Is this normal wear and tear or excessive damage?

Question

So this past weekend had a tenant move out that lived there 17 months. They left behind around 100 holes in the wall (nail holes), rather large holes in my opinion, that I will probably need to plaster and paint over as it looks quite bad as is. I still have their 500 dollar deposit but I want find a clear definition on of this falls under normal wear and tear or not. I wanted to get some opinions for more experienced landlords, also if you think it is excessive how much of the deposit should I keep?

Sharlene Mulchandani · Answer

@Tammy Mason From the pictures you showed us, it definitely does not appear to be normal wear and tear because those are an excessive amount of holes. I suggest you share those photos with your tenants and use a part of their deposit to pay for the repairs.

Adam Martin · Answer

That is a lot of holes and it looks like they were mounting things to the wall.  A question I have is how long did they live there and when were the walls last painted.  Also are you painting the walls yourself or having it done.  If you are hiring it out just have them itemize it and send them the bill.  If you are doing it yourself it becomes more difficult and realistically holes like this are quick and easy to patch and sand over, especially if you were going to need to paint anyway.  If I was going to paint anyway I'd just charge 50 and call it a day, it more than covers my time and small enough that it would not be worth their time to fight.

Tammy Mason · Answer

Thank you! Presented them the photos and they didn't argue with the damage. I would include these kind of clause on the lease next time.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I've never seen a clear, legal definition of "excessive" when it comes to nail holes. You know it when you see it.

More than a couple holes per wall is excessive. 100 is definitely excessive, particularly if they are large.

You could add a clause to your lease that tenants should not hang more than four items per wall using size 8d nails or smaller. No hanging shelves, no lag bolts, no screw-in hooks, etc. It's a fairly rare issue and I have no problem making the call and charging tenants so my lease just says they can hang a reasonable number of pictures but no shelves or TVs.

Filipe Pereira · Answer

Definitely not average wear and tear per your description. Assuming it's an average size wall (8' high, 10-15' wide) 100 holes isn't average. That being said, before you go deducting from the security deposit, make sure the lease stipulates that this is something you would do if the tenant put excessive holes in the wall.

You should deduct the amount it would cost to have a painter come in and patch / repaint the walls.

Account Closed · Answer

That sucks, it is going to take a lot work to patch, sand and paint. I would take tons of high res pictures of ALL the holes (closeups and ones that give perspective of the locations), get 2 estimates to have someone fix the wall and charge the tenant. You need to read the law for your state. If you are in California you should read this https://www.courts.ca.gov/self... and https://www.stimmel-law.com/en...

it looks like in cali the landlord can do the work themselves if they charge a reasonable amount - which you could establish with the quotes and pics of before/after work. If you just take the $500, dont document, and fix the walls - you could be in trouble if they took you to court. Make sure to give them notice of intent to withhold deposit within cali legal req of days.

Tammy Mason · Answer

@Adam Martin I've done the latter, I have someone do it for me and send them the copy of the bill. The tenant got a lot Starwars collectibles.

Theresa Harris · Answer

That is not normal.  Take photos and then repaint and charge them.  Guessing you don't have the same colour to patch and then just pain the walls with lots of holes and touch up the other holes.

Tammy Mason · Answer

Here's a photo (not sure if you can see the 3rd one) but there's a lot of holes , they were hanging all sort of things on the wall. I was thinking of doing a spackle and paint to get rid of it.

Is this normal wear and tear or excessive damage?

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