Dirty dishonest tenant and what to charge her after move out

Dirty dishonest tenant and what to charge her after move out

SFR Investor · Member since 2011 · 198 posts · 61 votes

I purchased a home with renters in it, the lease was for two women and they signed an estoppel agreement stating such. When I inspected the home I found a boyfriend and dog living in my home. I was very concerned since they just lied on the estoppel form just days earlier.

I was informed that it was temporary and they would be out soon, well four months goes by and they finally move out then a month later my tenant gives me 30 days notice. She moves out and expects a refund of her deposit that day. I already knew some things were not right and told her to to not clean the carpets and just pay me the 100 dollars it would have cost to clean them since I was going to replace them because they were dirty and worn out.

I did some checking and found out this carpet was only 4 years old and a mid grade carpet at that. My floor guy pulls up the carpet and we find pet stains in most of the rooms of the house and it has gotten into the sub floor and smells. They also kept the dog in the laundry room that smells of pet urine pretty bad and the dog chewed up the dryer vent. This pooch also dug many holes in my lawns and they had to be patched and re seeded.

My floor guy says since the carpet was four years old I should charge her 75 percent of the replacement cost for the carpet and pad plus full price for the clean up and sealing of the floors. What do you think I should charge for the grass pulling up the linoleum treating the floor and sealing it and installing new linoleum? Also the dog chewed up one of the blinds So I am charging for that. The child that lived there wrote on a couple walls so the family room needed repaint, they never opened windows while showering ruining the finish on the cabinets and causing mold problems ruining the bathroom paint.

This is an old updated 1940 home with no exhaust fans in the bath or kitchen so common since says  a window needs to be open when showering or cooking nut they were not.

I documented everything with pictures and I have a letter from the flooring company stating what they saw. What should I charge for all of these repairs? My realtor says repairs probably exceed her deposit and I am trying to figure out a price to give her. Also I am in California amd she has been in the place almost four years shouldn't I have had 60 days notice?

What do you guys think?

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Lender · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2009 · 825 posts · 486 votes
15y

Jon, why wouldn't you use the current cost of replacement carpet in your calculation?

I agreed with your formula except for that one part. What you paid for the carpet last year, last month or even yesterday is irrelevant if the cost to replace it went up.

My $0.02

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  • Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    15y

    What does your lease or estopple letter say regarding notice periods and the time to get the deposit back to her?

    According to the IRS carpet should last five years. When I had a tenant wreck the carpet in a couple of rooms, I took the remaining life (28 months as I recall) divide by the 60 month IRS lifetime, and then the fraction of whole house that was in those two rooms (one large, one smaller). So, it was something like $1200 initial carpet costs * remaining life (28/60) * percent of total carpet are (about 60%) = $336. That's what I deducted from the deposit for the carpet. Now, in the end I ended up ripping out all the carpet and putting in laminate, and that cost me considerably more than $336. But $336 is all I felt I could legitimately charge this tenant. I did run that by a lawyer (who had previously been a PM) and he thought was reasonable, too. I think it would be a stretch to charge her 75% of the cost of the carpet, plus cleaning, plus repairs on the underlying floors.

    I'd certainly charge for damaged blinds. I'd also charge for the lawn, if it was nice when she moved in. Like carpets, tenants aren't going to take care of a lawn like you might take care of your own. I'd also charge for painting. Again, its supposed to come back the same as it was when they moved in, so if its not, you charge to fix it.

    Don't know about the whole "they didn't open the windows" issue. If you can show the cabinets were in good shape when she moved in and now they're not, then, yes, you can probably charge for refinishing them.

    Keep in mind some locations won't let you charge the tenant for your labor. If you hire someone to do the work, you can charge for that, but if you DIY it, you can't. Don't know CA law.

    This would be a good topic for a chat with your lawyer.

  • Lender · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2009 · 825 posts · 486 votes
    15y

    Jon, why wouldn't you use the current cost of replacement carpet in your calculation?

    I agreed with your formula except for that one part. What you paid for the carpet last year, last month or even yesterday is irrelevant if the cost to replace it went up.

    My $0.02

  • Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    15y

    Just simplicity. In this case the carpet was 32 months old. I would have needed to get prices for carpet and installation now and adjusted. It might have made $30 difference. Further, there were other damages and the total exceeded their deposit.

  • Real Estate Investor · Houston/League City, TX · Member since 2011 · 63 posts · 13 votes
    15y

    Does the fact that they had a dog there for 4 months factor into it at all Jon? I would think since the lease/estopple didn't have a dog mentioned in it, she would completely lose her deposit.

  • Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes
    15y

    Would having a dog in violation of her lease be an automatic reason to keep the entire deposit? IMHO, no. If the dog did no damages and left no trace, what would be the basis for keeping the deposit? Violating the lease would be a reason to terminate the lease or evict her, but I don' think its a good basis to just automatically keep the deposit.

    Now, if the dog did damage, and it appears this one did, then deducting for the damages would be appropriate. And if extra cleaning is required, then you could deduct for that, too.

  • SFR Investor · Member since 2011 · 198 posts · 61 votes
    15y

    I pulled up the laundry room linolium and found so much urine had gotten under it that warped the subfloor and caused mold. Unfortunately they damaged the linolium causing two cuts in the middle of the room while installing the washer and dryer and the liquids ran under there and all around all the edges.

  • Real Estate Coach · Member since 2011 · 4 posts · 1 vote
    15y

    I'm keeping every dime of that deposit based on what you are saying it will cost to replace all that they damaged.

    The window being open when cooking or showering is not really something you factor in the process and you may want to install exhaust fans when you are cleaning up the mess they left behind.

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