Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Question: I provided a brand new refrigerator while a tenant was in the apartment. I purchased it in January, and it was in perfect condition. The tenant moved out at the end of June. The refrigerator has 3 dents in it that were not there before. Is that an item that I can deduct part of his security deposit for? I am in New York State.

Probably would be considered as wear-n-tear

Posted by Stan M, CA on Monday, July 24, 2017

I'd call that a "damage" ... I had the same thing happen to my stainless steel fridge, it actually looked like a lunch/fist dent and I told them they'd have to replace this door or pay equal to the cost to replace it. That's not a "normal" thing to dent a fridge. IMO it's different that getting a carpet a little dingy, normal wear and tear for a fridge would be like scratching the shelves when your pulling food out or something, that's about the same as punching a hole in the wall-not normal. Anyways, I'm sure you ether decided to deduct or not already, but that's my thought process.

Posted by Natalie H, MN on Monday, August 28, 2017

Britt didn’t state how large the dents were. My assumption was that the dents were about the size of a dime or nickel. Britt also didn’t state the damage had cause the fridge to malfunction…… I believe Britt would have a hard time convincing the court (if the tenant sued) that a replacement (door for example) would be justified…… Dents in appliances (washers, dryers, etc.) are ”Normal”, especially with children present….. The question a landlord needs to ask, “is this worth (time/$$$$$) going to court over?” The next question to ask, “if I win, will I be able to collect the judgment?”…….. I guess Britt could always deduct a value on the dents from the sec.dpst and if tenant balks give it back.

Posted by Stan M, CA on Monday, August 28, 2017