Assessing Tenant Damages
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)…
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.
Yeah, this sounds like wear and tear to me–you’re reaching.
This is normal wear and tear. Damage is things like burn holes in rugs, water damage on hardwood floors, holes in the wall, broken blinds.
BTW, your floors don’t sound very hard. I have worn high heels indoors and I have never seen what you describe.
This is not a legal opinion:
I think the smoking is something you may have to deal with and because you’d need to repaint anyway, it’s not really lasting or severe damage. As for the floor, I’d be inclined to make them pay for that if the damage is as pervasive as you describe.
OP again — Yes, we’d had several conversations about noise, adding carpets and the non-smoking policy throughout their lease. It would stop for a while and start again. But it seems like the general consensus is normal wear and tear, which is why I posted…just to get an objective sense of everything. I think I’m just surprised at what damage the high heels did, which I didn’t know about until I began showing the apartment for rental. I’m an Aerosoles/Merrills girl!
i think you can charge them for a cleaning re: smoke. the other stuff is likely wear and tear.
Walking with shoes on sounds like normal wear and tear to me.
I’m curious: were you also living on premises, and if so, did you notice the noise and smoke while it was happening? If so, did you say anything at the time? And/or, were there complaints from any other tenants while it was happening? If you were aware of these issues while happening and said nothing, there’s a bit of “gotcha” in your reaction now. If you’re aware that a tenant is misusing an apartment while it’s happening, that’s the right time to address the issue and make your concerns, prohibitions and lease violations and costs clear. Wear and tear happens, and painting an apartment before a new tenant moves in is standard. Other damage… part of the answer includes figuring out and taking responsibility for where you were in the picture while it was happening.
If the floor is really damaged that bad I would charge the tenants to have the floors sanded and finished. I think that’s reasonable. Your tenants should have noticed the damage they were causing.
You can specify non-smoking in an owner-occupied multi-family home.
OP here…Rick, I’m sure there some of that “no longer new” shock happening a little bit, but I think I’m primarily focused on the floors. I have had rental apartments before and have never seen anything like this, although those apartments have the standard 2 1/2″ oak.
Again, there are literally hundreds of heel dings on what were gorgeous wood floors throughout the apartment. Typically, new floors wouldn’t need resanding/restaining for a few years.
Thanks!