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Updated over 9 years ago, 07/08/2015
Tenant broke lease and left a mess. What recourse do i have?
So my tenant gave notice of breaking his lease, and was ok with the fact that he was going to lose his security deposit. Once he moved out though I found that while no major damage had been done a lot of small things were messed up.
there is large stain (looking like dog diarrhea that had been dragged across the carpet) in the living room, that I don't think is going to come out with just a cleaning, but we are trying that too.
chipped the granite counter top (no idea how or if its even worth it to fix)
a dog that we didn't not know they had scratched up the back door (sanded and painted) and our hard wood entryway (going to need to be sanded and refinished)
also a myriad of scuffs, holes, stains on many of the walls.
did not clean upon move out which is specified in the lease
I manage from afar and getting there to do it myself is not cost efficient, and I am pretty pissed with my management company and told them so but that a whole other story. What if any recourse do I have to charge them for the costs of fixing things that are definitely above normal wear and tear? they have already forfeited their security deposit, do that get applied to fixing these things? After that is all used up what then?
I know a lot of people are going to say its just a rental and do the minimum to fix it, but this is a B+ house in an A neighborhood pulling top of the market rents, so I don't want to spend an arm and a leg but it does need to be kept in very good condition.
Thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.