A Question for Landlords.. should you let a tenant paint?

[Moraff]

The two apartment buildings I lived in before buying a house would allow me to paint my apartment providing I was going to be willing and able to repaint it back to their "rental colour" (also known as "builder's beige" with white ceilings).

Fortunately in both cases the incoming tenant liked both the quality and choices of my painting and asked the landlord to not have it repainted.

My suggestion would be that if you are going to allow the tenant to paint you should have the details of the agreement in writing. (ie landlord approval and returning it to original colours.

 

[C Dick]

I think if you look into it, there is a clause in the landlord tenant act about this. I lived in a building and some tenants on the 4th floor painted the ceiling black and the walls navy blue. The landlords stipulated and had the tenants sign a contract stating that they would return it to a neutral colour before leaving.

In my case, it was a commercial tenant, so the landlord tenant act does not apply. The tenant turned out to be a gangster, so I was not exactly pushing my rights. He was ok though, and he paid his rent in cash.

 

[alexmst]

That indeed is one stupid law! There may be other jurisdictions with the same, but Ontario is the only one of which I'm aware. Talk of being overly tenant friendly.

Now under 2006, c. 17, s. 34 : "The tenant is responsible for the repair of undue damage to the rental unit or residential complex caused by the wilful or negligent conduct of the tenant, another occupant of the rental unit or a person permitted in the residential complex by the tenant." But of course the landlord is going to have to chase them through the court system to collect.

I rented an unfurnished apartment in Virginia once and they only required, at time of signing, the first month's rent and last month's rent - no security deposit. Not sure if they were allowed to charge one, and didn't, oe whether it wasn't allowed. 2 months notice was required when leaving, and an inspection of the unit was required at that time. So I guess if it was damaged they would have raised that issue with me at the time. There was a clause in the contract saying "renter is responsible for any damage to unit and must pay to restore the unit to previous condition, excluding normal wear and tear to carpets, paint and appliances". They said that if a renter stayed more than 2 years they automatically designated the unit as receiving new carpeting, kitchen countertops and paint on all walls when the renter left at no charge to the renter. It was a large company that rented 100+ apartments and had full time staff to paint and recondition units. Maybe the fact that it was unfurnished was why no security deposit was required.

A neighbor of mine in the GTA rented his house to a couple who turned it into a pot grow house. They lived there a year, then moved. He found out after they left (took off with no notice one day, leaving their last month's rent)that the extreme humidity and heat they kept it at all year had warped the walls, caused mold growth, other damage etc far over their last month's rent. I told him the 2am delivery vans I saw out my window that came twice weekly empty and left full of plants should have tipped him off. He said he thought they were just raising house plants and selling them to nursuries, and the middle of the night pick ups were to avoid heavy traffic on the roads. Well, he got the growing plants part right I guess...it took him 3 months to fix it up enough to rent out again.

 

[tboy]

The two apartment buildings I lived in before buying a house would allow me to paint my apartment providing I was going to be willing and able to repaint it back to their "rental colour" (also known as "builder's beige" with white ceilings).

Fortunately in both cases the incoming tenant liked both the quality and choices of my painting and asked the landlord to not have it repainted.

My suggestion would be that if you are going to allow the tenant to paint you should have the details of the agreement in writing. (ie landlord approval and returning it to original colours.

I know what you're saying. An old gf of mine moved into a place and we painted it up really nice and did the trim etc. it looked pro. So pro in fact that the owner came by to see how we were doing (he was a great older italian guy) and saw our work and asked us how much we charge so he could get us to do other units before they went on the market.....he even brought his wife by to see what we'd done.....landlords appreciate stuff like this.....

 

[goldfinger]

Red is another colour that is a pain to cover over.

Will be doing it when tenents move out if they don't put it back to the flat white themselfs.

Red I hate red.....

 

[oldjones]

How do you know the tenant is even a moderately competent painter who can manage to keep the paint off doorknobs and glass and leave the walls and trim w/o runs and skips? What's your recourse?

 

[Cassini]

A previous landlord had a very simple rule: you could repaint the unit if you wanted, but he provided the paint.

Actually, for a rental unit, the renter will repaint if they want to. Essentially, the landlord was capitalizing on the free labour. However, by providing "free" paint, the landlord prevented the tenant from doing anything too wacky.

From a business point of view, I rather liked that landlord in particular. He seemed to have a good mix between agreeable and inept, that made him always seem nice, while only spending token amounts of money. It allowed him to keep "nice" tenants. As a landlord, you really want "nice" tenants that will do things like paint or somewhat maintain the place. It is simply to easy to rack up excessive damages on a single bad tenant. One bad tenant can cause a great deal of trouble. Actually, one bad tenant can cause you to lose multiple good tenants, and then stick you with a massive bill at the end of the lease.

