Tenant put 38 holes in a room - take their security deposit?

[Justin Bautista]

Hey everyone, hope y’all are doing alright. My tenant just moved out and she left 38 small holes in a room. Should I and could I take their security deposit or portion of it? What would you do? She also lost one of the keys so I know that I can deduct. I’m in Washington state fyi. Thanks for the counsel!

[Account Closed]

Aren't you going to re-key anyway?  Why charge a tenant for losing a key when you're going to re-key anyway?  C'mon.  I really don't respect landlords who look for any reason to keep security deposit money.

I also think it's unrealistic and unfair to expect tenants to never hang anything on the walls.  This is their home while they rent it.  In my opinion it's normal wear and tear.  If they're small holes, just get out some putty or whatever, fill in the holes and run the paint roller over the wall.  Don't you expect to have to do that anyway?  

So, no.  I never charged tenants for small holes in the wall or for keys.  The only reason I collected keys was because it is a legal formality that means they have relinquished their tenancy.  Then, the keys just became garbage.

Don't be a scrooge.  Eventually, you'll end up with a tenant willing to take you to small claims court for things like this, and depending on where you live, you can get dinged by the judge 2 or 3 times the amount of the security deposit.  For something like this, it's just not worth it.  If they left the place otherwise clean and empty, consider yourself blessed.