Wear and tear vs. not wear and tear

[Nancy Curran]

A tenant just moved out (a couple) after living in one of my apartments for about 4 years. Good tenants, paid rent, didn't complain much. When they left, I walked through the unit and they left it in pretty good shape--everything gone, swept, etc. However, when I really got in there I realized they didn't do a thorough cleaning the whole time they were there. The top of the kitchen cabinets had a half inch of greasy dirt. The baseboards were never wiped down. The vented door to the water heater was thick with dust. The shower door was dirty and full of soap scum especially on the bottom half of the door. I get wear and tear, and I'm generous giving back security deposits....but I decided to clean this apartment myself and it took me 10 hours. Is it enough for tenants to just sweep and wipe down cabinets or should I charge them for not cleaning better throughout their stay?

[Mike F.]

In our leases it says the tenant has to have the carpets professionally steam cleaned upon vacating. Make sure you include "professionally".  There is more verbiage you can add to the lease about how clean things need to be in order to hold them to it or deduct for the cleaning if they don't want to do it.