Selling rental - recent annual PM inspections were not performed

[Warren A.]

Hi,

We are putting our Southern CA home for sale.  The tenant moved out last Saturday and has been living in our property since 2011.   The tenant did not paint match the white walls so you can see the mismatch in the living room below.  Also our kitchen cabinets are scratched up quite a bit.  Carpet has many stains.  I asked our property management company for copies of the annual inspection reports and the last annual inspection was on Jan 2015.  I asked why none in 2016, 2017, and 2018 and was replied the following from the PM ,

"The interior paint would fall under normal “wear & tear” and the tenant would not be responsible ... There were no annual inspections for 2016 & 2017 due to the tenants would not accommodate our request for interior access. (Property Manager in charge of our house at the time) did schedule annual inspection in 2016, when she arrived at property (the tenant) told her that he was late for court and would contact her to reschedule. On 11-6-2017 when the property had been assigned to myself I contacted tenants to schedule annual inspection, I was told it would need to be done at a later date due to their schedules.

I received call from painting contractor who was reviewed cabinet photos, Silverstar would not bid on sanding & staining cabinets since the dye lot would not match, they are showing normal signs of aging. Will contact handyman to take care of cabinets and reinstall bathroom sink."

My questions

1) Is it true tenant is not responsible for the paint mismatch?

2) Am I SOL on the cabinets too? 

3) My thoughts these past few days have been that an annual PM inspection in Jan 2016, 2017 and 2018 could have remedied the issues above and the response from the PM is pretty weak.  Why could they not reschedule?    The lack of annual inspections these past few years is now clearly documented.  Can I use this in my favor?  If yes, how?

Thank you in advance !

Warren

[Nathan Gesner]

If the same tenant occupied for four years, I would probably chalk up the paint to ordinary wear-and-tear because I would freshen it up before putting it on the market anyway.

The cabinets are beyond ordinary wear-and-tear for a four-year period. Unless they're made of really bad material.

As for the PM, they have no excuse for not inspecting and I'm surprised they even tried to pass of such lame excuses. If you feel strongly this is beyond ordinary wear-and-tear, get a bid and charge the PM for the prorated renovation. Make it clear that their failure to perform inspections enabled the problem to worsen and they are therefore liable.

If they refuse to pony up, you can file a complaint with their Broker and then the real estate commission or whatever your governing body is for California. Usually the threat of a complaint with the commission will motivate them to negotiate with you.