They left the unit in pretty rough shape: smoke damage in every room, ceiling fan broken, bedroom door broken in half, trash left behind, food rotting in fridge, and just general damage throughout.

@Gary L WallmanHave you ever had a tenant who smokes stick to their word when they say then don’t smoke inside.

Your unit is much more likely to catch fire from smoking, cooking, candles, or an electrical short.Exclude smokers.

Their lawyer is blowing smoke - you don't have to provide a high end fridge to meet habitability covenants, that I am aware of.

Like smoking, it is very difficult to go back from a pet property to a non pet property without significant time and cost.Applicants who avoid the extra compensation or play games to qualify, legally or not, are not desirable tenants. 

Hello,My previous tenant a frequent smoker left burning cigarette stubs on wooden stairs at least at three different spots and there are very conspicuous dark spots there, I have been putting of remediating this for quite sometime now.

And it reeks of smoke.

The cost to build onesies and twosies is too high for that.In short, lots of smoke, no fire. 

If I remember right they would scrub the walls with dry sponges, replacing frequently, until the smoke coating came off enough to prime and paint.

I used “Super Clean” to clean cigarette nicotine and tar from walls, it worked like a charm.