Real Estate Community Forum

I have rental property and my tenant moved out the other day. Upon entering the vacant apartment, I was shocked to see the mess he left behind. He was only there a year and the carpets are damaged with urine that came from his pets. It was writen on the lease there were suppose to be no pets allowed, yet he went ahead and had them. Now the place smells and looks like an animal farm. The security deposit will not cover all the expenses that will have to go into cleaning up the place. Is it possible that I can sue my previous tenant for damages left to the apartment?

Hi Brian,

Of course you can sue your previous tenant for the damages but you have to consider the opportunity costs of your time, money for court costs, stress, etc. After all of that, chances are the court will find in your favor and issue a judgment which you will probably never be able to collect unless your tenant decides to buy his/her own home one day and needs to clean up their credit. Experience has taught me that those that can live in really dirty homes without being bothered aren't concerned about having "clean" credit.

I would just learn as much as possible from the whole experience and make sure that regular interior care obligation walkthroughs are performed on all of your properties in the future.

Check out this thread. Sounds similar and worth the read.