Excessive Pet Paint Damage, Wear and Tear or Security Deposit?

Question

I'm a single property landlord. Tenant recently moved out and the pets left a bunch of claw marks in the paint. The paint was last done in 2017. This tenant moved in 2019 and the walls were in good condition minus normal wear and tear when they moved in such as touched up nail holes. During the three years the dogs did a lot of damage to the walls. It seems to mostly hidable by repainting but is excessive how it and may still leave permanent scratch marks.

My goal is to be fair and follow best practices. Some people are saying it's excessive and should take the repainting of pet damage from the security deposit. Others saying that the paint is more than three years old and should be repainted anyways, scratch grooves may not be noticeable.

See pics, looking for advice from experienced landlords. Thanks.

David Cramer · Answer

Yes - I cannot complain as it could've been far worse. Just getting feedback to do what's fair and appropriate. Thanks!

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Scratches that are 'in' the drywall and need to be spackled or re-textured should be charged for. Other touch-up or cleaning is just routine....IMO

Amanda Lizana · Answer

Scratches should be documented and charged for. I’m sure they expect a charge when they have pets. Minor staining from wear and tear, I would just take care of as cost of doing business.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Some cleaning is routine (ie deep cleaning that they won't have done), but from those photos they didn't leave the place clean. There is no way that tenant wouldn't expect to have to pay for some of that. And how do you let it get that dirty-ewww.

James Mc Ree · Answer

Scratches could be easily addressed with a little spackle if that is all it takes.

I handle this by writing terms into my animal addendum that animal damage is not included in "normal wear and tear" so that I can charge for all of these things. Consider doing that for your next tenant as it may help change your situation from an opinion on how bad it is to just showing it is animal damage.

David Cramer · Answer

Thanks - I do have degreaser on order to help with the cleaning and odor. The issue is more the scratches, hard to see from the pictures but on the corners those spots are scratches into the wall. Thanks.

Eliott Elias · Answer

The door is not normal wear and tear, baseboards and paint i would say is

Theresa Harris · Answer

Houses do not need to be repainted every 3 years. Do you have leftover paint from the last time? If so, plaster and repaint the areas. If not, are they isolated so that you can get a close match to the current colour and just paint a few walls? I would charge them.

Looking at the photos, a lot of that isn't necessarily paint coming off-get a Mr Clean magic eraser and try cleaning those areas. I bought a house where the owner had a lot of dogs and one door was beyond disgusting. About 20 minutes of washing it and it was like new. I thought we'd have to paint it, but it was all gunk from the dogs.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

There's more to it than that.

How long should paint last? Three years is ridiculously short. Do you know any home owners that repaint their entire house every three years? Five years? Good paint in a rental should last 7-10 years.

Regardless of paint life, if the paint was in really good condition when they moved in, then it should be in really good condition when they move out, minus ordinary wear-and-tear. A dog scratching a door is abuse and should be charged. The damage to the corner of the wall is from someone/something rubbing against it as they rounded the corner and would probably be considered ordinary wear after three years. the damaged baseboard is excessive.

It's an art more than a science. In this case, I would definitely charge for the door damage. The wall and baseboard are simple touch-up jobs that cost you less than 15 minutes of time and $10 in paint. If that were the only damage, I would probably let it slide. If there's more, I would probably add these charges in.

Excessive Pet Paint Damage, Wear and Tear or Security Deposit?

Excessive Pet Paint Damage, Wear and Tear or Security Deposit?

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