Should I deduct from the security deposit for these things?

[Christine Oliphant]

My current tenants have moved out as they just bought a home but the lease doesn't expire until April 15th. I haven't done the final inspection yet but have been through the house and noticed a couple of things. I did talk with them and I agreed to let them know if I see anything to give them a chance to fix it (as long as I feel comfortable with that and then I wouldn't have to worry about the work).

I'm not sure what to have them do with what I've found. Here is what I've found.

1. I did notice a few stains on the carpet. The carpet is beige and there are a couple dark spots. Not horrible but still there. As part of the lease they were required to have the carpet professionally cleaned which they did but it did not remove the spots. One of the spots is in the bedroom and looks like an outline of a rectangular box.

I asked them about this and they said they don't see the box stain in the bedroom and that some of the other stains were noted on the move-in inspection checklist. This is true but one larger spot was not there.

2. There are a handful of yellow lines on the deck clearly caused by spray painting. While I don't think they did this intentionally as it looks like they were trying to spray a canvas or something, it did still happen. The deck could have used some painting/stain anyway but I wasn't planning on doing that this year. I don't really know how this could be fixed other than just painting the deck.

When I asked about this they did not respond.

I'm deciding whether I should just ignore the stains since they didn't come out (not sure what else to be done) and whether or not to take the painting of the deck out of the security deposit.

They've been awesome tenants. Always paid on time, only called when there was a real problem, keep the house in good shape and would let me know if there was something that could potentially be a problem just so that I was aware.

I've love to hear some advice from other landlords about what you'd do in this situation.

[Bill S.]

Here is the standard line. If it's not on the move-in condition sheet they get charged for it. "Awesome" tenants, don't stain carpet and spray paint the deck. "Awesome" tenants leave the place exactly like they found it. Spotlessly clean and no damage. I would charge them for both.

When tenants ask to point out stuff to them. I point them to the move-in condition sheet and pictures, if it's not covered by those then they will get charged for it. If they try and fix something and make it worse it will cost them more to fix it. I tell them this.

Unless it's law in your area I would not do the final inspection with them. It can degrade into an argument and puts pressure on me to not note all the things that they have damaged. Small stains here and there. Dings on doorways and paint, burned out lights, trash. I charge for them all.

Note: Not everywhere are you required to correct the items in order to charge for them. The judge would want backup if they contest it so you better have an estimate or two by a professional if you don't fix it. Another way is to send them a copy a standard charges list prior to move-out.