I live in the state of California. We moved grandma out of her apartment end of this month. She was a smoker. We are being told that we have to clean the carpets and wash the walls and that they pay charge us for re-painting the apartment. She live in it exactly 1 year. The only thing that is in the residential lease is "we will apply the deposit after you vacate the premises to repair any loss or damage caused by you or your guests to the premises or the development other than normal wear and tear". There is not a non-smoking clause in the agreement except for in common areas. We have already paid to have the carpets cleaned, but what about us cleaning the walls and being charged for paint whether we wash the walls or not.

It is not unreasonable to have to clean up "smoke" damage, the next tenant could have breathing or allergic issues, and the place has to be completely cleaned.

The issue of the paint could be if they were yellowed due to the smoke.