DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Any Landlords out there

Just curious if anyone out there has any rental properties? I have a couple questions about how you handle property damage/wear and tear

Not a landlord, but I've inhabited rental properties before. Based on experience, I'd say to install the cheapest carpets you can and paint everything a matte white. Raise your rent 2 to 5% every year, and when the tenants have had enough of the cost, take the cost of the now well-worn carpets and walls out of the deposit.

i do, but i still have all my orignal tenant for the few years i have had the properties. i put all new appliances in my units as well as new carpeting, and luckily i haven't deal with any property damage....yet.

So basically i did a pretty thorough remodel two years ago prior to tenants...new floors, expensive stainmaster carpet, new doors and landscaping, flash forward to now, renters bought a house and now i am trying to rent out again but theyve destroyed the new carpet and let the landscaping get over run and nothing was as I left it. No structural damage thank god, but My question about damage and deposit is I know under ohio law landlord is responsible for refreshing paint and getting the carpets cleaned. I have no problem with that, but they ruined the carpet beyond a cleaning, like tons of stains that neglect was obvious. I know carpet is a depreciable item, but after two years I would think they are liable and I should be able to apply their deposit towards replacement. Am I wrong?

STAINMASTER-warranties.pdf
https://www.lowes.com/brands/stainmaster/images/STAINMASTER-warranties.pdf

It seems like anything except pet vomit and poop is covered under their warranty.

If they have destroyed the carpet beyond that level, like physically destroying the carpet, it should be covered under warranty.

Landlords have to clean the carpets, and generally paint the walls, and so forth in between tenants in Ohio. The "normal wear and tear" standard applies, so if you have a tenant who was in the rental for 10 years, you'll have a hard time legally justifying having to re-paint, but if you have to repaint after 2 years due to damage to the paint, you should be able to charge for that against the deposit.

I would suggest that you document everything, with notes and photos, and send a list, with costs, to the tenant. Remember that security deposits accrue 5% interest in Ohio.

Your link doesn't work for me. But, I can tell you this: Most carpet company warranties require the carpet to be professionally cleaned by a certified company every 12-18 months (depending on the details in the warranty).

If you plan to continue being a landlord into the indefinite future, this is the cost of a lesson learned.

I imagine the carpet issue is somewhat subjective. (except the useful life on a nice carpet is a whole hell of a lot longer than two years)

Being a successful landlord can be very financially rewarding. But it’s very hard work. Sometimes you gotta be an “a-hole” towards “nice” people who will absolutely take advantage of you. Hey, you’re the “rich” landlord.

If the carpet condition is close, if it truly has to be replaced.

Withhold their security, replace the carpet. And make them take you to small claims court. You lose nothing except the incredible aggravation and time.



Then hunt down their family, friends and neighbors.

yep this is what I'm reading too in my warranty book I got

yeah its def a neglect and above a normal wear and tear.. It's a 10 year carpet that has to be scratched. Im putting in laminate in every room except bathroom and kitchen, if they want carpet they can buy an area rug.

This looks exactly like the small claims court in Hartford.



Been there myself (as a tenant). And won!

Landlord had to remit $1,100 of security deposit.

She was a scumbag who probably withheld every tenants' deposit as standard operating procedure. (It's a pain in the ass for the tenant too - so why not? Most don't bother. You have to fill out and submit paperwork, wait months, take a day off work, shlep your ass downtown, etc...)

And it was ~ 2 months after that before I got the money back.

By then the moral victory was worth as much as the grand.

I'd recommend using a pre/post checklist in the future. Something along the lines of these:

Link 1
Link 2

Plus, document/photograph everything. Keep a folder for each property on your PC with subfolders for each tenant.

Never been a landlord, but it's what they did for base housing more or less.

I would never use carpet. If you install hardwood floors all you have to do is sand down any rough spots and revarnish. Plus since they are hardwood they take a real beating before any meaningful damage happens. Judge will always side with the landlord when hardwood floors are damaged. It's also way easier to keep out pests and have cleaned between rentings.

You can do it cheap by yourself if you can run a routing table and make your own flooring. You can buy 2 inch thick yellow pine and polyurethane it and it holds up extremely well.

We have a few rental properties, luckily, we usually have long term tenants, but when they do move, it is work.

Carpets are almost always nasty, but replace with cheap carpet, or more recently we replaced the carpets with vinyl faux wood planks. Highly durable, stain resistant, and were cheap.

Paint the walls, we typically go with light greys vs white as it deals with the typical hand swipes around light switches better.

There is a checklist of all the items in the house as part of the lease. Even including ice trays, appliances, window treatments, ceiling fans, etc. You'de be amazed at what people will take with them, especially if they assume they will not get thier deposit back. We had a tenant take the dishwasher we replaced just 6 months prior to him leaving.

We include paragraphs about lawn maintenance and general care. If nothing else it gives you more leverage if you ever have to evict someone, which in itself is a PITA, but when necessary you better have your ducks in a row.