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June 30, 2008
Security Deposits
Hi,
I'm a landlord and my tenants are moving out tomorrow, new tenants moving in at the end of this week - here's my issue:
the current tenants(lived there about 4 years) really didn't take very good care of the place. Aside from the wood floors looking a mess - there are plenty of holes and scratches in the walls which we are patching up. We painted their living room last year, but after assessing the place this past weekend -we realized we have to paint the entire Apt again! we have to hire professional cleaners to clean the place because they left it in really bad shape and hire carpet cleaners as well (they had pets). Anyway - Can I use their security deposit for any of this damage?
Comments
of course you can! that's what it's for.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 2:29 PM
another building owner here. This is ordinary wear and tear. give them their money and be done with them. Security deposits are not for normal wear and tear.
missing ac unit? Punctures in the coiling coils in the fridge? broken doors hanging off hinges? The money is yours.
Dirty walls should not turn into dirty money
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 2:38 PM
Wouldn't you ordinarily paint the entire apartment upon a tenant vacating anyway? I thought that was a given. I couldn't imagine a new tenant wanting to move into a place that needed painting.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 2:43 PM
Is it only rent stabilized units that have to be painted every few years? I agree that it sounds like normal wear and tear.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 3:10 PM
if "they left it in really bad shape" this is
beyond normal wear and tear.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 3:18 PM
Give back the security deposit in full.
If you don't they will take you to court in front of a judge and you will pay for a lawyer.
Depending on the judges point of view you might have to give it all back or maybe the judge will let you keep part of the security deposit. It is a crap shoot.
What you might be able to do is keep your receipts for the repairs and hand them over to your accountant for a nice tax deduction.
Posted by: Ysabelle at June 30, 2008 3:30 PM
dunno guys - I mean when I was a renter, I was always afraid of losing my security - so....I left the place the same way as I found it - which is stipulated in the lease!
they arrived to a freshly renovated apt - yes I understand wear and tear is normal - but sorry not "razor scratches" on the wall , or the 2 fist size holes in the wall or the fact their AC's water run off left stains on the wall type thing
Posted by: gemini10 at June 30, 2008 4:15 PM
a place should be professionally cleaned, painted and carpets cleaned btw tenants IMO
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 4:53 PM
You mean they had the gall to hang a picture and put a hole in the wall?
Please - nothing you mentioned seemed to be beyond wear and tear. If they had a pet, you allowed it.
Would you want to move into a place that hadn't been painted and cleaned?
Costs of being a landlord. Give them the deposit back unless there is a fist hole in the wall.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 5:31 PM
I think you could take say $500 of it. I was very surprised when my landlord gave me my entire deposit back, but the fact is that we had put in french doors, taken out a small wall(so that it was MUCH nicer and more open) and put thousands into the garden (all over the course of 7 years) so he probably knew he got a lot of free work out of us. But in general, I do think tenants do not expect their entire deposit back. ESPECIALLY if they do not do a thorough clean up and have made no improvements to the apt over the years.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 5:38 PM
5:38, tenants shouldn't expect their deposit unless they make improvements? Isn't that the owner's job?
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 5:50 PM
I can only tell you what I've done in the past. In my own experience as a landlord (five tenants over 4 years), I have kept any part of the deposit only once. When I did was because they destroyed two rugs with dog pee and poo, gouged the wooden floors, punched holes in two interior doors, painted a room (including the ceiling) in a gritty bright orange oil-based paint and gouged the walls in long lines going down the stairs during move out. There were hundred of pin holes in two rooms from posters that they put up with tacks and kept repositioning. All that in 18th months. That was a $1300 deposit. They knew they had used up their deposit and didn't even ask for it.
The orange paint was the worst part of it because I first had to scrape the gritty stuff off of the walls then paint everything with primer and then patch up all the grit's holes with compound. After that another coat of primer and finally two coats of a nice white paint.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 6:09 PM
Think you'd be within your bounds to take a few hundred to fix the walls, so long as you hire someone to do it and keep a receipt.
If it's just something you can patch with joint compound or structolite, or even spackle, I wouldn't bother.
Did they seem like litigious people? If not, take a little bit, do the work, get the receipts in case they ask. Try to keep good karma in the apartment...
When I rented, I had some really crappy landlords who kept my sd mostly because they knew I was moving out of town and wouldn't pursue them. Grrr.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 6:30 PM
Document the damage with pictures, get itemized receipts from the person making the repair and deduct it from their security deposit. You don't love your tenants - it is a business relationship and they are responsible for adhering to the terms of the lease. Standard lease says they leave it the way they found it subject to ordinary wear and tear. Dirty carpet and holes in the walls are damage. Ignore the poster who is threatening you with having to get an attorney - that's nonsense. The worst case is small claims court and you represent yourself. Document and deduct and you win.
Posted by: guest at June 30, 2008 7:37 PM
Why don't you ask them to fix it, or remediate and tell them you will have to take some of the deposit if they don't. When I rented, I'd never even get the deposit back until after the mgmt company had done an inspection.
Posted by: guest at July 1, 2008 12:16 AM
This sounds like normal wear and tear to me.
When turning over an apartment, I expect to have the place professionally cleaned, patch and paint at my expense (tax deductible).
Like yours, my current tenants have been there for almost four years. When they leave, I expect to have to refinish the floors. Not because they're not good tenants, but because they walk on the floors every day.
I have never held a security deposit. I think guest at 6:09 has a great list of the kinds of things that I would personally keep a deposit for.
Posted by: vanburenproud at July 1, 2008 3:05 PM
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