Walk Thru Dispute- Office Property

[Jessica Beltz]

Walk Thru issue - Office Property

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The tenants were the original owners and had done a sale leaseback many years ago. The tenants have now decided to move out. In the process of getting the property ready to be returned to the Landlord the tenants used the original paint they had (presumably leftovers from the original date of purchase of the property or later years of repainting) to paint areas (internally only) that needed paint and touch up.

As a result during the walk thru the paint the tenant used does not match the existing walls color. It looks patchy and unprofessional. In addition, the tenants probably used rollers instead of the original spray making it look different.

The tenant claims that since they used the original paint (many years old) they are not responsible for the paint differences.

The Landlord claims that the property was given to the tenants with uniform colored paint on the walls and returning it with patches of different paint color/shade does not constitute ordinary wear and tear and has asked the tenant to correct the situation.

The lease clearly states the property needs to be returned to the Landlord in the same condition as received and broom clean except for ordinary wear and tear.

The tenant has refused to correct the situation.

Since the office property is up for sale and not re-tenanting it is going to be sold as is. The paint on the rest of the walls is fine except for these patches. A new buyer will ask for a reduction in price so the Landlord wants it to be corrected.

What are your thoughts?