Normal Wear and Tear vs. Damage: What a Landlord Can Deduct From Your Deposit

Across the states TenantShield covers, deposit laws generally let a landlord keep money for unpaid rent and for damage beyond ordinary use, but not for normal wear and tear. Texas, California, Washington, Oregon, New York, Colorado, and North Carolina all state this limit in their deposit statutes.

Normal wear and tear is the gradual deterioration that happens when a home is lived in reasonably. Damage results from accidents, abuse, neglect, or unauthorized changes. The line is not always obvious, and courts decide close cases on the facts.

These are common examples, not rules that decide every case:

- Usually closer to wear and tear: faded or lightly scuffed paint, carpet worn in walkways, loose door handles from ordinary use, minor marks where furniture stood, sun-faded blinds. - Usually closer to damage: large holes in walls, burns, pet stains or odors, broken windows or fixtures, unauthorized paint colors, missing items the lease listed.

Age matters. Paint and carpet wear out over time, so a landlord asking a departing tenant to pay for a full replacement of an old item deserves a closer look. Colorado, for example, limits whole-unit carpet replacement and repainting charges, and does not treat carpet as substantially and irreparably damaged if it was not replaced with new carpet within the ten years before the tenancy ended.

Cleaning is a frequent dispute. Some states address it directly:

- Colorado treats leaving the unit substantially less clean than at the start of the lease as outside normal wear and tear. - Oregon allows a machine carpet-cleaning deduction only under specific conditions, including a written rental agreement provision. - Washington bars carpet-cleaning deductions unless the landlord documents wear beyond ordinary use.

Compare the charge with your move-in report and your move-out photos. If the unit was returned as clean as you received it, say so and attach the evidence.

Several states require landlords to back up damage charges:

- California addresses before-and-after photographs and supporting documents such as receipts or invoices for repair and cleaning deductions. - Washington requires copies of estimates or invoices for damage charges and, for work done by the landlord or staff, a statement of time spent and the hourly rate. - Illinois requires an itemized statement with paid receipts or copies, or follow-up receipts when costs were estimated. - New York limits deductions to reasonable, itemized costs in listed categories and places the burden of proving reasonableness on the landlord.

A charge with no explanation, no amount breakdown, or no supporting record is a natural target for a written dispute.

A landlord generally should not charge you for a problem that existed before your tenancy. Colorado bars retention for damage or defective conditions that preexisted the tenancy. New York bars retention for damage caused by a prior tenant. Washington limits charges for items whose condition was not reasonably documented in the signed move-in checklist.

This is why the move-in checklist and your first-day photos matter so much. If you have them, attach them to your dispute.

Respond in writing and handle each charge separately:

1. Quote the charge and the amount. 2. State why you dispute it: wear and tear, pre-existing condition, no documentation, or an unreasonable amount. 3. Point to the evidence: move-in report, photos, receipts, or messages. 4. Ask for the amount you believe is owed and a specific payment date.

Check your state’s tenant-side deadlines first. Florida, for example, generally gives tenants 15 days to object in writing after receiving a landlord’s notice of claim, and Arizona tenants who do not dispute a mailed itemization within 60 days may waive further claims.