Rent credits for cleaning & painting by future Tenant

[Cathy Svercl]

Hello, We have a triplex in a lower-income neighborhood in the Tampa Bay area. We have a pretty good Tenant who is moving from one apartment unit to another. The previous Tenant left the place dirty, and several rooms need new paint. Our pretty good Tenant has offered to clean the place before she moves in and to paint it, too. However, she has requested a Rent Credit.

I have no problem letting her clean since that will save us money and allow her to get in there faster. However, I am not sure what to do about the painting, especially if she doesn't do it at all. (The floors are tile and terrazzo, so it is easy to clean up spilled paint.)

We haven't gotten an estimate on the painting from a painter yet.  The Property Manager usually does light cleaning and repairs between tenants.

Recommendations or another way to think about this?  My Property Manager isn't sure how to handle this, either, so I thought I would ask the community.  Thanks!

[Adam Bartomeo]

We never allow the tenants to paint, ever. They normally do a very poor job that will have to be corrected later - drips on the floor, doors walls and molding, poor job of cutting in, bleed through on the walls. If you have terrazzo floors, then you probably have acoustic / popcorn ceilings. When these are painted large sections normally peel of and need to be repaired.