- Normal wear and tear is something I have trouble defining, I often have to pay 300-900.00 to get the home "rental Ready " again.

- Have you EVER held onto a full deposit? Can you explain the context and situation 

@Charlie Moore , there have been several times when I have kept the full deposit of a former tenant. Example carpet replacement or carpet treatments for stains, patching the walls, needing to repaint, and clean the apartment. 

@Amy Aziz

Do you

Do a move in checklist and move out checklist

Hello Charlie, 

We had a move-in checklist that we referenced when they moved out.  

We have kept security deposits in instances where we have evicted the resident. We generally deduct amounts owed when they move out. 

We tend to do pictures and videos on move in and move out and ask residents to specify any pre-existing damage they would like to note in writing. 

Sure when they didn't pay rent and just moved out.  WHen they left a bunch of trash, major dirt, and damage that needed repairing- like broken doors like someone punched them :) 

I probably would have given some people’s deposit back but they never cleaned good enough and my lease is pretty brutal on that .

Originally posted by @Charlie Moore :

- Have you EVER held onto a full deposit? Can you explain the context and situation 

Almost every time.  My rentals are 750-850. So a 750 dollar security deposit doesn’t go very far to turn a unit.  Typically things end up like this. 

Rekey

Touch up paint

Repair holes in walls (lately it’s been fix wall mounted TVs installations)

Replace light bulbs (it’s in my lease)

Replace a few sets of blinds. 

Clean unit

Clean outside

Remove debris that was left behind, typically outside. 

That typically eats into every single penny of the deposit plus some.  If the deposits were 1,500 or something then I’d be sending money back.  

Two of my Largest turn costs that I could send a bill to the former tenant was from a inside smoker when I bought a unit. And than a tenant that self painted the unit and moved out after just one year, nothing says not rentalable like dark gray walls which look like a two year old painted. 
 

@Charlie Moore

A lot of these comments about keeping money for things like rekeying, touch you paint, and carpets.... beware/good luck. That won’t fly in front of a judge.

Originally posted by @Max T. :

@Charlie Moore

A lot of these comments about keeping money for things like rekeying, touch you paint, and carpets.... beware/good luck. That won’t fly in front of a judge.

 Sorry but everything is in my lease and signed for by the tenant. I give them a cost sheet for items not left as they are given to them.  Holes in walls and touching up paint after a single year isn’t normal wear and tear. I only have tile floors so don’t have to worry about carpets.  Each state is obviously different. Also it comes to wording, I actually would not use the word touch up paint, it’s more repair to damage of a wall needing to be painted after repair completed painting.  

     This is a business and I find a legal way to keep my costs down.  

One of the evictions...It started out as is not renewing her lease after she had been there a year because she was such a headache to deal with. She then decided to stop paying rent and didn’t put the rent into escrow. When we finally appeared before the magistrate he told her she needed to move out of the property AND it was ordered that she NOT get her deposit back. She tried to play more games and a month later the deputies had to remover her from the property. Sad story actually but it went on for 6 months

I love it when I give back deposits. It means the tenants left the place clean and minimal work was needed to rent it again, it also means they gave me the 30 day notice and I was showing the place in the meantime  and by the time they left I already had a tenant lined up. That is how is supposed to work and I love it when it does,

@Charlie Moore when I evicted them

@Charlie Moore

When they skipped town and didn’t notify anyone.

When I have to repair or replace substantial items, like flooring, ceiling fans, drywall, doors, appliances, etc...

Refreshing a property with clean up and cosmetic touch up is normal. Having to make significant repairs that could have or should have been taken care of or replace items is different.

@Dennis M.

Dennis would you email me a template or copy of the lease you use?

Do tenants ever threaten you over the deposit

@Account Closed

You don’t allow tenants to smoke?

@Charlie Moore I have not only kept it all, I sent her a bill for $300 and she paid me. It was a bad and big olive oil stain on my kitchen granite that will not come out. I always do a contract for cleaning, carpet shampoo, etc for original condition

@Charlie Moore I was renting by the bed and he punched a hole in a door and didn’t pay the last month utilities

Originally posted by @Charlie Moore :

@Eric C.

You don’t allow tenants to smoke?

