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Upon moving in, I completed a pre-walk through form for a rental home I had just signed a lease on. I noted on the walk through inspection form that the home needed painting. I have since moved out and the landlord has charged me for "paint touch-up". He has spilt the charge of $1000 between the two of us ($500 a piece) because he admits that the home needed to be painted when we moved in (i.e. minor fading and dark scratches from previous tenant). He has deducted it from my deposit along with $200 for cleaning (I cleaned the home extensively), $220 for carpet cleaning (we had just paid $150 to have it cleaned before we moved out) and $80 for yard work. Although this all seems ridiculous, I am more concerned about the charge for the painting. This does not seem fair. I lost my copy of the walk through form while moving and for some idiotic reason I didn't take pictures, however I do have the various emails he sent admitting that the house needed to be painted before I moved in. What can I do? The home is in Texas.
Might be worth pursuing, you do have the e-mail, where the LL admits
it needed to painted prior to your moving in, so why do you need to split the cost with him??
The cleaning, normal wear n tear is vague, most LLs can get away with that charge and
without pictures you have no proof otherwise.
Take the LL to small claims court, don't loose that email, thats your proof.
Might be worth pursuing, you do have the e-mail, where the LL admits
it needed to painted prior to your moving in, so why do you need to split the cost with him??
The cleaning, normal wear n tear is vague, most LLs can get away with that charge and
without pictures you have no proof otherwise.
Take the LL to small claims court, don't loose that email, thats your proof.
$1000 for "touch up painting" is excessive unless you lived in a 10 room house! Ask the LL for another copy of the initial walkthrough. (We actually use the initial walkthrough form to do any subsequent inspections or move out inspection, it has 2 columns of the same questions). Anything you signed should be given to you if you lost one and asked for a new copy. Personally, I would dispute these charges.
... He has spilt the charge of $1000 between the two of us ($500 a piece) because he admits that the home needed to be painted when we moved in (i.e. minor fading and dark scratches from previous tenant). He has deducted it from my deposit along with $200 for cleaning (I cleaned the home extensively), $220 for carpet cleaning (we had just paid $150 to have it cleaned before we moved out) and $80 for yard work....
I agree.
First of all, $1000 isn't paint "touch up", that's a fully painted interior of most rentals, unless you rented a very large house. Unless you damaged the walls, or drew on them with crayons or something, repainting is not a tenant expense. They can't charge you for faded paint, that is normal wear and tear. I would dispute that charge.
As for cleaning, I will say that only very very rarely is a house cleaned well enough. Everyone misses something. Did you mop under the stove and vacuum under the fridge, did you dust the tops of ceiling fans and any plant shelves, how about light fixtures? Did you clean the blinds and windows? Those are some of the more commonly missed items in our units. $200 adds up pretty quick, and that is likely a legit expense.
As for carpet cleaning, we have it done in pretty much every unit automatically, did you let the LL know you had already done it? Either the carpets didn't come clean enough with the first cleaning, in which case the 2nd might have still been necessary, or they didn't know you had done it. If your lease says you are responsible to have it done, does it say you have to provide a receipt? If so, did you? Our lease specifically tells tenants not to do it, and we hold $150 for that purpose. Also, $220 is high, again, I wonder how large this house was. In my area, $220 would clean around 2500 or so sq.ft. of carpet, unless a lot of stain removal is required.
And for yard cleanup, the only thing we charge tenants for is if they failed to mow, weed, or clean up after a dog. Any trimming or new bark, or anything like that is normal maintenance, and in my opinion, not a tenant expense.
First of all, $1000 isn't paint "touch up", that's a fully painted interior of most rentals, unless you rented a very large house. Unless you damaged the walls, or drew on them with crayons or something, repainting is not a tenant expense. They can't charge you for faded paint, that is normal wear and tear. I would dispute that charge.
As for cleaning, I will say that only very very rarely is a house cleaned well enough. Everyone misses something. Did you mop under the stove and vacuum under the fridge, did you dust the tops of ceiling fans and any plant shelves, how about light fixtures? Did you clean the blinds and windows? Those are some of the more commonly missed items in our units. $200 adds up pretty quick, and that is likely a legit expense.
As for carpet cleaning, we have it done in pretty much every unit automatically, did you let the LL know you had already done it? Either the carpets didn't come clean enough with the first cleaning, in which case the 2nd might have still been necessary, or they didn't know you had done it. If your lease says you are responsible to have it done, does it say you have to provide a receipt? If so, did you? Our lease specifically tells tenants not to do it, and we hold $150 for that purpose. Also, $220 is high, again, I wonder how large this house was. In my area, $220 would clean around 2500 or so sq.ft. of carpet, unless a lot of stain removal is required.
And for yard cleanup, the only thing we charge tenants for is if they failed to mow, weed, or clean up after a dog. Any trimming or new bark, or anything like that is normal maintenance, and in my opinion, not a tenant expense.
Yes I cleaned extensively and also informed the landlord that the carpet had been cleaned. I really wasn't concerned with the cleaning/carpet/yard. The painting just seemed ridiculous...especially since he admitted (I have the emails) that it needed painting before we moved in. Why are we being charged for something that he didn't charge the ppl that are responsible for it for? The house is about 2800 sq ft.
I agree that $1,000 is really high for touch up paint. Since you have the e-mails noting that the place was in need of paint prior to your moving in then I think that you have a case.
Do you have a recipet for having the carpets cleaned? If so you may be able to take issue with his cost of $250 as well.
I agree that $1,000 is really high for touch up paint. Since you have the e-mails noting that the place was in need of paint prior to your moving in then I think that you have a case.
Do you have a recipet for having the carpets cleaned? If so you may be able to take issue with his cost of $250 as well.
I spoke with the realtor that helped me obtain the rental home and it just so happens that he still had the walk through form! I just read the form and I listed scuff marks and faded paint for each room!
Yes I cleaned extensively and also informed the landlord that the carpet had been cleaned. I really wasn't concerned with the cleaning/carpet/yard. The painting just seemed ridiculous...especially since he admitted (I have the emails) that it needed painting before we moved in. Why are we being charged for something that he didn't charge the ppl that are responsible for it for? The house is about 2800 sq ft.
No one is "responsible" for fading, unless he wants to sue the Sun. That's why its considered normal wear. And $1000 covers a whole lot of marks on the walls. If the house is 2800 sq.ft, then they didn't repaint it all for $1000, but that is still a lot of touch up paint, they may have repainted some walls or even rooms. Did you actually do anything damaging to the walls? Is there any part of the $500 that could be considered legit? Even if there was already marks, dings, or fading before you moved in, if you did additional damage, you could have some liability. Address that up front. Did you do $100 worth of necessary paint touch up from hanging shelves, or where bookcases or dressers rubbed against walls, or anything like that? If so, take that into consideration on what you are asking for. Even if damage was already present, if you added to it, you have some responsibility.
I would try a polite conversation first, and if that doesn't work, find out what the local law says you have to do to dispute a deposit charge, and do that. In Idaho, you have to send a certified letter of objection stating why you feel the charge is unfair or incorrect, and asking the difference be refunded within 3 days. If they don't do so, you take them to small claims. I would guess the process would be similar most places.
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