Paint? Light Bulbs? Batteries?

Question

My rentals are in NY state.  I recently had a tenant move out after 18 months.  The place was left in fair condition.  I still spent several hours putting in light bulbs, batteries in the smoke alarms and CO detectors, touching up walls, etc.

My lease does not go into specific detail.  I always tell tenants, "I will refund your entire deposit provided you return the apartment in the same condition you found it".

What is reasonable to expect after tenancy?

Adam Johnson · Answer

I am going to play devil's advocate here.  I am not far from you and am very familiar with the laws in NY (but I am not a lawyer and not giving legal advice).  My guess is that if you were to end up in court trying to recover costs for light bulbs, batteries, and scratches on the wall, you would be very disappointed with the result.

You are REQUIRED to maintain working smoke/CO detectors in your units throughout the duration of a lease.  This is a huge liability issue and should not be taken lightly.  Trying to charge the tenant for this would probably not be well received by a judge if it ended up in court.

The light bulbs are a nuisance, I deal with this from time to time, especially in my larger buildings with lights in common areas (it is amazing how lazy people are, it seems easier to steal a bulb from the hall than to go to the store and buy one!).  Unless your lease addresses this item specifically, you have a weak argument to make.

Overall, I would say that if you only spent a few hours, a few bucks in light bulbs and batteries, and paint touch ups (all from your original post) after the tenant lived there 18 months, you did ok.

There are different strategies regarding security deposits.  Some take the approach that they are a source for "additional income" on move out by nickel and diming the tenant.  Others, such as myself, use them for what they are intended for, to use as a buffer against real damages.  In my lease, I state that I charge $ 40/room AND $ 40 for a dirty appliance/fixture.  They are clean when I rent them, so I expect them clean when I get them back.  I DON'T spackle nail holes, EVER.  I tell the next tenant to use the same hole to hang their pictures!  I am fair, but I don't let myself get taken advantage of.  I operate in small towns and my name is known (in a good way) by many, which has made it easier for me to attract and retain a better grade of tenant.  They aren't all perfect, but I can be more selective than some of my competitors.

Using the same colors in all of your units saves time/money on turns that only need touch-ups.  We have 3 interior colors plus we use Masterhide untinted for primer and ceilings.  This saves a lot of money in the long run.  I do not allow tenants to paint EVER.  If they do, I charge them for damage, which is spelled out in my lease, because they usually use hideous colors that are tough to cover.

Check out FFREIA in Rochester if you aren't already a member.  There are several sub-groups within that organization and we have several members from Canandaigua.  Networking can be helpful in situations like this.

Steve Babiak · Answer

Tighten up your lease so you assign responsibility for some of those simple items to the tenant (when allowed by law because there are locations that put the responsibility solely on the landlord for detector batteries).

Darren Sager · Answer

This is a little bit tricky @Joseph Furmansky however if you look into what state law says in NY I'm sure you can find somewhere that it makes a comment that they're to return the place to you in the same condition less ordinary wear and tear.   Dirty walls and scratches on them causing you to have to repaint is NOT ordinary wear and tear.   Paint fading due to exposure the sun is.  You replacing batteries and light bulbs are chargeable at exit in most cases however if you're doing the work yourself you can only charge them for materials and not your time.   If you pay someone to do these things, such as painting, etc.  you need to provide them with  copy of the bills you paid and deduct that from their security deposit.  You should also have a limited amount of time to get these done so look into that as well.  In most cases you can only hold a security deposit for a month.  Check local laws.

Marcia Maynard · Answer

@Theresa Sanford you said, "You made a really good point @Marcia Maynard.  Do you perform periodic inspections on the property and check smoke and water detectors?  We recently purchased 3 duplexes on the same lot.  One of our units had a water leak last weekend.  Do you feel the water alarms are worth the investment?  Is there one you use and recommend?"

Yes, we perform periodic inspections of our rental properties.  We aim for quarterly, but for some of our properties we only inspect every six months.  Any time we do a maintenance inspection we will check the working order of the smoke and CO detectors.  When we do our plumbing checks we check the working order of the water alarms, which is at least twice a year.  It is in our best interest to make sure all of the alarms are working properly.

