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Normal Wear and Tear vs. Damages To A Rental Property

The following partial list is intended as a guide to reasonable interpretation of the differences between wear and tear from normal residential use and irresponsible or intentional actions that cause damage to a landlord's property.

Wear & Tear	Damages
Worn out keys	Lost keys
Loose or stubborn door lock	Broken or missing locks
Drapes faded by sun	Drapes damaged by cat or dog
Loose hinges or handles on doors	Damage to a door from forced entry
Worn gasket on refrigerator door	Broken refrigerator shelf
Worn and dirty carpeting	Torn, stained, or burned carpeting
Warped cabinet doors that don’t latch	Sticky or greasy cabinet doors or interiors
A few small tack holes in walls	Gouges in walls that require patching and painting
Moderately dusty mini blinds	Missing or bent mini blind slats
Dryer that delivers cold air due to inoperative thermostat	Dryer that failed due to overloading
Carpet seam unglued	Rust or oil stains on carpet
Scuffed up wood floors	Badly scratched or gouged wood floors
Linoleum worn thin	Linoleum with tears or holes
Worn countertop	Burns and cuts in countertop
Stain on ceiling from rain or bad plumbing	Stain on ceiling from overflowed tub
Plaster cracks from settling	Holes in walls from kids or carelessness
Faded, chipped or cracked paint	Unapproved (bad) tenant paint job
Loose wallpaper	Ripped or marked-up wallpaper
Balky drapery rod	Broken drapery rod
Faded curtains and drapes	Torn or missing curtains and drapes
Heat blistered blinds	Blinds with bent slats
Dirty window or door screens	Torn or missing screens
Faded paint on walls	Water damage on walls from hanging plants
Sticky window	Broken window
Loose or inoperable faucet handle	Broken or missing faucet handle
Toilet runs or wobbles	Broken toilet seat or tank top
Urine odor around toilet	Urine or pet odor throughout unit
Closet bi-fold door off track	Damaged or missing bi-fold

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