Q-My tenant`s lease is expiring and she is moving out. She has been a good tenant and paid her rent on time. The problem is that she has painted her walls green. At the time she got the apartment the walls were white, and I never gave her permission to paint them. Can I charge her for the cost of repainting the apartment?
A-A lot depends upon the provisions in your lease and the amount of work needed to return the walls to their painted white condition.
Most leases provide that departing tenants must surrender their apartments in the same condition as when they took possession-except for ordinary wear and tear. Some leases also provide that tenants cannot paint the apartments without the landlord`s approval or, if the tenant does paint, the walls must be repainted white at the tenant`s expense when he or she leaves.
You should check your lease for these provisions and see how explicit they are. If the lease calls for white walls, or for repainting at the tenant`s expense, you may be able to deduct part of the repainting costs from the tenant`s security deposit.
It is unlikely, however, that you can deduct the full cost of repainting the walls.
A landlord is expected to recondition an apartment between tenancies so that the new tenant will find it in good condition. Every apartment requires some reconditioning after the expiration of a tenancy and part of that reconditioning is presumed to include repainting, to the extent that is required to put it in rentable condition.
Because you therefore would be responsible for the cost of basic repainting, you would not be able to charge your former tenant for it. Thus, if it is customary for you to put one new coat of paint on the walls, you would be responsible for the costs.
However, if the normal repainting job does not return the walls to white- because your tenant`s green paint job still shows through-you probably could charge her for the additional paint and labor to complete the task.
Renewal quandary
Q-I live in Chicago, and my lease expires at the end of April. I would like to stay in the apartment and have communicated that fact to my landlord. So far, my landlord has been noncommittal on my remaining in the apartment. I am afraid that the landlord will say nothing and then will expect me out of the apartment when the lease expires. Needless to say, I would have no time to find another apartment. What can I do to avoid this problem?
A-Under a recent amendment to Chicago`s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, it`s very unlikely that you will face this problem. Under the law, the landlord is not responsible for providing the tenant with notice that his or her lease will not be renewed. That law has been modified by the ordinance. The amendment states that unless the landlord is attempting to terminate the lease for some form of default, he must give you written notice that he does not intend to renew your lease at least 30 days before it expires. This same notice must be given to terminate a month-to-month tenancy, where there is no written lease and no stated termination date.
If the landlord fails to give you the written notice and then fails to renew your lease, you have the right to remain in the apartment-under the same terms as your current lease-for up to 60 days beyond the lease termination date. You must continue to pay rent and otherwise obey the terms of your lease during that additional time.
Some landlords provide rent abatements, perhaps allowing the tenants to live rent-free for the first month or two of the lease. Some multiple-year leases call for incremental rent increases. Under this ordinance, if either of these conditions existed under the original lease, or if there was any other waiver or reduction of rent, the rent rate for the 60-day lease extension would equal the rate for the last full month of the lease.
You probably should try to contact your landlord again about renewing the lease. You also might make him aware of this new section of the ordinance, because it might speed up his decision on your lease renewal.
By contacting your landlord now, you might be able to discuss his hesitancy about making a commitment to renewing your lease. If there is a problem between the two of you, it probably would be easier and cheaper to resolve it than for you to move and for him to find a new tenant.
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Robert A. Boron, a Chicago attorney who specializes in leasing matters, writes about landlord and tenant issues for the Tribune. Questions to him can be addressed to Rental Q&A, Your Place section, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60611. Sorry, but he cannot make personal replies.
