Topic: Damage deposits

I'm just curious about damage deposits. What percentage of former tenants get their deposits back?
In whole? 0%
In part? 0%
None? 0%

No replies... Hummm. Could it be that nobody (or very few) ever get their damage deposits back. Is the whole concept completely bogus? Come on brave souls, fess up, is it a scam?

I would say 50% get it back because we do take their final utility bills out of their refundable deposit. The other 50% most likely have paid our non refundable deposit where they will not receive anything back. We offer a non refundable option at the time of application as long as their credit and criminal is approved.

Melody wrote:

I would say 50% get it back because we do take their final utility bills out of their refundable deposit. The other 50% most likely have paid our non refundable deposit where they will not receive anything back. We offer a non refundable option at the time of application as long as their credit and criminal is approved.

Thank you for responding.

At my property, no one gets their full deposit back because we are required by state law to charge for carpet cleaning when a resident moves out, but the majority of the time that's the only thing that they are charged for. It honestly depends on the clientele. If you have a property where the residents care about their standing with you (because it affects their credit and rental history) you'll find that they tend to leave the unit in great condition. If you work at a C or D property with a lot of evictions, where usually the residents don't really care about their credit or rental history, then you're looking at the ones where they leave holes in the walls, cigarette burns in the carpets, couches and beds. Something to consider, though, is that when we calculate the cost of damages, we have to consider the cost of extra maintenance time in the unit, the cost of contractors, etc. Instead of just charging the cost of the item that we're replacing because it costs to have maintenance spend more time than predicted in the unit and less time on work orders, routine maintenance, etc. Also: the more time that is spent turning a unit means the longer it sits vacant AKA not bringing in any money!

First of all, we have low deposit charges - $300 1bdrm, $500 2bdrm. Carpet cleaning is charged on move-out $100-$135. All the rest is fully refundable. We ask that residents leave it in the same condition that they received it. There have been occasions when the unit was SO CLEAN, I refunded 100%. Most of the time I find that people hate cleaning the oven - even when they know we charge $40 to clean it for them.

Great! Now we're getting somewhere on this thread. Carpet cleaning is not really a deposit then, it's a fee so I guess I'm asking about the rest of it. What percentage of folks get their deposits back? Most state laws that I'm aware of allow for reasonable wear and tear. So, what's reasonable? Oven cleaning for example, if most people leave the oven dirty, isn't that reasonable wear and tear? Does clean mean rent-ready? If you were to ask me as a maintenance guy how long a tenant would normally be in an apartment before it needs a new coat of paint, I would say a year. Holes in the walls? People are going to hang pictures. Broken knobs on appliances? A leaky shower valve cartridge? Dust on the blinds? I've had managers try to charge for all sorts of things that break in the normal course of every-day living. How much time and expense is expected per year of occupancy to turn an apartment? Is there a formula to compute that?

I have an excel checklist that I will be happy to send you if you would like. We make it part of their lease signing. It is basically a cleaning and damage cost list if something isn't clean or is broken at time of move out. It also has the carpet %'s broken down by how long they may have lived there. Typically we have the resident provide a copy of their carpet shampoo receipt and it saves us time and on the turn if they already have it done and the carpet is in really good shape.

Anonymous wrote:

I have an excel checklist that I will be happy to send you if you would like. We make it part of their lease signing. It is basically a cleaning and damage cost list if something isn't clean or is broken at time of move out. It also has the carpet %'s broken down by how long they may have lived there. Typically we have the resident provide a copy of their carpet shampoo receipt and it saves us time and on the turn if they already have it done and the carpet is in really good shape.

Well, that's certainly generous of you. But I was hoping for a more industry wide picture. You see, in my home state the law reads that the tenants are allowed "Reasonable wear and tear" and to my mind that means that 66.666...% Should get a full refund. 33% will cause less than reasonable damage, 33% will cause reasonable damage, and the others get to play the bill because they are slobs. But that doesn't seem to be the way things have worked out in my experience. Lets face it, if the tenant takes a hammer to the kitchen cupboards, but the cupboards are 30 years old and made of particle board, no monetary damage has been done because the cupboards are worn out. Is that going to stop the company from taking their deposit? Probably not. Things don't last forever. Dust gathers, paint fades, carpets wear, plumbing leaks, how is that the tenant's fault?

May I plus have your spreadsheet for damage costs?