Posted by
bobius
18 yrs ago
My tenant has moved out at the end of the contract but has not paid the last month rent. Altough I have his deposit in the form of a cheque, he wants me to wait until next month to cash it in (payment will be late by two months). Under normal circumstances I would be more than willing to accommodate any needs that he might have. However, he had rented my brand new flat for only a few months but upon vacating the flat he left quite a few nail marks on the walls of the living room and corridors. I was planning to renovate the place anyway but hadn't planned on painting the living room walls. Therefore, I deemed this not to be normal 'wear and tear damages' and asked that he partially pay for the painting of the walls which he has declined to do. Given my situation, I am increasing inclined to cash in his depoist in lieu of the last month rent. What would you do? Am I being an A**.
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Painting is a pretty normal practice between tenants so I would say you are being a bit overly sensitive. There is no way people can be expected to live in a place and make no marks whatsoever.
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Understood. What about the fact that he will be two months late on the rent payment? Since he has already vacated the premises, I have no security unless I cash in the deposit in lieu of rent payment. Any thoughts on this?
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Well normally, in the past for me, I have never paid the last 2 months rent with the agreement of the landlord and have left the deposit with them. I actually do the same for my tenants.
I understand it's just the last month he hasn't paid, well I would take it out of the deposit money immediately, you are entitled to that cash.
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You sound like a pretty decent landlord, however, there are not many of them around. Although it may not be entirely legal it is normal practice in HK to not pay the last months rent in lieu of the deposit, so your tenant is doing nothing unusual there. It would be entirely up to you if you wait to cash the deposit, personally I would have cashed it by now. In regards to the marks and nail holes on the walls, most tenants would have filled them in and put a bit of paint over them, which would most probabally require repainting, however, I think you need to put them down to general wear and tear - this would be the usual proceedure.
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Upon notifying the tenant that I would be cashing in his deposit, he has proposed that he give me another cheque post-dated for next month. So I will be holding two cheques one of which I will cash in next month and one which I will subsequently return. Now what should I do?
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You sound nice and whilst it would be good to give your tenant the benefit of the doubt I too would be concerned that even if you wait that the cheque would bounce. I would at least ask for a part payment now and would make sure you know where they work so you can track them down in case the cheque bounces - it also might we worth checking with their employer that they haven't resigned already.
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My landlords have always cashed my deposit when I signed the lease. Why didn't you do the same?
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Goloh
18 yrs ago
Sounds like you're being led down a garden path. Being nice is one thing. Business is business. The original lease should have spelled out all the terms and conditions of who pays what, to whom, when, etc. Having said that, if there is a chance this tenant will stay in HK and that you can locate him again--OK, maybe. But if you think this person is about to leave, you ought to make the effort. It may be "common practice" for people not to pay rent that is due, but I doubt the law would care about that if it came to a demand for the funds. I would like not to pay my dentist until I'm sure the teeth have been fixed either, but no, I have to pay even while my mouth is still numb. You get the point.
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