Landlord found holes in my wall, repaired them before lease with up (2013, best)
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t I still should have been given the chance to do so (it would have cost $5.99 vs the $240 she paid for a professional).
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I will not allow my tenants to do repairs or paint because they don't know how to do a proper job.
And absolutely no, you could not repair 6 holes in a wall for $5.99, so very obviously OP does not know how to properly repair a wall.
OP, next time, save yourself some grief and do not put holes into walls or install unauthorized shelves. Technically, and legally, the second that those shelves were attached to the wall, they became the property of the landlord. So cross your fingers and hope he doesn't think of that, because I think you owe even more money.
I've attached pics of the holes with my hand for scale. There are 6 of these in the wall.
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Per the lease can she enter your bedroom without notice?
It doesn't say either way. But CA law at least prohibits the landlord from unauthorized visits except in emergencies and all visits require a 24 written notice with purpose of visit.
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Next issue is if you have it written the lease to allow you to make repairs.
It's not stated in my lease whether or not I can make repairs. But it doesn't explicitly say no.
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why did it cost so much anyway? did they repaint after patching?
I have no idea! My LL was having the painter come in anyway to touch up places where my roommate and I scuffed the walls, and we weren't charged for that, plus the painter is apparently an old family friend who's been painting their home for years and this was a "super cheap price" for the "giant" holes I ripped in the walls that "tore the sheet rock off" (please see attached pictures for the actual hole sizes).
I've seen estimates in the $200+ that included the cost of the painter's visit, but since he was already there painting, that shouldn't be included right?
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No way should she have wandered through the place without proper notice.
The is probably why I'm so irritated by the situation. My LL (actually my LL's retired mother who lives down the street) came into the place CONSTANTLY: to pick up her daughter's mail, to get rent checks, to sell items of hers once the house was sold (my mother was visiting me and one day she called me at work saying the LL's mom just walked in with several people. She was trying to sell them items from the home. I had gotten no warning of this prior). And one evening I was driving in to the parking lot and saw her driving out. I entered my apartment to find the lights on and the microwave taken out. It was her microwave but would it have hurt to send me an email beforehand?
And those are just the times I have evidence of. Who knows how often she's entered the apartment while I was at work, and wandered throughout the place. I'm certain it was on a weekly basis.
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However, if the tenant had fixed them before you inspected and it was an acceptable job, you would have no complaint.
You don't actually know how many things may have been fixed without you knowing during a tenancy.
Exactly. Tenants do all kinds of things to the property while they live there, on purpose and by accident. I've never left a place in anything but perfect condition, and always assumed that it only mattered what damages were left between the initial inspection and the final one. I was caught off guard with the selling of the home because my lease was still active when she did her inspection (that she didn't inform me of)
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And absolutely no, you could not repair 6 holes in a wall for $5.99, so very obviously OP does not know how to properly repair a wall.
Wrong. I do actually, but thanks for trying. I just repaired 10 screw holes in a neighbor's wall and the LL noticed nothing. $4.99 tub of spackle, a $1 putty knife, fine grit sand paper that I already owned, and the exact paint match that was already in the garage. Perfect wall. Undetectable.
I know tenants can mess things up, but we're not total idiots. Filling nail holes doesn't require a PhD in spackle-ology...
$240 does seem a little excessive for those holes...
until you realize that the texture on the wall makes "just" filling them up and sanding not the proper way to fix. That way you end up with bigger, smoother circles, that really stand up against the wall's texture.
I have seen many leases that do not charge for holes even that size.
next time you need to ask what the policy is regarding holes in the wall.
In my own rental, I don't really care about small holes. If there aren't too many, I wouldn't charge to fix.
These pencil holes are not hard to fix even with the texture, and I don't doubt the OP would know how to patch it.
Such small holes would not stand out if you sponge off excess spackling before it dries.
I've attached pics of the holes with my hand for scale. There are 6 of these in the wall.
It doesn't say either way. But CA law at least prohibits the landlord from unauthorized visits except in emergencies and all visits require a 24 written notice with purpose of visit.
It's not stated in my lease whether or not I can make repairs. But it doesn't explicitly say no.
I have no idea! My LL was having the painter come in anyway to touch up places where my roommate and I scuffed the walls, and we weren't charged for that, plus the painter is apparently an old family friend who's been painting their home for years and this was a "super cheap price" for the "giant" holes I ripped in the walls that "tore the sheet rock off" (please see attached pictures for the actual hole sizes).
I've seen estimates in the $200+ that included the cost of the painter's visit, but since he was already there painting, that shouldn't be included right?
The is probably why I'm so irritated by the situation. My LL (actually my LL's retired mother who lives down the street) came into the place CONSTANTLY: to pick up her daughter's mail, to get rent checks, to sell items of hers once the house was sold (my mother was visiting me and one day she called me at work saying the LL's mom just walked in with several people. She was trying to sell them items from the home. I had gotten no warning of this prior). And one evening I was driving in to the parking lot and saw her driving out. I entered my apartment to find the lights on and the microwave taken out. It was her microwave but would it have hurt to send me an email beforehand?
And those are just the times I have evidence of. Who knows how often she's entered the apartment while I was at work, and wandered throughout the place. I'm certain it was on a weekly basis.
Exactly. Tenants do all kinds of things to the property while they live there, on purpose and by accident. I've never left a place in anything but perfect condition, and always assumed that it only mattered what damages were left between the initial inspection and the final one. I was caught off guard with the selling of the home because my lease was still active when she did her inspection (that she didn't inform me of)
Wrong. I do actually, but thanks for trying. I just repaired 10 screw holes in a neighbor's wall and the LL noticed nothing. $4.99 tub of spackle, a $1 putty knife, fine grit sand paper that I already owned, and the exact paint match that was already in the garage. Perfect wall. Undetectable.
I know tenants can mess things up, but we're not total idiots. Filling nail holes doesn't require a PhD in spackle-ology...
Anyway I appreciate everyone's input.
those hole could have been fixed for under 5 bucks, your right, not all tenants are idiots, and there are tenants the do know how to do things.
quick dry plaster, in the holes, let dry overnight and sand, then re apply some more plaster and let dry overnight then sand.
what a laugh when I saw those holes, 240 dollars, are you kidding me?????that ll IS A REAL PIECE IF WORK.
$240.00 for that? Yes, that's a joke, but you can't do much about this since it's not your property. What's done is done.
As for the LL entering your bedroom: you gave permission to enter the unit, so she did have a right to look around.
Her coming to get the check and her wandering around the home were two different days (according to her). But even if they were on the same day, I think there's a difference between opening the front door and grabbing a check that's on the entry way counter (which I consented to) versus grabbing the check then walking up two flights of stairs and down to the end of a hallway, opening my (always closed) bedroom door and looking around inside.
Yes most of the post here are from LL or slum lords - you all should be ashamed of yourself. Renters of the world its time to stand up to the shinanigans of the corrupt, unscrupulous, illegal actions of the hoard. Litigate the pants off them.
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