San Francisco, CA · Member since 2014 · 15 posts · 1 vote
I normally have a good handle on who is going to leave damage behind. This is the first time that I've had someone who I think might produce significant damage. Thus, I'm going through the pre-moveout inspection process in a very thorough way.
I've been wondering about the inherent conflict between the clause in the lease which states that they cannot perform their own repairs (for fear of low-quality work, especially shoddy work that might not be immediately visible) and the law surrounding pre move-out inspections.
If I identify items that should be fixed, are they prevented from fixing these things themselves because of the lease or are the lease terms overridden by the law?
You do not want the tenant fixing any damage they caused. It will definatly be shoddy and they may actually even sabotage the repairs.
Have all repair work performed by your contractors and deduct the amount from the deposit or take the tennat to court to collect.
Normally you would find damage during your quarterly inspections while the tenant is on lease, have the repairs done by a contractor and bill th etennat directly at that time. This usually avoides th einevitable battles after move out over deducting from deposits and taking tennats to court to collect.
The local, state and federal laws will always supersede what may be written in a lease agreement. Therefore, any clause you may have in your lease that may contradict a law can be voided by a judge. If you haven't already, I'd double check to make sure your lease has a severality clause stated in it. This will protect the legality of your entire lease even if a judge declares that one of your clauses are invalid. In this particular scenario, I would inspect the property after you receive possession back, looking for any repairs that may have been done and see whether or not they were completed correctly. If any repairs that are done compromise the integrity of the property, I would document and record anything associated with repairing their repairs and charge it back to the security. Good luck!
The local, state and federal laws will always supersede what may be written in a lease agreement. Therefore, any clause you may have in your lease that may contradict a law can be voided by a judge. If you haven't already, I'd double check to make sure your lease has a severality clause stated in it. This will protect the legality of your entire lease even if a judge declares that one of your clauses are invalid. In this particular scenario, I would inspect the property after you receive possession back, looking for any repairs that may have been done and see whether or not they were completed correctly. If any repairs that are done compromise the integrity of the property, I would document and record anything associated with repairing their repairs and charge it back to the security. Good luck!
What is a severality clause and how is it worded to be included in a lease?