[bjenkins]

Since buying our home we have painted various rooms, replaced old doors with new nice wooden ones and changed out the old closet doors also for new ones. We have re-done the trim work (baseboards and door/window frames) in these areas too. The rest of the home is in good condition, but not newly finished.
When we rented our house out, we advised the tenant that it will be left in it's current state in terms of upgrades. We have not finished the baseboard trim in the newly painted hallway and in an upstairs bedroom. The original doors and closets remain intact there also, in good condition -but they are not the new wooden ones.
The tenant is demanding that we finish all the trim, replacing closets and doors-- does she have any legal right to do so? Our lease only says that the house be in 'good, sanitary and habitable condition'. We are not planning on continuing upgrade work while the house is rented out.
Also, if the tenant paints or stains rooms/doors, etc. in violation of the lease which states that the tenant will petition written permission from the landlord for all painting, what recourse does the landlord have?
Thanks for any helpful advice!

[rockinmommy]

The tenant can request whatever they want in terms of doors, trim, etc, but you have no obligation to provide any additional upgrades like what you mentioned. She's being ridiculous!

As far as changes she makes without permission... that would constitute a lease violation. What does your lease say about lease violations. Typically the tenant would be responsible for things being put back the way they were when they moved in. You could wait until they move out and take it out of the deposit, but we've been in the situation where the deposit winds up not being enough to cover everything.

Before things get out of hand, I'd set up an appointment to go to the house and walk through with the tenant. That way she can point out everything to you that she would like you to change and everything that she's planning on changing. Everyone will be on the same page, and you can either grant her permission to do certain, very specific things, or tell her that under no circumstances is she to make any changes. I'd then follow up by sending her a letter stating, "As we discussed when I came by today.......blah, blah, blah."

Karla in TX

[ScottGem]

Has she moved in yet? If not, maybe you want to cancel this. She does not sound like a tenant you want.

To demand that you make upgrades to the property is ridiculous. If somethins is broken and doesn't work right, that's one thing. But to upgrade is out of line.

Any changes made without permission become your property. If you decide to remove those changes, you can charge her the cost of doing so. If you decide to keep them, you do not owe her anything for them.