Would like to renew lease, but Tenant has caused some damage.

Question

I would like to renew my current tenant's lease, but after doing a yearly inspection there were a few things that I was not happy about.

(This is the first time I am a landlord and it was not by choice, so I apologize in advance if my lack of knowledge puts off some of you, but I was looking for advise on how to proceed, if you may. )

So, what do you do when you find things that would come out of their deposit if they were actually moving out, but instead you want to extend the lease because they have been good tenants overall?

Let's say that it is  $300 worth of damage and the repairs are not emergencies, but definitely not normal wear and tear. They have broken a few things and a few dents on the walls in example.

Do you ask to add an additional deposit for that amount or do you have them fix these items themselves before renewing the lease and pending a re inspection? Or fix the items yourself and charge it to them on their next monthly rent payment?  Or none of the above ?

Please suggest the best way to go in this case please. Or if you need more info, I will be glad to provide it.

Thanks a lot.

Max T. · Answer

I recommend having a handyman write you an invoice and fixing the problems. Then you charge that amount to your tenants with a copy of the invoice as documentation. Setting up a short term payment plan in writing is ok for expensive repairs.

It sets the precedent that you require the property to be kept in good condition at all times.

Wes Brand · Answer

We're talking about some minor damage to the drywall, not property destruction.

As a renter I'd be pretty pissed if a landlord inspected a unit I was in and said 'oh, there's some damage to the drywall I'm going to fix it and charge you'. I'd definitely be looking at my legal options at that point to see if I could get out of paying it or sue the landlord. Now, if the landlord fixed it and didn't charge me it wouldn't be a big deal, or if they did it at move out time and did charge.

JD Martin · Answer

Slice off a piece of drywall (just the top paper, not all the way through) about the size of a business card right next to the spot that you will be repairing and bring it to Lowes or Home Depot. They can color and sheen match it for you.

JD Martin · Answer

None of that is "normal wear and tear" but none of it is serious. Drywall mud falls off corner beads without too much prodding - all it takes is a good bang with a piece of furniture. Replacing a spindle is no big deal. If the one picture is a towel rod, and it's in the wall with plastic anchors, again pretty common stuff.

Nothing that you showed here would make me panic. It still needs to be fixed. I would have that fixed and billed with the lease renewal.

Mindy Jensen · Answer

@Pj Holmes , those pictures are pretty telling of how they treat your property.

Since it is renewal time, I would tell them now that you have noticed these things on inspection, and that they need to be repaired. They are obviously tenant-caused, and I think you are going to be surprised at how expensive it is to match that drywall finish in the ceiling next to the stairs. I have that same finish in my house. Unless you're a seasoned pro, your repair will look terrible. (Ask me how I know!)

I would not choose to renew these tenants. You're going to have a vacancy when they leave, because I wouldn't repair before they're out. They're just going to do the same damage moving that furniture out as they did moving it in.

Fix the spindle right away - if you have photos of the condition of the staircase before they moved in, you can charge them for that repair too.

Absolutely none of this is normal wear and tear. If there was one chip, I may be inclined to overlook it, but these guys were rough on the house.

Wes Brand · Answer

I'm not sure what the last picture is. If that's a shower rod...try to hit a stud next time. If it's a door handle, you'll want to add a wall protector where the handle hits the wall.

The spindle is most likely your responsibility to fix, probably shouldn't be, but unless your tenants admit to causing the damage you're in for a bit of a fight if you want them to pay while they're living there and didn't ask for any repairs. (it's a safety issue -- a broken railing can cause a major injury which could get you sued and, even if it broke because of the tenant, you'll have to prove that they did it.

@Greg S.

Why would you even consider renewing their lease if they'd treat the property in such a manner and are "animals"? Personally at this point if I wanted to renew their lease I'd do it and ignore the damage, if I didn't like the damage I'd not renew their lease and take the repairs out of their security deposit and find someone else.

Thomas S. · Answer

My opinion those are all tenant damage, actually serious damage, that needs to be repaired and bill to  the tenant. I can't imagine what the place is going to look like in a year. You will need to do quarterly inspections with these tenants and keep on top of the damage repairs or you will be sorry when they leave. Your new tenants are irresponsible animals.

Look at it this way, they have damaged your property, if it were your personal home you were living in would you repair the damage or simply leave it and move on to another home in the future.

Michele Fischer · Answer

$300 is not enough to get worked up about.  Try to get them to acknowledge that they are responsible, but don't worry about getting it fix or paid for now.  Something along the lines of "this will be about $300 to fix.  You can either take care of it yourself, of we can take it out of your deposit at move out."  Document the conversation and their reaction and keep it in their file.

Wes Brand · Answer

Don't worry about fixing it if they're not complaining. You still have their security deposit, so you'll just take it out of the deposit when they finally move out. If your deposit doesn't cover the damage, you may need to do something else.

Pj Holmes · Answer

I can understand that some of you may look at these pics and think they are rough on the house and need to be out, however they have been there for more than a year and it has been my bad as long distance landlord and newbie, that I did not inspect the home sooner. So the house should have been a lot worse if they were really that careless. All the damage seems to be from moving furniture in and would have to be repaired and paid by them before renewal. Thanks for helping me reach this conclusion. Lesson learned in that regard.

I will be sending a handyman to get a quote and proceed with a few repairs.

In those areas of the walls that need to be filled with spackle to prevent further chipping, would you just leave the areas white or paint on top? Painting would add to their expense and would probably require painting the whole wall as I don't have the color number for the paint in order to do touchups. Plus the walls are dirty and new painted touchups will look just as bad in contrast with the dirty wall.

For the spindle, I hope it is not too hard to find one that looks the same at the local home depot. Should I paint this spindle as well or leave the paint for when they move out.

(the last picture is a towel hanger)

Also, they removed a door to the laundryroom that is now sitting in the garage. They explained that it was due to moving in the washer and dryer and having to remove in order to fit them inside. I image if they move out they will want to remove it again, so Im thinking it may be better to just not say anything and leave it as is. Thoughts?

I have not told them anything yet, so I need to figure out how to get this done and paid for by them before we sign the renewal, which should be signed very soon. If they were to say they won't pay for the repairs (which is unlikely) or that they want to pay when they leave, what would you do and how would you present these fixes? as a condition to renew or that is frowned upon?

Thanks again for helping a noob landlord!

Would like to renew lease, but Tenant has caused some damage.

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