Tenant-caused property damage that cannot be recouped

[Anonymous]

Just an FYI for those of you considering becoming landlords around here, and for filthy tenants.

I just had a family move out of one of my properties due to lease non-renewal. I had seen enough damage done to the property while they lived there that it wasn’t worth the rental income. I do quarterly walkthroughs.

I pulled all of the appliances out of the kitchen and found multiple sticky spills that were never cleaned and some type of food crumbs behind and inside of all of the appliances. The oven was such a mess that I had to throw it out. The sticky liquid and crumbs had fallen where they could not be cleaned safely. The interior of the refrigerator was filled with a sticky liquid that they had tried to clean but it had already seeped into the seams of the shelves so they had to be thrown out.

I also found dead roaches in these areas. The property had been treated which is why they were dead.

Tenants- your filth is your problem, not your property manager’s. This place is more disgusting than a frat house.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like being a landlord is not for you

[Anonymous]

I mean, messes in kitchens are pretty typical, no? I thought you were going to say the walls were now unstable/the house was uninhabitable and the renters were bankrupt.

[Anonymous]

You threw out an over because of some sticky stuff and crumbs? WTF.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You threw out an over because of some sticky stuff and crumbs? WTF.

Roaches. Did you miss that?

Most tenants are not roach caretakers. I would know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You threw out an over because of some sticky stuff and crumbs? WTF.

Roaches. Did you miss that?

Most tenants are not roach caretakers. I would know.

Dead roaches. This is not "unrecoupable propoerty damage." Get over yourself.

[Anonymous]

Yupppppp bad tenants can be the worst - that’s why it’s important to treat good tenants with respect and kindness. They’re like gold. I’d rather rent to a good person at below market value than raise rent constantly and get bad people like you’re describing.

Sorry OP Hope you made them put down a chunky security deposit to at least recoup some of the money. Sucks that people like this exist since it forces landlords to require such high security deposits + first and last month rent upfront.

Also yeah if you need to spend 4-5 hours cleaning an oven and you make 100/hr at your job, throw out the oven. Time is money.

[Anonymous]

This is par for the course. There is a product called Goo Gone that can remove sticky substances. Personally I would not have thrown out the appliances unless they were no longer functional and I would have removed the cost of a professional cleaning from the security deposit.

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised that the living space got that bad with your quarterly walkthroughs. Did the mess and filth/cockroaches appear in the last couple months or did you see hints of it in your checkups? Were your checkups thorough? In our rent agreements the landlord typically adds a clause for an extra billable cleaning fee of 200-400$ if a mess is left or lumps that into the security deposit.

[Anonymous]

If the sticky liquid and crumbs fell "where they could not be cleaned safely," how did you expect the tenants to clean them up?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the sticky liquid and crumbs fell "where they could not be cleaned safely," how did you expect the tenants to clean them up?

Exactly.

It sounds like the tenant…cooked a lot. Roaches are a you problem, you should have an exterminator through quarterly.

[Anonymous]

You seem too picky.

[Anonymous]

I can't get past "quarterly walk-throughs." I rented for years and no landlord ever required this. If you need that level of control, you're not cut out to be a landlord.

[Anonymous]

ALL of that sounds retrievable, because my husband does this kind of mess regularly, and I always manage to clean it. For the baked-on stuff in the oven, you need to break out the toxic cleaning agents, though, which I hate to do, and it can leave scratch marks. The fridge seams can be cleaned with patience and ingenuity.

You are not cut out to be a landlord, OP, if you think that sort of mess is not salvageable. Also, you have no idea what actual damage some renters can do if you think this is bad!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the sticky liquid and crumbs fell "where they could not be cleaned safely," how did you expect the tenants to clean them up?

Yeah, I own and I know that behind my stove it's probably terrifying. Oh well!

This is not a renter/owner divide.