All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

@Tom T. Appreciate your response! No apologies needed, we do not disagree. I am doing pretty much exactly as you suggest -- sending a follow-up letter/payment which admits no fault, but will hopefully smooth things over. I truly was not looking to take advantage of the situation, for whatever that's worth; if I was, I would have hired the paint out professionally and sent my former tenant's an invoice. A lot of work went into making sure that was unnecessary, but I understand why people view it otherwise. Thank you again for your time! 

@Nathan Gesner Thank you sir -- appreciate the follow-up and reassurance provided, definitely makes me feel better. Hope you're off to a good morning!

Lots of responses -- thank you all so much, I'll look to reply to everyone :-)

@Chris G. Indeed, the tenant was billed for <40% of the quoted "hired help" cost, and all of the "do it myself" labor charges were quoted to the tenant in advance. It's in our lease that they will be billed for a carpet cleaning upon move-out; I could reduce or remove this fee and chalk it up to wear and tear, but they were expecting this charge. Appreciate your response!

@Jordan Moorhead The tenant emailed earlier today saying they have contacted an attorney, which could of course be a bluff...at this time I have not heard from said attorney -- I suppose we'll just hold off and see what happens, as you advise! Thank you for the reassurance. 

@Gary L Wallman Definitely appreciate your breakdown on the paint depreciation, that's a great way to do it. I estimate the previous paint was ~2 years old at most, but I have no way of proving that. I intend to reduce the cleaning charges we passed on -- fortunately the tenants in question spared me from the dirty diapers, to their credit. Thank you much!

@Jeff Copeland Damages + legal fees is very much a consideration, and obviously something we want to avoid. Fortunately I live in WA, which is friendlier to landlords than OR, but your point still stands. Thank you for your feedback and the video link, this was all very helpful!

@Tim Miller We will definitely make some changes with future tenants, lessons are being learned! All labor costs were clearly quoted prior to move-out, but I lacked the foresight of getting a signed copy. I'm doing my best to document everything, but hindsight is 20-20 -- I've missed some things along the way, we'll do as you suggest moving forward. Thank you! 

@Bud Gaffney Fingers crossed they do! Appreciate the vote of confidence. 

@Stephen Dispensa I moved in ~9 months ago, and unfortunately the previous owner was unable to provide paint samples (I asked). We intended to repaint sometime soon, just not right away. The existing paint was still in good condition, prior to the alterations. We have those color swatches now, lesson learned! Appreciate your response. 

@Bruce Woodruff Are you still unable to charge for personal labor, when it is quoted to the tenant in advance? There seems to be some disagreement on this throughout the forum...I definitely did not make up numbers, I used the "Itemized List of Common Deposit Deductions" that is provided in Brandon and Heather Turner's book "The Book on Managing Rental Properties." Appreciate any clarification you can provide, thanks again!

@Scott Mac "I would not have charged them for the nail dot holes, but I would have for this...It looks like they put the unit into a needs paint category before re-rent....Their attempt at painting has resulted in more (expensive) damage to the unit." -- 100% my opinion, thank you for contributing!  

Thank you all again for your time and help, I really appreciate everyone's feedback -- hope everyone's having a nice Thursday! 

@Greg R. Appreciate your continued replies! I'm not trying to pass the buck onto anyone, I just want to be compensated for property damages which required immediate action to resolve. I feel that hole patches qualify as "wear and tear", but discolored walls do not. Repainting at a time of my choice should definitely be on my dime, no argument there -- but having to paint right now was not my choice, the original paint was in otherwise good condition.

@Tim Herman I live in Washington, apologies for the confusion; it's right across the river from Portland, so that's BP's default city. To my knowledge, WA is a double compensation state -- not quite as bad, but certainly enough for your point to stand. Unknown on the age of the paint, but it was definitely <5 years. 

I was unaware of the labor situation, I find that...confusing. What is the point of a move-out letter, if you cannot charge for the fees described? Regardless, that's a failure on my part and beyond the scope of this forum -- definitely appreciate everyone bringing this to my attention. 

@Greg R. If they had left holes in the wall, I 100% would not have charged them. Holes are not an issue, but the paint they added could not be left unaddressed. Every wall, of every room, looked like the images provided (above). 

Based on the $3,200 paint bid I received, my perspective is that I worked real hard to get everyone down to $1,270. I also feel my tenants violated their lease in this matter, and that I'm not really obligated to send them anything. I'm inclined to agree with @Nathan Gesner -- but I also recognize they attempted to resolve the situation themselves, and that I was unable to provide the color sample. Again, I don't feel I violated the lease by not doing so, but that is still at least worth mentioning.

At this point, I am moving towards sending them a partial refund -- it's just a matter of determining what amount is fair. Thank you all again for your help and advice, it's very much appreciated! 

@Greg R. -- is it the landlord's responsibility to provide paint samples upon move-out? The lease I have doesn't say so, although it does say the tenants are not to paint without written approval. 

Thanks very much for your advice on the paint fix, that'll be helpful moving forward -- it's unfortunately too late in this case, but I definitely appreciate the information provided. 

Here are some paint examples

@Greg R. I did that exact Sherwin WIlliams route, even used the faceplate method that @Theresa Harris recommends -- the color was close, but not close enough. I've attached an image below, hopefully this one will work -- the lower left square is the attempted fix, after multiple attempts at Sherwin Williams. The issue was unfortunately too extensive, and a wall-to-wall repaint was required.

I went through the move-out letter process that @Steve Vaughan recommends, but they did not really follow the instructions provided -- or at least, not to the standards I would have liked. I did not specifically mention they should not spackle or paint (the lease does), but I will definitely make sure to do so moving forward. 

There seems to be a general consensus that the cleaning charges were too high -- thank you all for your input there, very much appreciated!

Thank you @Joe Martella! I definitely appreciate this response, it's a lot to consider. I wish the images worked, they help add some perspective -- I did not intend to nick and dime them, just want to get my place returned to rent-ready condition.

Thank you Nathan! I appreciate your advice, half of me completely agrees. The other half is worried that (as a beginner) I've neglected an important step somewhere, or failed to do something legally necessary. For example, I didn't get a bid on the cleaning needed -- so are the cleaning charges something they could contest? It definitely seems like they could be blowing smoke on the legal threats, but that's not the sort of thing I want to take lightly. Thank you again for your help!