ex tenant small claims

[Robert D.]

Once again I turn to this great forum for advice.
I have had this tenant in my rental for approx 7 yrs. I didnt know much back in the day and am constantly learning. anywhoo she left a $700 deposit. fastforward august 1 she turns over her keys, actually she left them on kitchen counter for me because she claims she is going on vacation. I get in there and house is pretty trashed. I take pictures and all that good stuff. I assumed she figured she lost her deposit. didnt hear from her till today asking for her deposit back. i told her that she left the place in shambles. she said she took great care of the place. i have pics showing otherwise in anyones opinion. she said i will see you in court then. end of conversation.

ok so im a contractor(small peanuts). I have had no work. ive been living off my savings. i couldnt afford to bring in any help so i did it all myself. so i got the work done.

my question is. i know i can charge materials against her deposit but what about my time? would a court find that acceptable. not trying to make money just dont think its fair that i put in all that time and money in materials to have to give her the deposit back. can i say my business did the work therefore i need to get paid and charge that against her deposit? any advice welcome, please help.

side note; just a lil sample...she decided somewhere down the line to paint trim of house and didnt care where she got paint on. same goes for one of bedroom walls, paint everywhere, wall paper in one room torn and shredded to pieces, and stopped mowing lawn seemingly 2-3 months before she moved out and ALL sprinklers are broken. yes i know its my fault for not checking up so please dont bludgeon me on that subject. i need to see how i can work this out. thx

[Kevin Kaczmarek]

do you have a pre-move-in checklist from her? I know she has been there for a while and you learned alot over time, but if you have one of those signed by her she doesn't have much ground to stand on.

If you have a contractor friend, I would suggest having them give you a fair and honest estimate of work to be completed and bring that as your supporting documentation.

The better prepared, the easier it will be to express your case. Often the courts will side with the tenant, but if you come prepared you leave the judge with no choice.

Don't sweat it. Along the way you are going to run into issues that will make you and your business stronger.