Property Damage

[homealone]

One of the worst fears for landlords is that the property that they are renting out is going to get damaged. The amount of damage of course depends on how well the tenants took care of the place.

There have been some rentals that were completely destroyed, and some which were only cosmetically damaged.

This is one reason there should be detailed contracts made when your renting out a property to help make sure that you are protected against such damages being done.

Personally I have seen some homes that people were renting and then left, and they would leave food laying out everywhere, clothings, toys, trash, and it looks like the entire place had never been cleaned in years.

These are the kinds of places where a landlord could be in for some huge pay outs because of the cost of clean up, repairs and so on.

The damages done to a property should be recorded in detail, and then seek charges against the previous tenants.

[House on the Prairie]

This is absolutely where a security deposit should be required. In all my years of property management, I've never once regretted asking for a deposit of at least a full month's rent, sometimes two if the credit check showed some lackluster results. The truth is though, even the most rigorous tenant screening can't determine how people will act after a divorce (or a marriage) or after a fall-out with roommates (or the law). Damage more than the deposit is unfortunate, but at least you're not totally footing the bill on your own.

The biggest thing you can do to prevent a word war with a former tenant is to do a walk-through at the time you hand over keys and go over, in detail, the current condition and your expectations of the condition at the time of move-out. You can't charge for normal wear and tear, but you can certainly charge for trash removal. Just don't be unrealistic about your expectations or greedy with cash that doesn't, by rights, belong to you.