Turn in walk through

[Daniel Suarez]

Hey All, 

These is kind of a 2 step problem. First, I had a tenant turn in the house after the lease was up and left everything in really bad conditions. Stains in walls and carpets and the house was digustingly dirty. I spent about $5k fixing it. Repainting the entire house, replacing the carpet with LVP and fixing a lot of small things and cleaning of course. She is arguing that the carpet and wall are regular tear and wear and that I should give her all her security deposit, but pet stains and dirty stains that don't come off with washing or steaming are the tenant's fault, right? 

Now the follow up question, what is your procedure when the tenant is moving out to make sure there are no security deposit issues? I'm thinking of doing a pre-walkthrough before they move out pointing out the things they need to fix and how much it would cost if they don't fix them before moving, that way they know ahead of time, any thoughts? or anyone else does something similar? or any other tips?

[Brandon Rush]

Hey Daniel,

In terms of apartment condition, here is my process for onboarding new tenants and off boarding them when they vacate.

1) Perform an apartment condition report prior to the tenant moving in. This involves a detailed list and pictures of the condition of each component of the apartment, ex. carpets, cabinets, tub, doors and etc.
2) Once you identify a new tenant, provide them a copy of the condition report and have them walk the property to confirm the condition report is correct.
3) In my lease I have a very detailed list of items the tenant will be charged for if they cause it during their lease period. Examples include the following:

Light bulb replacements $20 each
Bedroom cleaning $195
Replacement window screens $90
Carpet cleaning per room $175

You get the point.
4) I have the tenant sign the lease acknowledging they understand all of these potential charges if they are left outstanding upon them vacating. 
5) When a tenant notifies me that they will be vacating in the future, I simply send them this section of the lease and remind them that the unit must be left in the same condition as day one minus minor wear and tear. Once the tenant is reminded of all these possible charges, they will take care of cleaning up the unit to avoid them. 
6) In CT, we have 30 days to return the security deposit to the tenant after vacating. As soon as the tenant vacates, any repairs needed would be taken care of. Before the 30 days are up, the tenant will be sent a check (minus any repairs they are responsible for) along with pictures of what needed to be repaired and was deducted from their security deposit. 

While they may not help you too much in your current situation, it is definitely something you think about with future tenants. Another suggestion I would recommend is performing an inspection on all of your units at least twice a year. This will allow you to get ahead of problems and address them earlier. 

Hope that helps. Good luck!