The tenant trashed the entire house.

[Alex Moazeni]

Just renewed the lease a month ago with my current tenant. I asked her to scaduale walk through inspection before the renewal and she did delay on that until sign the renew.

I didn't disagree since she was my tenant about 2 years.

Now, just did walk through inspection and shocked she tried to paint the whole interior and messed up everywhere. I just asked her to fix it.

That was the entire house even inside the garage.

She promised she will.

What action should I take?

[Bill B.]

It’s just paint? That is a long long way from trashed. Wait until you have broken granite countertops, holes in every wall and door, or 3 inches of water through tout the house. 

If it’s just paint, let them live with it, keep paying rent and be prepared to fix it when they move out. If the security deposit isn’t large enough to cover repairs bring that up. Something like “Do you think you can have this fixed in a. Month?” “Would you rather pay an extra $100/mo for the next year towards your security deposit to cover painting when you move out?” 

Imagine a tenant that hasn’t paid in 6 months and you can’t evict and be happy with this problem that has several solutions. Especially if the tenant has been there for years and admits it’s a problem. Good Luck!