All Forum Posts by: Dustin Beam

I have run into situations like this, most tenants don't bother with the move in condition sheets, and most landlords preparing to sell don't seem to either.  I have only ever received one condition sheet from a seller.   I have come to expect to be looking at pictures taken during the walk through and inspections we did while purchasing the property, but not all damages can be seen in them (furniture may be blocking a hole punched in the wall, for example).  So, I make the repairs when they move out, and deduct for anything that is obviously the exiting tenant's issue (trash and belongings left in the apartment mostly).

Another issue has been cleanliness- I am finding lots of landlords that don't ensure a unit is clean prior to new tenants moving in.  They either then clean it themselves, live in filth, or one smart young lady paid to have her apartment professionally cleaned and then deducted the charge from her rent.  So we don't expect to get an apartment from an inherited tenant returned in pristine condition, but have had wonderful results when tenants we placed in CLEAN units move out- they clean!

We bought one 4 unit and found once the tenants moved out as their leases ended that every interior door in the place had multiple holes in it.  Every.Single.Door.  Most were hidden with items hanging on the door, hooks mounted on boards, mirrors screwed into the door, etc.  I would have loved to bill the cost of replacing doors to someone else, but since it was in all 4 apartments it couldn't be the current tenants.  We have been replacing them all with solid doors- I can't stand hollow cores!

I think you're rolling the dice if you try to take the SD for the carpet stain and the broken door jambs. If he decided to take you to court, my money is on him winning. It's probably very likely that he caused the damage, but you have zero proof he that he caused it.

Maybe give him a call and tell him you will give him a pass on the carpet stain but tell him you will have to charge him for the doors. See what he says. Maybe he'd be open to a compromise. But if he balks, I wouldn't fight it.

@Dustin Beam

Okay I have a different view here.  Yes I agree the doors were probably damaged by the tenant, but how is it you didn't know about them prior to purchase and their move out?  did you do or have a property inspection done prior to your buying the property??  do you ever do a walk through inspection of the property??  did the tenants sign an estopple agreement prior to your purchase? 

 The carpets are negligible at best.  who knows who put the stain there.  That one is best to just move past.  I don't know many landlords that like carpet.  unless you own a carpet store get rid of it.  Replace it with something more durable like linoleum or laminate flooring.  Something that you don't have to pay a professional to clean between tenants. 

 Fix the damage and keep whatever damage deposit you can prove was done by the tenant which doesn't sound like much as you don't have any move in check list.  Basically its all your word against theirs. When you buy you need to check the property out for this type of stuff.  Had this damage been found during your due diligence it would have been between the seller and the tenant, and maybe a negotiation point between you and the seller.  As it is it's your puppy.   Its a hard lesson sometimes but remember your in business for yourself and its hardball we are playing here.  A little carpet and a couple door jams are pretty cheap tuition. 

 I would be more concerned as to why you lost 2 tenants and had to evict one in this short of a time.  The seller wasn't a very good landlord as he let one bad tenant past his screening and 2 more tear the place up. It makes me wonder what else he missed or was hiding??  What deferred maintenance is there?  How many other poor tenants are there?? There may be more lessons to be learned here before its over.    

RR

Brandt hit the nail on the head.  Odds are they did the damage and they know it.  Send them a deposit statement showing the deductions for the damage and that they are getting no deposit returned to them.  It is an extremely low probability that they will take you to court over it.  And if they did and tried to tell the judge there was feces on the floor when they moved in, as someone above suggested they might, the judge will laugh them out of court.

Good luck.

@Dustin Beam make a detailed accounting of the repairs that were needed and deduct from their deposit. If they fight it in court you may lose but 95% will just walk away, especially if you are fair about it and don't try to take advantage of them.

Hi @Dustin Beam,

I wish you the best. In this case though you may have to eat it. Sure you could say the carpets were cleaner and there was no staining on it, but when the judge looks at you and says "What proof do you have that there was not this big old stain and these door jams were serviceable"? What are you going to say?

I am not sure if Kansas is a state that awards triple damages but just imagine getting a bill for 3 times the security deposit from them both?

"Your honor, when I moved in there was animal feces on the floor and all that stuff I left was in there"

When he looks at you he is going to be looking for something/anything to give you the benefit of the doubt, but when you say you never even saw it when they moved in. His hands will be tied.

Best of luck!

@Dustin Beam - Yea, that type of damage i assume is probably their responsibility and reasonable tenants moving in would have most likely mentioned something. Harder to say on the carpet, but the door jams i would definitely say is highly likely their fault.

well, this is why move in checklists and condition sign off reports are important - without proof of what it was like prior to them moving in, then you're just opening yourself up to the situation. If you have multiple tenants sharing, you also have to make sure to indicate that any damage to the common areas would be considered a joint responsibility, otherwise again you're hurting yourself. If they seemed responsible, then you need to give them a break - just go after the others for overages and make it stick (even if they cant pay you back, you can prevent them from doing it again if people do background checks).