Tenant kids causing increased wear on unit

One of my rentals has a couple with three kids. When I visit to make repairs I have been noticing the stains and wear from three kids running around my unit all day. Any suggestions on how to mitigate the wear on the unit? The walls are getting dirty from the kids touching them as they walk, newly installed carpet in bedrooms is already stained, etc. They are not causing extreme damage, but more wear than I would expect for a typical family.

Can I charge them for repainting the walls on moveout, professional carpet cleaning, tile grout stains from not cleaning after spills, etc, or would this be considered normal wear?

I have sent them an email with my concerns and I'm going to start making monthly visits to the unit for inspection to attempt to mitigate further excess wear if possible.

Have you ever had situations where you had good paying tenants, but they were not the cleanest people?

James Harper

SFR Investor · Boise, Idaho

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Jan 29, 03:01 PM

Jeff,

Charging them for the carpet cleaning, paint, etc is common practice and taken out of their deposit if your lease is written correctly.

I have seen the same issues in some of my rentals and is sadly why I will always take a gay or older couple over a family with younger kids. Boys are rough on everything and your rental is no exception.

The issue you will run into is that it is typically very hard to recoup funds that are not in the deposit, so I end up with a higher deposit for my homes than most.

Also, as far as carpet. A big waste is putting new carpet into a rental. I try to stick to cheap durable carpet that hides most stains. When I am ready to market the home for a sale is when I will either put new nice carpet in, or give a carpet allowance.

I always go into the home at least once a quarter to let them know that I am an active landlord and to also check for real damage, change HVAC filters (Because tenants rarely do and it causes a huge bill) and water damage / prevention (Caulking).

It also gives me an opportunity to get to know the tenants so we have a good foundation / understanding for when they leave (They will all leave at some point and the property will require some rehab in order to market it for new renters or a buyer.

Good luck!

Jim

Jeff N.

SFR Investor · Virginia Beach, Virginia

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Jan 29, 03:10 PM

Thanks Jim, lesson learned. I will keep on top of it with my monthly visit and adjust my lease template where needed for future tenants/renewals.

I was apprehensive renting to a family with multiple kids also, but they qualified very well and were the first to look at the unit and said they wanted it on their initial walk-thru. Being a new landlord I didn't want to get into a discrimination lawsuit if they asked why they did not qualify.

Jon Holdman

Real Estate Investor · Wheat Ridge, Colorado

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Jan 29, 03:51 PM

You both should have a look at fair housing law:

Unless a building or community qualifies as housing for older persons, it may not discriminate based on familial status. That is, it may not discriminate against families in which one or more children under 18 live with:

A parent
A person who has legal custody of the child or children or
The designee of the parent or legal custodian, with the parent or custodian's written permission.
Familial status protection also applies to pregnant women and anyone securing legal custody of a child under 18.

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/FHLaws/yourrights

There are some exemptions for small landlords. IIRC four or less units that are managed by the owner.

Jon Holdman, Flying Phoenix LLC

Jeff N.

SFR Investor · Virginia Beach, Virginia

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Jan 29, 04:05 PM

Thanks Jon, When I said I would modify my lease I was referring to strengthening my staements for excessive wear, not anything relating to limiting the number of children.

To mitigate this current situation I'm going to make monthly visits until I'm satisfied that the unit is not receiving greater than normal wear and being maintained withing the guidelines of the lease.

Just Don

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Jan 29, 04:46 PM

exactly why I 'prefer' one and 2 bedroom rentals. Max occupancy of 3 in a 2 bedroom,,,less damage that way and usually younger or small kids that dont tear too much stuff up.

One bedroom is for couple or single person,,,maybe with a very small infant.