Did no renew lease due to tenant smoking in an a no smoking apt

There is a no smoking policy in my bldg. tenant was smoking in apt spoke to him about it he said he was sorry and would not do it again. He lied he has smoked so much the cover to the kitchen ceiling light is brown it was white, smoke detector is tan was white. Can I replace these fixtures and take money from security deposit? How do i charge for smoking damage. Is there a form that suggest charges to deduct from security deposit when there is damage beyond normal ware when leasing to a tenant.

While we allow smoking in my building it almost always ends in damages above the s/d being charged. If your lease is worded like most it says something like "apartment should be returned in the condition it was received less normal wear and tear". Smoke damage is not wear and tear. It's damage to the unit that is often times VERY costly to repair.

Do not have your contract in front of me to see the wording, but you did say it is a no smoking policy in the building. So, then there is a violation of the contract as well as he should be held liable for all restoration costs. I have seen some cases where negligence was ruled against the tenant and they had to pay full costs for restoration. I am an advocate of requiring tenants to get renters insurance as this can prevent many situations from becoming problems for the owners / management company.

As long as its a policy and its documented with their signature you can charge away. I always walk the units with my residents in advance so that they have the oppurtunity to replace/fix what needs replaced/fixed before we charge an arm and leg for labor, repair and cost of material. With that I refund back almost all of my deposits and can rerent a unit with minimal turn required. It saves a lot of money and time on the mainentance end.

Another thing you could do to prevent this later on, is have every new tenant and renewal initial next to that paragraph in your policies.

Until then, lots of pictures of damamges and keep all receipts of products in case they tries to retaliate with court action.

Smoking is beyond normal wear and tear so even if you allowed smoking you can still charge for these damages. I would document everything including taking pictures. I am hoping they filled out a move in inspection sheet or your lease states that the resident agrees they are taking the unit in a good clean condition (If your lease does not say that I would definately update your lease). If you have it in your lease already that you cannot smoke you should add an addendum to your lease that declares a cleaning fee of x amount of dollar if smoking is detected as hotels do! There is nothing in the law stating you can't do this as long as the charges are reasonable. Since I am sure some of your marketing is concentrated on the "No Smoking" idea than I would assume the courts would find it reasonable to charge the tenant to replace instead of repair on some items since you cannot re-rent a unit that smells like cigarette smoke when you advertise a nonsmoking environment!

We charge a basic hourly rate of $20 for cleaning and repairs. If the damages are excessive than we charge contractors charges so if we need a heating and cooling company to pull the a/c unit and clean it than we charge them this plus a convenience charge for our time to call them, paying the bill on their behalf, and maintenance's time for unlocking, supervising, and locking the door once the contractor leaves. We give the residents a list of charges when they give their 30 day notice so that they are aware of the charges. I am very forward with our charges and about 90% of the time we get great looking apartments returned to us.. who wants to pay $25 to remove one bag of trash?!? No one so they do it themselves!

Hope this helps