We gave our tenant notice of his right to request a pre-move-out inspection 30 days before his moveout. The tenant waited 28 days (2 days before his move-out date) to request a pre-moveout inspection. It is too burdensome for us to rearrange our schedule to perform a pre-move-out inspection the next day, and it seems useless to perform a pre-moveout inspection the day the tenant moves out.
Question: After giving a tenant notice of their right to request a pre-move-out inspection, how long does the tenant have to request the pre-move-out inspection?
Hi Kenny, Don't mess around with prelim inspections. Tenants are legally entitled to a prelim within the 14 days prior to move-out. They can waive their right if they choose. But, refusing to honor the request can get you into trouble if you deduct repair costs from the security deposit.
IMO, you have two options. 1) Refuse to honor the request for a prelim and return the entire deposit. 2) Make time for the preliminary and then make deductions for repair costs as you normally would with any move-out.
In my experience, it's usually a red flag when tenants start playing games with the prelim. They know they damaged the unit beyond the reasonable wear and tear standard. But, they also mistakenly assume that landlords cannot make deductions for damage that was not identified during the preliminary. Good luck!
So is there no time-limit to when the tenant can request the pre-move-out inspection? Like in my situation, we sent the tenant Notice of his right to a pre-moveout inspection on January 1, 2024 for his move-out of Wednesday, January 31, 2024. On Monday, January 29, 2024, he requested a pre-move-out inspection. We had no one available to conduct the pre-move out inspection on the 30th or 31st. It does not seem fair that a tenant could give such short notice of their desire for the inspection.
I am not an attorney. I have never come across a source that suggests there is a time constraint other than the requirement that the inspection take place within the two weeks prior to move-out. It's completely unfair and unreasonable. If I start ranting about the prelim inspection charade, I'll never stop.
Have you checked out the unit? Is there damage? Aside from a housing complaint, the concern is that you won't prevail in Small Claims if the tenant sues you. If it comes to that and you have a tenant friendly judge, you could owe the tenant up to 3x the amount of the deposit for withholding the deposit.