Re: Return of SD and appropriate charges - Landlord Forum thread 361534

Re: Return of SD and appropriate charges by lpadave on September 6, 2021 @15:47

Garry and I are probably two of the more seasoned contributors to this forum.

Many LLs view security deposit deductions as a profit center. I do not.

Three years is a moderately long term tenancy. The gray area is 12 to 18 months, where it becomes more difficult to objectively determine normal wear and tear from abuse / damages.

Judges love to characterize your situation as """" tenant residue """

After three years, the unit would probably be ready for a paint job complete or major touch ups. Purple paint is nasty and paint, alteration and redecorating should have been addressed and prohibited in your lease.

I would have charged 75 to 100 total for two to three coats of kills primer to cover the purple,..then no further charge for finish paint.

Carpets also typically have a five year life. After three years of wear and tear, I would not expect tenant to return carpets to as delivered condition.
Neither would a judge. 75 dollars is nickel and dimming the """residue"""
You don't want to be having to tell a judge the carpets were already 5 years old when the tenant moved in.

If you've raised rents regularly and are at market,...you've had a good tenancy for three years. Particularly now with covid.

Normal picture hanging holes are wear and tear. I use white paint for a number of reasons including that properly placed picture hanging nails are resolved with spackled and a damp rag to disappear into the white paint.

Without needing to touch up....let alone repaint.

My war story is the tenant that hung an 85 inch tv using one way wall anchors into both studs and Sheetrock. Then used double face surface mount conduit to conceal the cables down the wall to the floor.

Rather than abandoning the seventy. Five cent each wall anchors in place ,... They decided that they owned the hardware, it was theirs, and they ain't leaving it.

They yanked all six of them out, creating holes between golf ball and softball size. The double face tape from the conduit, pulled the Sheetrock paper down thru and into to gypsum.

That was a $400 repair and repaint of the wall

There was no lip about that charge,.....and they won't be making that mistake again with their next LL.

WE ARE IN THIS BUSINESS TO KEEP THE STUFF RENTED AND THE RENTS COLLECTED.

don't get stuck in the mud hunting for coins.

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Re: Return of SD and appropriate charges by John on September 6, 2021 @17:30	[ Reply ]

Thanks, I scaled back my charge for holes in the wall. However, of the small holes (picture hanging), there were 5 large holes (3 of which for TV hanging. The tenant tried to patch them himself and didn't turn out good. The carpet is 3 years old. The carpets were NEW when the tenant moved in. There were several other items I didn't mention in the invoice or it would bring the value down lower. The tenant loosened the stair rail baluster in order to get their furniture down. The hardware was missing. They also tore the carpet to get to the bolt. underneath.

Re: Return of SD and appropriate charges by Bette on September 7, 2021 @19:53	[ Reply ]

This brought back memories of one of the times i was a tenant (not LL) in my younger days :) The LL said "I have counted the nail holes and know exactly how many there are - you will be changed for any additional". We used what was there.