Beyond Normal Wear and Tear - Landlord Forum thread 358949

Beyond Normal Wear and Tear by Fred on January 24, 2019 @00:39

Tenant lived in apartment for 7 years. He applied plastic window kits to keep out the cold and left it on the windows for years the tape from the kits actually baked into the paint of the sills and frames from the summer heat. During the final walk-through it was pointed out and he agreed to come back and try to remove the residue, it was nearly impossible and after a few hours on one window he gave up and left. I have video of a paper towel that would stick anywhere on the perimeter of the windows. The sticky baked in tape required mineral spirits and several more hours of labor to remove enough residue to sand and even then, required a shellac based primer. I charged him for a day laborer to remove the residue and a quart of primer that I used solely on his mess. (So around $100) He is suing me for double of the amount I did not return and calling it normal wear and tear. Saying I would have had to repaint anyway. I have lived in my unit for 16 years and put window kits on (but also removed them every spring) and have never had to repaint my frames or sills. Am I wrong in designating this beyond normal wear and tear?

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Re: Beyond Normal Wear and Tear by John on January 24, 2019 @12:13	[ Reply ]

To be frank with you. As a landlord I feel bad for a tenant that had to endure leaky windows to a point where they had to "cellophane" all their windows. Now you are bitching because the tape is stick to your lousy windows. Why don't you just tear those junk windows out. If I were you, I'd say sorry and return his $100.00....

Re: Beyond Normal Wear and Tear by AnonymousFL on January 24, 2019 @13:36	[ Reply ]

I do not feel for this tenant. This really is no different than if he used double sided tape to hang posters and damaged the paint on the wall. The damage may not have been intentional, but it is still damage. As long as you have documented that the damage was not there beforehand and you charged reasonable amounts to remedy the issue, you should be fine. We have had some of the same situations with some of our rentals in Wisconsin. Some of the trim around the windows in our units not real wood, so using the tape can damage the outer layer resulting in the trim having the be replaced.

Re: Beyond Normal Wear and Tear by Fred on January 25, 2019 @08:54	[ Reply ]

To clarify, this is a century home in a historic district. We live in the home as well. It is well maintained and the windows are inspected resealed and re-glazed at regular intervals, in fact his more than ours because he is on the ground level. They are not drafty, but they are not R3. He even cellophaned the small decorative windows on solid core front door that wouldn't need it no matter what. I know because we have the exact same door in our half of the house. The problem was caused by him leaving the tape on for years and never running the A/C in the summer when temps were regularly in the 90s. The tape baked into the paint.

Re: Beyond Normal Wear and Tear