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I did a complete gut on a multi-family brownstone so the tenants moved into an apartment that was brand-new, with all the current amenities.

The first tenants are moving out and I’d like to get a sense of whether three issues exceed “normal wear and tear” and should be covered by their security deposit:

1) Floors…there were 2 girls in the apt. who ALWAYS wore high heels. The result is hundreds of tiny dings in the floor, which is primarily beech with cherry in the bedrooms…really hard woods! Whether I resand them now or not, I feel like this is excessive damage but would love the forum’s input.

2) Painting…while the apartment is going to be repainted for new tenants, these people violated the lease by smoking in the apartment…not ALL the time, but bouts of days at a time throughout the past 18 months. Should they contribute at all to the cost of repainting?

3) Stainless steel fridge: They must have used some cheap magnets that left really, really bad scratches on the fridge door. I’m not even sure how to remedy that, but I think that’s beyond normal wear and tear, right?

I want to be fair to both them and me, so thanks for your input.