[bobeckett]

Hello, I bought a rental unit that had a tenant already living there with a lease agreement I had to honor from the prior landlord. As the tenant was already living in the unit, I was unable to remove the carpet over the hardwood flooring to see what was going on, its condition, etc. Tenant had an old cat and there was some smell of urine. The carpet, though 5-6 years old, looked in decent shape and I suspect it had been cleaned often. Upon the tenant vacating the unit at end of lease, I removed the carpet to find significant damage to the hardwood floors. Cat urine and water stain evidence everywhere. I used a black light to detect old and newer cat urine stain/evidence and photographed everything. I am wondering if anyone on this forum has had a similar situation with inheriting a tenant then trying to determine what damage charges to attribute to that tenant upon lease termination. I have the move-in checklist from when she moved in with the prior landlord 6 years ago and there is no indication of cat urine odor, etc. on the form. Thanks for your thoughts in advanced.
Bob

[teachbeach]

If you inherited the security deposit, I would say that you're definitely eligible to keep that, providing ex-tenant with receipts equal to or in excess of actual cost to repair/replace damage.

Unfortunately, since you didn't write or renew the lease, you're probably going to have to pay out of pocket to have it corrected before re-renting.

[belleislerunner]

How can you prove the current tenant's cat created the damage to the hardwood floors? If I was the tenant - I would argue that the stains weren't caused by my cat but from a pet that visited the occupant (or lived there) prior to me renting the unit.

Chalk it up as a cost of doing business.

[craig11152]

Originally Posted by belleislerunner

How can you prove the current tenant's cat created the damage to the hardwood floors? If I was the tenant - I would argue that the stains weren't caused by my cat but from a pet that visited the occupant (or lived there) prior to me renting the unit.

Chalk it up as a cost of doing business.

The current tenant did not indicate any cat urine smell when they moved in 6 years ago. They have a cat, I would say your safe keeping the deposit to the extent of the repair costs. I don't think he needs to prove who did the damage because the current tenant bought the damage by accepting the lease 6 years ago with no mention of cat urine or a cat urine smell.
rather than "Chalk it up as a cost of doing business" I suggest the tenant chalk up a lost security deposit to damaging property they didn't own.

[Arthur Digby Sellers]

The purpose of the move in checklist is to exempt the tenant from any existing damage upon moving out. If the damage was not noted I would say you are well within your right to charge this damage against the security deposit. Make sure you provide the tenant with a copy of the checklist and an explanation.

[belleislerunner]

And be sure to refer the tenant to me if tenant wishes to sue landlord for the security deposit back.

[craig11152]

Whats the math on that? A security deposit can't be more than 1.5 times rent. So lets say rent is $1000 a month. Thats a $1500 deposit. Maybe rent is only $800 and the deposit is $1200.
If your a lawyer whats your cut of the deposit to file and win the lawsuit? Whats your cut to lose the lawsuit?