North Carolina Security Deposit Questions/Return Letter

[Matthew Scheeler]

Good morning everyone, have been a long time lurker of bigger pockets. Really appreciate all of the wonderful info on this forum. I have a tenant that recently moved out after 5 years (North Carolina). He was smoking in the apartment (I inherited the tenant, and found out he was smoking while there replacing the garbage disposal). The walls, AC controller, smoke detectors, etc were all stained yellow. The ceiling was stained yellow.

He has moved out. Upon move out, the place was filthy. All of his items were removed, but he didn't clean out the fridge, bathroom tub/toilet were disgusting and full of filth and hair. Oven was absolutely horrid. Countertops stained yellow from ???. It required multiple hours of deep cleaning (I did this myself). 

I am planning to charge him for the two 5 gallon buckets of Kilz primer that I had to paint the walls/ceilings with. I will not be charging for my time to do this (or can I? - I have been told that I cannot). I will not be charging for the top coat of paint as he was there for 5 years, this was necessary anyways. 

I am going to charge him for the $50 ozone generator I had to use in addition to the paint to rid the place of the smell. 

Can I charge for the ridiculous amount of cleaning? Is this part of "normal wear and tear" as he was there for 5 years? My understanding is that it needs to be returned to "broom swept clean". 

I will be writing him a letter today informing him that I will be keeping part of his deposit.

Thank you in advance, appreciate you all.

Matt