Tenant of mine vacated the property at the end of the lease, left me with damages, and now wants to come back to repair the damages in order to get their full security deposit. I don't want them in the property due to #1 liability, #2 they are not qualified and #3 they've performed several repairs already, that are not to standard. State in question is Connecticut.
I don't think the other circumstances matter. They returned possession of the property to you when the lease ended. That ends their tenancy and as far as they are concerned you can tell them that you've already hired someone else.
You are spot on. Do not let them back in the property. Move out inspection done in the condition they turned over the keys. You would not lose in court on this one.
Is there any language that is out there that clearly sites that a tenant "can fix problems in the unit up until you move out. At that point, you're handing the unit back over to the landlord in which any unrepaired damages will be subject to a security deposit reduction." Of course, tying it back to CT would be ideal :)
@Sal Burges You’re not going to find any CT law that specifically states what you mentioned, but once they move out and surrender the keys they are out.
Change the locks though just in case they have other keys if you haven’t done so already. Then from there just perform the normal move out and deduct from their security for damages where appropriate.
We had a similar scenario come up over the summer @Sal Burges (also in Connecticut). The owner elected to not let them in (for the reasons ou mentioned) so we stuck to our guns and said no.
There are no state laws going one way or the other. At this point they have terminated their tenancy by turning in their keys, and they officially no longer have rights to the property. You are good to go.
Do you send your tenants a common list of security deposit deductions? I can send you the one we use if not.