Property Damage Fees

[Randy Stuart]

Happy Black Friday! Being new to landlording, I would appreciate your feedback. Our tenant move out 2 weeks ago. The home is in Fort Worth Texas. They left the property clean, but with minor damage. They installed satellite dish service tv in 5 rooms. This meant that they drilled 8 holes in the roof to install two dishes and drilled through the exterior brick in 5 locations. In the lease it states that they are not suppose to screw anything to the structure. Also we had a new garage door installed a year ago and they bent the bottom section of the garage door so that it did not close properly. I was able to bend it back with some pliers so that it would close, but it is still damaged. 

So my question is how much should I retain from there security deposit for these damages? I was planning to charge $40/hrs for the repair to the holes in the structure, and get a quote to from a garage door repair to replace the bottom section of the garage door. 

What statements do you put in your lease to more clearly communicate expected fees for minor damages. The tenants are good people, and I want to be fair, but I also want to take good care of the property and discurage people from drilling through the brick.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Randy Stuart

[Shelly Cavin]

I would deduct from their deposit the amount that the garage company will charge you to repair the garage and the cost of a handyman or brick person to repair the drill holes. That seems fair.

You may need to put that in bold in the lease agreement. Holes from cable TV and mounted TVs are common. Going over the lease at signing also helps, instead of trusting that the tenant will read it.