California Painting Law
I have a tenant that just moved out of a house I own. There are a couple of holes in the wall and crayon marks on the walls of the whole house from kids. The carpet is stained beyond cleaning and needs to be replaced. The tenant keeps fighting me on getting her whole deposit back because she says that I am responsible for painting.
Am I missing something here?
The house was extremely clean when they moved in. I estimate that I will have to pay about $5000 to get the house back to the way it was when they first moved in.
Filling in the holes, patching, and repainting is going to be about $2500. I got a security deposit of $3000 from her.
From what I understand is that after two years I would need to cover painting by law. They were only there for 1 1/2 years.
I have lots of pictures of everything. Will this stand up in court if I use her deposit to paint the house and replace the carpet?
I appreciate any help you can provide.
Seems like your estimate to paint walls is very high. Was there special paint, or very large holes. Seems like you could tell her to wash the walls and make the repairs, she would come off cheaper. As for the carpet, why cant it be cleaned, i dont understand. if she has got ink or carpet burns? that seems like it would only be in one area, not the whole house. Doesnt look like you are accounting for wear and tear. But tell her, it seems like she could have the house professionally cleaned for less than $500. I know this would only be a couple of hundred here in Louisiana. I would keep my reciepts if your contracter is charging you that much.
Well, I guess she gonna get whats coming to her. But thats a large deposit, really surprised that she could do that much damage, better take photos and get used to ducking phone calls...
I have about 50 pictures. Shows all the crayon marks on the walls, patch marks, holes, and everything else I could capture.
Holes in walls are VERY expensive to repair and are NOT normal wear and tear. I would get an estimate for fixing the damage and have a carpet cleaner inspect the carpet. You may be surprised what you can get out of carpet. I had some severe stains on my carpet and the cleaners got all but one out. If you have to replace the carpet, you can charge her a portion but not for all brand new carpet. What you can charge is dependent on how old the carpet is, etc. Just make sure your ducks are in a row because she will probably take you to small claims but I would risk small claims over giving her the deposit back (assuming your repairs are significantly more than the $3000.,)
Nuetrino,
Thank you for the reply. I actually downloaded this PDF a few days ago. I also reviewed my landlords book from nolo yesterday. Looks like I should be ok. I will let everyone know what the out come is. Thank you.
Did you take pictures before they moved in? It will help your case with before and after. You will win if you take this to court, Keep the Deposit, Get real estimates and get the work done. A vacant property is costing you everyday.
good luck
[addsig]
donanddenise,
Thank you for the reply. This could be the one mistake I made. I do have some pictures but not as many as I would like. I purchased the property and rented it right away. My girlfriend saw the house inside before I rented it. The other good thing is that my mom and brothers wanted to see the house I just bought. They got to walk through the house while the tenants were just moving in.
Did you do a walk through report and have the tenant sign it? This will help too.
lavonc,
She does not seem to have any desire to do a walk through. I told her that she can be present but she said I could just do it.
lavonc,
I did do a walk through before the tenants moved in and six months later when I did a safety inspection. The tenant did not want to do a final walkthrough.
Quote:
On 2007-02-05 14:27, lavonc wrote:
Did you do a walk through report and have the tenant sign it? This will help too.
This is key. I go over EVERY room and check the condition of blinds, windows, flooring, etc. with the tenant BEFORE move in. We both sign and I give them a copy. Then when they move out, I take the sheet out and we look at the current condition. This solves most of the problems because once they see that they signed the original condition, the fighting ends or is minimized.
I did a walk through before they moved in and six months later during a safety inspection. They all signed it. The tenant told me to do the final walkthrough.
Just wanted to say "Thank You" to everyone that responded to this post and give you an update.
I just went to court finally. I won $4000 above the $3000 dollar deposit I received. I had everything in order and pictures that proved my case and left them speechless. This was my first time in small claims court and I am very satisfied with the results. Thanks again everyone and thank you TCI for the great website.
I have a late fee spelled out in the lease - some of my tenants are ALWAYS late - usually 3-5 days late. I really dont care, as long as they do pay, because it increases my bottomline. They know the drill - if they are late they pay an extra $25.00. Check your state tenant law as there are limits.
You have heard it already late fees should be in your lease. Now with that said you can (if you have in your lease) add new rules. Follow what you have laid out give them written notice and 1 month to get it on track. I had tenants I got when I bought a place and they tried the we always could pay by the 7th with old landlord. I said I am sorry but I am just the manager and the policy which was mailed to you clearly states 1st late on 3rd. The changed and I had by the 3rd and they were there for 2 plus years after. Also you can (but it is a pain) start showing up on the first and knocking on the door. It works.
Once you let them slide you will always have a problem. You need to stop it before it starts. Biz is biz. Good luck
this is prevented with screening of prospective renters.
no late payments on credit report = on time rent to you.
late payments on credit report = late/no rent to you.
The best judge of a person is not what they say but what they have done! No exceptions.
I sent you a PM for you to contact me. From the scenario, it seems like you should be in the mid to high 7% range. After getting all your info, I can give you a better quote. The industry has changed for investment and subprime loans. However, you have a really good Fico score so there are plenty of banks that will want your business.
What is a NOO stated program?
Never mind. I think it stands for
none-owner occupied.
Duh.[ Edited by thirdeye on Date 06/18/2007 ]
I use a spreedsheet.
I am starting to look for a real product
Do you mind sharing your layout?
That is a classic landlord story. I am glad you shared it w/ us.
I had a swat team surround one of my rental houses. I only heard about it through the neighbors. Seems the neighbors thought he was dealing drugs.
He was a rap artist.
One reason they thought he was doing drugs was a clean cut well dressed man would come over every week in a new Jaguar with a lawn mower in the trunk and cut his grass. Turned out it was his father.
Quote:
On 2007-06-20 11:51, cycledog wrote:
I had a swat team surround one of my rental houses. I only heard about it through the neighbors. Seems the neighbors thought he was dealing drugs.
He was a rap artist.
One reason they thought he was doing drugs was a clean cut well dressed man would come over every week in a new Jaguar with a lawn mower in the trunk and cut his grass. Turned out it was his father.
Gotta love peoples imaginations...