"Normal wear and tear"—it's something you've probably seen in a rental lease somewhere. You may have even thrown the term around yourself once or twice.
But what does it actually mean?
The answer determines when you can keep your tenant's security deposit—so it's critical you understand the real definition of normal wear and tear.
Get it wrong, and you could end up in a heated dispute. Get it right, and you could fairly use the security deposit to make much-needed repairs if warranted.
Let's get into the nitty-gritty to help you understand the nuances.
Normal wear and tear on a rental property is often defined as the expected decline and deterioration due to normal everyday use. It's not caused by neglect or abuse—it's caused by aging and frequent use.
Normal Wear and Tear vs Damages
Examples of normal wear and tear would usually include:
These are deteriorations that happen by simply living in the property. The tenant didn't do anything wrong to cause these declines.
Now, let's look at examples of tenant damages to see the difference:
These are not natural deteriorations—these were caused by tenant abuse or neglect.
For another example, think about a car's normal wear and tear. If you lease a vehicle, simply driving it around will wear out the tires, put miles on the engine, necessitate oil changes and tire rotations, get the exterior dirty, and bring small amounts of dirt inside the vehicle.
That's natural. That's to be expected. And that's normal wear and tear.
What's not to be expected is a cracked bumper, tears in the interior fabric, large dents, or a splintering windshield.
Fault and responsibility determine who pays. That's why it's critical to establish responsibility and baseline measurements from the get-go.
Your tenant doesn't want (or deserve) to pay to maintain your property. It's your property—that's your job.
However, while they're staying in the home, there are things they're responsible for.
To ensure there's no confusion or misunderstandings, you'll need to take care of a few check-in items:
If your tenant neglects to cut the grass and the yard gets overtaken by weeds, that's the tenant's fault. But if the washing machine stops working, that's not the tenant's fault.
Responsibility needs to be defined in the lease to avoid security deposit disputes later.
If you determine that the condition of a part of your rental is due to tenant damages (not normal wear and tear), then you can justify using the security deposit to cover those costs.
However, you'll need to ensure you communicate this with the tenant and keep an itemized list of what you used the deposit to fix and why.
This typically occurs during the move-out inspection, but it's more effective if you take care of this beforehand. When appropriate (and agreed upon in the contract), you should conduct planned periodic inspections of your rental every 3 to 6 months.
Periodic inspections can ensure tiny problems don't become big problems—like spreading mold or client's misusing an appliance. It's also a good opportunity for you (as the landlord) to make ongoing repairs, maintenance, and replacements.
If you notice the Wi-Fi is terribly slow, then you can make upgrades. Or if the hot water is lacking, you can make repairs to the water heater.
Make repairs like this, and your tenants (current and future) will thank you for your time rather than resent your intrusion.
Inspections like this make it less of a check-up and more of a "how can I help?"
Remember, your tenant’s security deposit is not for updates or renovations—it’s only to cover tenant-caused damages.
Whether you're preparing to work with Nomad or lease a property on your own, it's helpful to look through a checklist to ensure nothing slips through the crack. At Nomad, we use our Home Standards Checklist to ensure every property meets our standards.
This not only attracts high-quality tenants, but it allows you to rent your property for top dollar and improve your renewal rates.
Here's a brief overview of what we look for in our checklist:
Lease your property with Nomad, and you can forget about this whole conversation. We know exactly how to protect your home and your wallet:
Oh, and did we mention you get paid every month, guaranteed.
