Re: urgent - pls help

On 20 Jul 2005 19:32:59 -0700 in misc.consumers,
avacohen100@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

> The lease specifically specifies that "no smoking is allowed on the
> property".
>
> Now the 1 year lease is up. On inspection the WHOLE house smells of
> cigarette smoke and she found cigarette butts and an empty cigarette
> pack in the home.
>
> Can she use the deposit to recarpet the whole house...probably about
> 1,000 sf. ?
>
of course. that's what the deposit is for. but she may have a
limited time to decide what to do, and how much to withhold.
most states require that the security deposit be accounted for
within a certain time period, and the remainder after cleaning
and repairs be refunded by a certain time, or the landlord
forfeits the deposit or the tenant gets treble damages.

TAKE PICTURES *BEFORE* DOING *ANY* CLEANING OR REPAIRS. take
closeups of all damage such as cig burns.
>
> Will this take care of the smell?
>
probably not. it will probably be necessary to repaint, and to
prime the wall with killz or zerolac or some other sealant primer
to encapsulate the smoke residue *after* thoroughly scrubbing the
walls. anything you have to do because the tenant violated the
lease or rental agreement should be chargeable to the tenant,
including painting not due to normal wear and tear.

> What are her options as a landlord ?
>
check the landlord-tenant law in your state. no one should ever
rent property without knowing their local landlord-tenant law.
see
http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectID/1682EC3F-6144-4D2B-9F5C6971C36F2928/213/178/ART/

if the security deposit is not enough, you should file a small
claims action against the tenant. once you get a judgment you
can garnish wages or seize assets (like a car or bank account) in
order to satisfy the judgment, and if you win the tenant pays all
the court costs and interest until the debt is paid.

in order to prevent this kind of belated action, landlords should
always inspect the rental premises at least every 3 months (with
notice to the tenants) to ensure compliance with the lease and
the rental rules and to make sure that there are no unreported
problems with the apartment, plumbing, heating, and electrical.

an inspection also allows the landlord to check the tenants'
housekeeping (the lease requires them to keep the apt clean and
in good condition, doesn't it?). we conduct an inspection about
6 weeks after move-in and then quarterly, since tenants rarely
report stuff like running toilets, dripping faucets, or leaky
sink traps. we also check to make sure all smoke alarms are
working.

any time we catch a tenant smoking in a non-smoking unit we issue
them the notice the landlord-tenant act requires that they are in
violation of their lease and they have the statutory period to
fix the problem. if they have another violation within 6 months
in my state, we can then evict them on five days notice with no
remedy once we have given the notice.


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