 

[Tokyo Heights]

Two adults with mutual consent, then only you are allowed to paint either one of them
Same Clause applies over here also Lol! Strictly 18+ Only!

 

[Aardvark154]

Needless to say the difficulty here is generally not for the owner of a large apartment complex that has a maintenance crew and rental office, and who typically have sufficient resources that they are expecting to renovate each apartment between tenants. Rather it is for the person with an apartment or two, particularly if they don't live right in the neighborhood who has a tenant who is going to use the last month's rent as exactly that and who places furniture and hangs pictures so that they cover damage. Those landlords are conceivably going to end up have to spend more time than they should in court, or at least they will until they become “battle hardened.”

 

[Cobra Enorme]

the renter doesnt own the apartment. Some of you really need to rent out an apartment only to go into it after and realize you rented to some vampire lover and all the walls, doors, windows, floor is painted black. Good luck with that. Hey at least your tenant was able to express themselves and wasnt cookie cutter bland.

 

[Brill]

It all depends on the situation. In the OP's case, if it's a 2,000 sf house, I'd think the renters would be of above-average means and not do anything whacky.

The rich can't have poor taste? They have the money to really go crazy with your house!
I wouldn't judge by their means, in my experience the wealthier can be bold with their colours and the poor can have more understated tastes. Each might be too lazy or too busy to do anything at all.
You can't tell from their application, if you're able to see their current home it will tell you a lot about them.

 

[Hiding]

I'm new to this landlord business, but my leases stipulate that all walls must be kept in the original builder's beige-ish colour or returned to primer within two weeks of the tenants giving notice. I buy the primer in big bulk buckets and its relatively inexpensive. Before I start showing the apartment I usually do a quick inspectio to make sure everything is ready to go. Filing with the Landlord-Tenant Board costs $175, is a huge pain, and has no guaranteed outcome (even if you win!), so I'd be certain to cover your butt in advance with the lease.

So far I've split the costs of upgrades that weren't necessary (new bathroom tiles, new hardware, new lighting, etc.) as it raises the rental value significantly on the property. I just had my first tenant take advantage of that split in July and he gave his notice last month. He redid his bathroom, kitchen, and balcony, costing me about $2200 but raising the rental value of his apartment by $320/month (its an older building and his apartment was also rent controlled but it wasn't $320 off market value, about $75).

Renters don't have free reign but if you select carefully there are many people who will upgrade or maintain the property at little cost but great benefit to you.

 

[blackrock13]

I know a guy that rents in High Park and he paints and fixes things on his own and his landlord loves it and gives my friend breaks on his rent because of it. He doesn't want to lose a good tenant .

 

[Anynym]

That is true but the owner still owns the property and can have a say as to what the tenants do to it. Personal taste aside it is still a rental property and therefore any renter cannot treat it like they own it. If they want that then they should purchase something not rent.

Like something I told a customer of mine who had me refinishing their investment property (for rent and eventual sale). They wanted me to install the new hardwood floor at an acute angle to the windows as opposed to the standard 90 deg. I said "you have to do things that will be desired by the majority of people whom you wish to sell the property, you can't do things a little left of centre to suit your tastes". (she checked with her real estate agent and they confirmed my advice).

Same goes for rental properties: Renters don't have free reign over it and have to return it to the condition they found it in upon leaving (and believe me, they will eventually leave).

It is true the renters don't have free reign, but Landlords do not have the authority which so many believe they have. And selecting the colour of paint which the tenant must choose, or forcing the tenant to pay for painting after the tenancy has terminated, are beyond the authority which a Landlord has.

That's not to say that Landlords won't try to get away with things to which they are not legally entitled. In the past, some landlords tried to charge a full year's rent to students over the course of eight months, because students only needed the place during the school year. But that was illegal, and the courts put an end to the practice.

 

[larry]

I am a small landlord in Ontario. Altho the Landlord/Tenant act may seem to dis-allow painting under "damages", in reality a tenant can do anything they like. And if you evict them and then try to get money back, hahahaha. Good Luck. Read a bit before you go into this arena. There are a million horror stories and very few good ones. The dream "good tenants" exist but, guess what? They already live somewhere and their current landlord is bending over to keep them. You won't get one. Forget the paint. Wait till they're months in arrears and you still need to spend time at hearings to get them evicted. And if they just ante up, all your time is wasted. Tenants know the law. The worst ones know it well. A hundred bucks in paint is nothing. Don't spend another moment thinking about that.

 

[HAMSTER INSPECTOR]

If you allow them to paint, take pics of before the painting and sign an agreement that they will restore the appartment to the original color and condition 60 days before they leave. Stiplate that if that do not meet these conditions then you will have it done professionaly at their cost. Stipulate in the agreement the brand and quality of paint.