the time they clean doing other things that need to be done. That way the person off the street with no skills will be sure to do it right! It all comes down to looking at the thing through the judges eyes. The judge should be fair to both parties. Error on the side of being very fair if you do the work yourself. Consider the skill necessary for the task..(back to my rant on minimum wage and no skills for cleaning. It is clearly a no brain job. However all people have brains and I have seen many people not be able to do the job right) This makes me want to do it myself but if I only get paid minimum wage then I will pay and supervis.e

Re: charging for damages