If a tenant intentionally disables any of the alarms, we fine them $50 for the first occurrence, $100 for the second, $150 for the third with a legal notice to comply or vacate, $200 for the fourth with a legal notice to terminate the rental agreement.  We have only had to do the $50 and $100 fines.

All of our smoke detectors have the 10 year lithium batteries.  We plan to change out the CO detectors to a 10 year lithium battery type too eventually.

For water alarms, we have tried a few different types and they basically work the same and cost about the same, so we stock up when they are on sale.  The only type of water alarm I would advise against are the ones that are made to look like a green frog.  Those get moved around and played with by children, and that is not a good thing as it defeats the purpose.  We place the water alarms in three strategic places...  under the kitchen sink, beside the hot water heater, and near the washing machine.  They have already saved us from extensive damage on three occasions, (washing machine hose not hooked up properly by a tenant, kitchen sink drain pipe pushed loose by a tenant's garbage can, hot water heater starting to fail.)  We have them in our personal home too and they twice alerted us to water leaks under our kitchen sink.  So yes, they are worth it!

Curtis Bidwell · Answer

I let my tenants know that "Dirt & Damage does not constitute Wear & Tear".  I allow 1 hour to do touch up and minor maintenance, after that we charge $45/hr.

We make sure smoke and o2 sensors are properly functioning at move-in but the tenant is required to maintain them during the tenancy.  Our state law says:  "Installation of smoke detection devices shall be the responsibility of the owner. Maintenance of smoke detection devices, including the replacement of batteries where required for the proper operation of the smoke detection device, shall be the responsibility of the tenant,... tenant failing to comply with this section shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars. (RCW 43.44.110)

Theresa Sanford · Answer

You made a really good point @Marcia Maynard.  Do you perform periodic inspections on the property and check smoke and water detectors?  We recently purchased 3 duplexes on the same lot.  One of our units had a water leak last weekend.  Do you feel the water alarms are worth the investment?  Is there one you use and recommend?

I also like the cleaning fee for appliances spelled out.  I just spent a few hours this past weekend cleaning up one of the units we recently purchased.  I am not into scrubbing appliances!

Marcia Maynard · Answer

We actually provide lightbulbs and batteries for the the duration of the tenancy.    It is relatively inexpensive when you consider what damage can occur to fixtures, wiring and appliances by having the wrong light bulb in place.  Or worse, the loss of life, injury and damage that can occur with inoperable smoke/CO alarm devices.  And also, the damage to property that can occur if the water alarms stop working and there is a water leak.

We check the working order of our fixtures and alarms when we do our periodic inspections.  We remind tenants of their responsibility in caring for the devices (specified in our rental agreement) and to let us know when there is a need for replacement of a lightbulb or battery.  Our tenants have not abused this, some will buy their own lightbulbs knowing they must be the right type, which we specify in our rental agreement.

Painting touch up, that depends.  If they used approved hanging devices, as specified in our rental agreement, no charge for the small holes that result.  If the walls require extra cleaning (beyond a wipe down that can be taken care of with a clorox wipe), it is calculated as a cleaning charge.  If the walls need repair or painting because they damaged the wall or used the wrong hanging devices that leave stickum or big holes in the wall, we will charge for that.

We generally use outside contractors, but sometimes do work ourselves.  In our jurisdiction, we can charge a reasonable amount for our labor in addition to the cost of materials.  If a tenant left a unit with significant cleaning needs and damages beyond ordinary wear and tear, we charge $20 per hour for our labor to bring it back to original condition.  Typically we follow a "common charges" list with a flat cost for cleaning and repairs instead of time and materials.  This is a list we give to the tenants with their move-out instructions, so they will not be surprised if we charge them.

Rob K. · Answer

In the book, Landlording on Autopilot, there is a letter that the tenant receives several times before vacating that talks about these issues. I used to have problems with people leaving garbage behind or missing lightbulbs. I now send out a letter that states the house needs to look like it did when they moved in and that I don't want to see "even a gum wrapper" on the floor.

I also charge $2 per light bulb. HD usually has the box of 16 on sale for $4, so my cost is 25 cents per bulb.

Paint? Light Bulbs? Batteries?

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