I just informed Ray that he’s going to have to pay for the refinishing of his room. He’s obviously not pleased about it. (Reminder of the state of Ray’s walls here.)
I’ve yet to get a painter in for an estimate, but I’ve told Ray that the cost of filling the holes and painting the room will come out of his damage deposit.
Ray has argued back that the room will be in better condition than it was when he moved in, since it didn’t have fresh paint when he arrived. Therefore, while he has no problem with covering the cost of filling the holes, he doesn’t think he should pay for the entirety of the paint job.
My argument is that had he not punched hundreds of tiny holes in the walls, the room wouldn’t need to be painted at all. And I’m certainly not going to take on the financial responsibility of painting it after he leaves, because it will have to be done eventually. There’s no way of repairing that particular damage to the point it was at when he moved in. If there was a finish called “two year old paint job” then you can be sure I’d have that put on the walls.
But really, if he broke or damaged something concrete, such as a dish, and was asked to replace it, I wonder if he’d try to amortize how long I’ve had that dish, and what condition it was in, and just give me his perceived “actual value”, instead of buying a new one to replace it?
I’m so fed up, I’m about thisclose to starting in on a very politically incorrect “Cheap and Stingy Asian Person” tirade (though I won’t…).
So what I want to know is this: Would you give Ray a break on the cost of painting, since the room wasn’t freshly painted when he moved in? Or would you stick him with the whole cost, since it wouldn’t need to be fixed if he hadn’t ruined it in the first place?
Well, I’d take the following into consideration.
– Prior to him moving in, was there smoking of any kind going on in that room? If so, the walls would (Rather unpleasantly) reflect this. If not, the paint probobly looked fine.
– No water damage/other staining? If not, most interior paint jobs stand up to the test of time for more than just two years.
– All things considered, those holes ruin not only the current paint job, but also the overall integrity of the walls they’re put into – even with a new paint job they will still be there, and can result in an uneven surface even after painting. For some you may have to use a tiny bit of PolyFill to compensate to prevent unevenness.
– IMHO, I’d ding him for the full schebang. Any landlord would, regardless of his argument.
Happy Winter-een-mas, Jen! 🙂
-J
I would TOTALLY stick him with that bill. He should have thought about what both your and the landlord’s reaction would have been when he started poking all the holes in the walls in the first place!
He should have to pay the whole bill. And you shouldn’t have had to fight him for it, a decent person would have realized that its only fair since it wouldn’t have needed the paint job if not for the copious amounts of shit he put up on the walls.
I’m sorry, but like you said, if he hadn’t stuck 983478274398q7we879q98we7q98e798qw7e98qw7e9q8w7e98qwe687w6r7347834683476832764873264 pins inb the wall you wouldn’t have to paint or repair it at all.
Tell him you’ll waive the patching & painting costs if he’ll do the work himself 😉 Otherwise, I say make him pay!
The bottom line is…you can’t JUST fill eight million holes without re-painting the room. A few dozen, maybe. But not that many. Stick him with the bill. But make sure that you take photos and document how many holes he had and what it looked like prior. Otherwise, you may be on the hook for the full bill, if he decides to press the issue with the Residential Tenancy Branch.
Jer: No smoking in the room. And the paint was new when *I* moved in a couple or three years ago.
Mel: Considering he couldn’t fry an egg, there’s no way I’m letting him try his hand at home renovation.
Dearheart: I figure if he insists on pressing it, I’ll also remind him about the part of the Residential Tenancy Act that states he needs to be out on the 31st before noon (I’m assuming he won’t be out until later in the afternoon).
I’m kindof hoping now that it costs more to have it done than his deposit covers, so I can take him to small claims for the rest if he doesn’t pay…
Ghad I am SO DONE with the crazy! Thanks all for reminding me that I *am* apparently the sane and decent person in the situation.
In California, I was always told that for residency less than a year, they could charge you if it needed repainting, and for residency longer than a year, they normally couldn’t. This is assuming just normal wear and tear — in other words, if they just want to make it look new for the next person, you weren’t responsible for keeping paint in mint condition for more than a year.
That said, we’re talking HOLES IN THE WALL — and that’s something that’s totally not acceptable, regardless of the length of the tenancy.
He’s either got to get it back to the hole-less condition when he moved in, or you do it and charge him — and you don’t need to get the estimate beforehand, but he’s got abide by any reasonable repair cost, paint included.
TTFN
Travis
Stick it to him! Arrr!