Security Deposit and Smoking

[Alan Francis]

I purchased my first 4-plex earlier this year. The building was fully rented and three of the tenants are long term renters and smokers. One of those tenants has decided to move out and just recently gave notice that they will be gone at the end of the year. 

I know that i'm going to have to repaint and change out the flooring in the unit before it will be rent ready again due to both age, but in big part the smoking. Its my understanding that things like paint and carpet are not normally something you can take out of a tenant's security deposit, but I've read some comments online that suggested if they require change/updating due to smoking in the unit it's acceptable to withhold the funds.

I don't have any experience with returning security deposits so I figured I'd take to the forums for some advice.

[Thomas S.]

You will encounter a major problem with tenant turn over if you attempt to have a no smoking policy with only one of 4 units. IF you implement a no smoking policy for the building you will lose existing tenants at a uncontrolled able rate.

Your best approach, assuming you do not want to drive out all the smokers with a no smoking policy is to selectively rent only to non smokers until all the smokers are gone and then implement a no smoking policy for the entire building. 

Terminate one smoker at a time to do renovations speeding up the transition.