Not inside my units no.  Smoke in my unit and I’ll evict you, I cleaned up my units and have good rule following tenants.   Don’t have to put up with smoking inside  

My firm manages 800+ doors and I would say 25% of time we keep most if not all of the deposit. We are very forgiving but our average rents are around $800 and that kind of deposit goes pretty quickly. Big ticket items are trash outs and carpet replacement. We also rent to a few hundred college students and that is 

One thing we do to help with making sure we are being fair with regard to security deposits, is to take 100+ detailed photos of a property prior to move in. This is done after the turn is complete and stored in the cloud until the tenant moves out. This takes some extra work but it makes things much more simple on the back end. This has squashed many security deposit disputes over the years. 

@Charlie Moore One Time a tenant brought fleas in. I don’t even allow pets. It was hard to finally get that cleared. I had to keep it all for that.

@Charlie Moore

Probably obvious and not what you’re looking for; but the only time I’ve done that is when they failed to pay rent and I had to evict.

I never charge for small things, and I’m never petty. Small costs are just a cost of doing business. I know some people charge a certain figure for small nail holes, or try to create things to charge for. That’s a waste of time and energy.

So most of you that charge for everything, I’m assuming you’re paying other people to do this work? In my state you cannot just do work yourself and declare some arbitrary labor cost associated with it.

I am in agreement that you charge the tenant for costs you have incurred that are not normal wear and tear. But at least a couple of you seem to be stretching the boundaries of the law. Btw: just because it’s in your lease does not mean a judge will allow.

Originally posted by @Max T. :

@Charlie Moore

A lot of these comments about keeping money for things like rekeying, touch you paint, and carpets.... beware/good luck. That won’t fly in front of a judge.

 ^^^I completely agree. Courts have established that these type of things are typical wear and tear. Carpet you can charge for damage, but you have to pro-rate based on age. If your carpet is 10 years old, it is considered past it's useful life. I can tell you being on the forums there are many landlords illegally taking way too much money.

You also need to take into account the amount of time they were at the property and condition on move-in. If you can't prove the condition at move-in, like if you inherited the tenant and there it no photos, how do you justify taking anything.

I am very reasonable and lenient with my deductions. I have receipts and photos to prove everything. There is three reasons for this:

1. To avoid court. If I have photos and receipts, most tenants will not challenge the expenses. Court costs way more than getting an extra couple hundred out of a deposit.

2. To make sure if I do go to court that I am viewed favorably. Taking deductions for things that are wear and tear or damage you can't prove is the tenants fault, is just asking for the judge to nail you.

3. Maintain reputation. Word of mouth is important in any business. Tenants who get screwed on deposits will bad mouth you to everyone who will listen. It is not worth it over a few bucks. Not if you plan to be in this business for a bunch of years.

We have never had an instance yet where we kept an entire deposit, outside of an early termination agreement and one run-off/property abandonment. I am with @Joe Splitrock , @Anthony Wick , and @Fernan Nava . I *want* to give back the deposit, because that means they kept the place in really good condition and it won't take much to get it ready. 

This is not to say we don't charge for legitimate charges. We do in/out punchlists and we itemize and provide invoice & receipts upon request for all charges. The most common charges are:

1. Cleaning - if a tenant has just left a place where it needs a quick sweep, we take care of that. Any kind of deep clean is done by our cleaners and charged. This is usually the most expensive item at $100-200 depending on the condition of the unit.

2. Blinds - all units have clean, undamaged, functional blinds, and usually one or two blinds are damaged.

3. Light bulbs - all units have new/functioning LED bulbs. Some tenants take the bulbs or leave them dead.

4. Heating system filters - all units have a new filter when rented and one free one left with the unit, so the tenants can match the old one up. A new filter is to be left in the system when they leave but is rarely done. Same with range hood filters.

5. Lawn care/lawn cut - tenants habitually skip their last mowing or two, requiring our mowers to go out and cut the lawn. Lawns are to be left in cut condition at the end of the lease, meaning the grass shouldn't be taller than 4 inches or so. We don't expect the lawn to be cut the day they move, but they don't get a free pass for cutting it 3 weeks before they move and then cancelling their lawn care service either. 

We almost never charge for anything except parts, because those things can either be done by me or one of our reps or in 10 seconds by the handyman. 

I think the most deposit that has ever been used by a tenant was a little less than half. Most of that was because of their dog; people with pets almost always require a professional cleaning unless they were really diligent when they moved out.