When Good Tenants Go Bad

[Susan H.]

Tenants of 3 years purchased a home of their own in March and decided to stay in rental through lease period so they could renovate. Requests for extensions soon followed, and I approved (in writing) the first request for a one-month extension. After I declined more requests the tenants turned surly and said they COULDN'T for one reason or another, finally culminating in "the movers didn't show up." Setting aside the fact that I know movers don't work on Sunday in this town, I finally got them out earlier this week. Should be happy ending, right? Nope.

Thursday while doing the walk-through I discovered wet carpets in rooms adjacent to master bath. The culprit: shower head installed by tenants without approval, which was of course a breach of lease. I hadn't seen in previous house inspections, probably because the shower curtain hid that from view. (And yes, I'm changing my process to get 'eyes on' every appliance, fixture, etc. going forward). Plumber discovered the new head had a hole in the pipe which caused the leak. It now seems plausible that the hole was caused when tenant tried to remove the fixture before leaving which explains why the leak is so recent. Since I have the "do not alter, remove, damage, etc." clause in the lease the insurance company says the tenants are liable. 

I have to send a written notification of the final inspection via mail, and I have 60 days to send the itemized statement for the security deposit. Between the other repairs (such as broken doors) and cleaning up debris left inside and out which I have to pay to have hauled off, it's doubtful any of their security deposit would be returned. The water damage is on top of that. 

My question: In the final inspection letter do you recommend I simply state the major findings (unit not returned to original clean good condition order, damaged doors, debris left behind, and property damage caused by water leak? And that detailed costs will be provided within 60 days? 

Their deposit, ironically, is the same amount as the deductible for my Landlord insurance. 

[John Thedford]

I would list the actual repairs and costs to remedy them. It sounds like you know your state laws and are in compliance.