First-time landlord unsure of how to handle charges against tenants upon moveout

[Jeremy Bobbert]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone can shed some guidance on how I should charge our tenants for damages. I'm a first-time landlord that was unexpectedly thrust into renting out our home with a job change and I'm a bit naive to how the process works. I'm not really sure how to value damages for things that cannot be fixed, or when I'm not able to find someone to fix it (small item). This is in Joplin, MO for reference.

For example, we left behind a piece of furniture to be used in the house. The tenants irreparably damaged a door on it. The cost to replace the entire unit is about $400. They only damaged a small section of the door, and I feel guilty about charging them $400 for it, but I have asked around about having it repaired and have received no bites. I was thinking about charging them $100, but again, I'm not sure if I'm even allowed to just make up arbitrary amounts like that.

Another example - they damaged a piece of our living room built-in. The replacement part is $75, but no one will come out and fix it since it's a small job. Do I just charge them the $75 and fix it myself? Can I do that?

And lastly, the cleaning. We had put in our lease that we would charge them $350 for professional cleaning upon end of lease. This was actually a show of good faith on our part because we had just paid almost $600 to have the place cleaned for them. They then took it upon themselves to hire someone for cash to clean the place instead. It looked good at first blush, but as we settled in, we kept finding filth everywhere - behind the toilets, under cabinets, etc. Do we hire cleaners and charge them the full $350? Do I discount the $150 they told me they paid to have the place cleaned from that?

I don't know if I'm being a jerk, or too nice to these people. We also let them end the lease early at a cost of about $1,000 to us to help them out of a moving bind. They sent me an email the other night inquiring about their security deposit and reading between the lines, I think they're under the impression they're getting 100% of it back. But when I tally up all of their damages throughout the house, even covering some of them myself, it's about $1000 in parts/labor.

Appreciate any insight,

- Bob