Landlord Question and Answer Forum

My lease with my tenants is up in two months. When my tenants moved in, the house was newly painted and floored. Can I hold back from their security deposit the cost to re-paint all the scuff marks on the walls and for water damage to the pergo wood flooring. that they will leave behind? Or is this considered normal "wear and tear"? Thanks in advance for responding!

The wall would seem to be normal wear and tear... as far as the flooring, how did the water damage get there? Traditionally, that wouldnt come from a tenant... it would be a leaky pipe, or water coming from somewhere.

Posted by karen s, WI on Friday, April 5, 2013

I do have a simple tip that might work on the scuff marks on the wall-use a damp Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Extra Power-you can get a tub of 10 erasers at Costco under $12. These usually work on removing scuffs and marks on painted surfaces as well as on tubs/showers that have been re-glazed. These Mr.C erasers have become a handy clean-up tool for me. Also, another wonder product that I have successfully used in my renovations/cleanups is Krud Kutter.This stuff is great-you can use it on hard surfaces, painted areas, greasy,grimy, really filthy areas and on fabrics. I had a 12"circle area on the beige carpet in the middle of the hallway-very noticeable. I tried carpet spot removers, carpet cleaners; finally as a last ditch effort before calling a carpet cleaning professional- I sprayed Krud Kutter on the big spot fairly heavy. I let it sit 5 minutes, I brushed it with an old toothbrush,then I wipe it all up with a wet towel rag. This worked so well on the spot areas that I didn't need to have all the carpets cleaned. You can buy Krud Kutter at WalMart in the paint area, also at Home Depot & Lowes.

Posted by Juan R, CA on Friday, April 5, 2013