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I will definitely being asking for more than just a security deposit when I rent my home out.
Security Deposits are regulated by state laws. You can only ask for what the law says you can. Violations of this are pretty hefty to LL. Some states you can be assesses double or triple the amount you charged above the law. Tenants are getting very wised to overcharging, failing to return in the time required by law, or failure to handle propely are becoming the latest wave of tenant suits against LL. Before collecting any security deposit, know what your state law says about it to avoid costly mistakes.
As for disabled/handicap, it is illegal under all state laws and fedreal law to charge a disable/handicap person a additional security deposit due to their diability or needs associated with their diability. Because the fines for violating this are so high, most LLs won;t even think of doing it anymore.
Did the landlord know that their new tenants were using wheelchairs before they leased to them?
Did they make any special notice of this in the lease? (eg: if a tenant has a dog most LL's will charge extra or require extra cleaning deposits?)
Assuming the wheelchair issues were known then I don't believe the LL has much (if any) legal space to later whine about damages from their use.
I think you are missing a few letters from your user name.
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
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I don't know how that will play out in court regarding wear and tear. A wheelchair is NOT normal use for the average person. It produces a much higher rate of wear than walking. The average person does not run into the walls the chip the edges. I would not consider it normal wear. I do not think the landlord should be expected to absorb additional damages caused by wheelchairs.
Situations like this are exactly why landlords don't want to rent to handicapped people. Instead of expecting entitlement - what if your relative offered to have the conditions fixed - so the landlord might look forward to the next handicapped resident - instead of trying to find a way to deny them.
A few years ago, we had a friend/tenant who had MS. She and her husband used to rent our beach house for a month in the summer because we have a wide door and large sunken tub that was easy for her to use. We had white carpet. We built her a ramp to the front door - a sheet of plywood and some 2X4's (I still have it in the garage) and we laid down plastic runners on the traffic areas. We never had a problem with damages and we looked forward to having them each summer.
Security Deposits are regulated by state laws. You can only ask for what the law says you can. Violations of this are pretty hefty to LL. Some states you can be assesses double or triple the amount you charged above the law. Tenants are getting very wised to overcharging, failing to return in the time required by law, or failure to handle propely are becoming the latest wave of tenant suits against LL. Before collecting any security deposit, know what your state law says about it to avoid costly mistakes.
As for disabled/handicap, it is illegal under all state laws and fedreal law to charge a disable/handicap person a additional security deposit due to their diability or needs associated with their diability. Because the fines for violating this are so high, most LLs won;t even think of doing it anymore.
I did not say I would charge a handicapped person extra. It would apply to all. I think first, last month and security are allowed. My home would not work for a handicapped person anyway. I am all for doing the right thing. If you damage someone's home, you should pay.
It saddens me that we live in a society where people do not feel obligated to be accountable for their actions. People respond to money. If they know I have two months of their rent, it would incentivize them to return the property in good condition.
A person's disability or children should not factor in unless it is normal wear and tear. The landlord will not get a discount to repair the damage if it caused by a disabled person or children. I wonder how the poster would react if a non related disabled person or child destroyed something valuable or expensive on their property.
Look at CA with very liberal laws on wear and tear in tenants favor. Faded paint is wear and tear, dull paint from people walking past is wear and tear. Crayon marks on the wall is damages. Execss dirt and grime on walls is damages.
For carpets, the wearing of carpet over the life span is wear and tear. Fading carpet from UV rays are wear and tear. Stains are Damages. Tenant introduced marks are damages.
If you put in new carpet with a 10 year life span and the first tenant has 12 kids on a one year lease. Wear in excess of one year when they move out is damages. It does not matter if you rented to a single person or a family of 12, one year wear is acceptable as wear and tear, 2 years wear is now damages.
Wear and tear is by definition, deteriorating conditions in the apartment caused by normal living. Since using a wheel chair and its associated wear is normal living, this would be wear and tear.
Might not be fair to the landlord( I agree it isn't) but thats the way it is.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jdm2008
Wear and tear is by definition, deteriorating conditions in the apartment caused by normal living. Since using a wheel chair and its associated wear is normal living, this would be wear and tear.
Might not be fair to the landlord( I agree it isn't) but thats the way it is.
Is this "normal" based on the general public or the physical handicap or mental illness. I would really like to know because I had a psych patient who apartment was trashed, never cleaned up or took out the trash and the dogs were allowed to poop anywhere and he NEVER took a bath. So you are saying that his "normal" behavior based on his mental illness is the expense of the LL?
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UNC4Me
My question is why the tenants didn't do anything to mitigate the damages? Since they are now concerned about the damages, it didn't escape their notice that the carpet was getting dirty or that the wheelchair was hitting the edges of the walls.
Perhaps they should have tried placing a large towel on the carpet just inside the front door so the dirt from the wheelchair wheels would stain the towel and not the carpet. In addition, there is v-shaped plastic edge protector for walls available very inexpensively at home improvement stores that could been applied to save the walls.
Perhaps the landlord would have helped them with solutions if they had bothered to tell him/her that they were concerned about the damage they were doing. Instead they let the damage continue and now want to make the landlord responsible for it.
Yes, this is true. They could have done something to prevent these damages. One family had a son in a wheelchair and they put up Flexiglas on the bottom half of all the hall walls he used. They choose this because it didn't take away the esthetic of the home; allowing the paint to show through. These people may not been able to afford that but paneling would have been another altenative for them to put up OR let the LL know they needed more floor space and if he had an ADA adapted apartment or ask to get out of the lease so they wouldn't damage the property.
Location: Went around the corner & now I'm lost!!!!
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Why don't YOU go over there and fix all the repairs needed from the use of the wheelchair if you are that concern. After doing these repairs and paying for them I bet you will be able to understand why LL use security depositfor situations such as these.
I have elderly, handicapped relatives who have been renting an apartment for nearly a year. They're getting ready to move in a few weeks and it's obvious that they've damaged the walls and carpet due to one of them being in a wheelchair. What happened is that the wheelchair leaves tracks on the carpet so some areas close to the doors have dark gray marks on a tan carpet. Because the apartment was not designed to be wheelchair accessible, some corners are hard to get around in a wheelchair. Therefore, some of the paint has been severely chipped off the corner of the walls.
I'm sure my relatives are going to lose their security deposit. They may even be charged extra fees for the damage, we're not sure. Can the security deposit be fought due to the relative being handicapped? There is no way the damage to the carpet and the wall could have been prevented.
Serious...? Put someone in a wheel chair and they are allowed to damage your place. Hell NO!
They are kept to the same criteria as everybody else and should have rented a place suitable for them.
I had once the question from a person who wanted to rent my place and told me that she was taking care of 3 people in wheel chairs and would move them in. I asked her how she was expecting to deal with the carpet and the home not wheelchair accesible without remodeling of this almost new build home? ....she stated that would be something that could be paid out of the security deposit and she asked for permission to paint all the interior walls (just done by a professional company) because she didn't like white walls. I explained her that I wouldn't allow it...and that was for her a reason not to rent
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