Guide
Normal wear and tear vs. damage
The most common security-deposit disputes come down to one question: is this normal wear and tear, or is it damage the tenant can be charged for? Here's where the line usually falls for the things landlords and tenants argue about most.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for carpet cleaning?
Routine carpet cleaning between tenants is generally the landlord's cost — you usually can't deduct it just to freshen a carpet that's normally worn. You can charge when a tenant leaves the carpet excessively stained, soiled, or damaged beyond ordinary use.
Can a landlord charge a tenant to replace the carpet?
You can charge for replacing carpet the tenant genuinely destroyed — but only for its remaining useful life, not the full cost of new carpet, and never for a carpet that simply wore out with age.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for repainting?
Repainting to cover normal scuffs, minor marks, and faded paint is typically a landlord expense. You can charge when walls are damaged or altered beyond normal use — think large holes, unapproved colors, or crayon and smoke damage.
Can a landlord charge for nail holes in the wall?
Small nail and pin holes from hanging pictures are almost always considered normal wear and tear. Large anchor holes, many holes, or holes that tore the drywall can be a legitimate repair charge.
Can a landlord charge a cleaning fee from the deposit?
You can deduct for cleaning only what's needed to return the unit to its move-in condition — not to make it cleaner than the tenant received it, and usually not as an automatic flat fee unless the tenant left it dirty.
Can a landlord charge for pet damage?
Damage caused by a pet — scratched floors and doors, chewed trim, urine-soaked carpet, or odor that needs remediation — is generally a valid deposit deduction, since it goes beyond normal human wear and tear.
Can a landlord charge for broken or damaged blinds?
Blinds that are sun-faded or brittle from age are usually wear and tear, but cracked, bent, or missing slats a tenant broke can be a fair, low-cost deduction.
Can a landlord deduct unpaid rent from the security deposit?
Yes — unpaid rent is one of the most universally accepted deposit deductions. You can generally apply the deposit to rent the tenant still owes, along with other charges allowed by the lease.
Can a landlord charge for damaged appliances?
You can charge when a tenant breaks an appliance through misuse or neglect, but not when an appliance simply fails or wears out with age. Proration for the appliance's remaining life applies.
Can a landlord charge for scratches on hardwood or laminate floors?
Light surface scratches and dulling from normal foot traffic are wear and tear, but deep gouges, pet scratches, or water damage a tenant caused can be a valid, often prorated, deduction.
Can a landlord charge a tenant for mold?
It hinges on the cause. Mold from a building problem like a leaky roof or bad ventilation is the landlord's responsibility, while mold from tenant neglect — never running a fan, ignoring spills, blocking airflow — may be chargeable.
Can a landlord charge for smoke or cigarette damage?
Smoke damage — yellowed walls, lingering odor, and residue that requires sealing and repainting — is generally chargeable, especially where smoking violated the lease, because it goes well beyond normal wear.
Can a landlord use a security deposit for last month's rent?
A security deposit and prepaid last month's rent are legally different funds. A tenant usually can't demand you apply the deposit to their final month, but you can generally deduct rent the tenant actually failed to pay.
Can a landlord charge for lost keys or re-keying the locks?
If a tenant doesn't return keys, fobs, or remotes — or you must re-key the locks because keys weren't returned — the reasonable, documented cost is generally a fair deduction.
Can a landlord charge for replacing light bulbs?
Burned-out bulbs are generally a minor turnover cost and normal wear, so charging for standard bulbs is hard to justify — though bulbs a tenant removed or specialty bulbs they broke can be different.
Can a landlord charge for trash or junk removal?
If a tenant leaves behind trash, furniture, or belongings you have to haul away, the actual disposal cost is generally a fair deduction — returning the unit empty is part of moving out.
Can a landlord charge for lawn care or yard cleanup from the deposit?
If the lease made the tenant responsible for the yard and they let it badly deteriorate, cleanup can be chargeable — but not for normal seasonal growth or landscaping you'd maintain anyway.
Can a landlord charge for a damaged door?
Minor scuffs and hardware loosened by years of use are wear and tear, but holes, cracks, broken doors, or damage from forcing a lock are generally chargeable.
Can a landlord charge for torn or missing window screens?
Screens gone brittle or faded from sun and age are wear and tear, but screens a tenant tore, bent, or lost can be a small, reasonable replacement charge.
Can a landlord charge for a broken window?
A window the tenant, their household, or guests broke is generally a fair deduction, since broken glass is damage — but glass that failed on its own from a defect is the landlord's cost.
Can a landlord charge for burns, cuts, or damage to countertops?
Light surface wear on a counter is expected, but burns, deep cuts, cracks, or chips the tenant caused can be chargeable — prorated for the counter's age.
Can a landlord charge for holes from mounting a TV?
Small picture-hanging holes are wear and tear, but the large anchor holes left by a TV mount often need real drywall repair, which can be a fair, modest deduction.
Can a landlord charge for water damage?
Water damage the tenant caused — an overflowed tub, an unreported leak they were responsible for, or standing water left to sit — can be chargeable, but damage from plumbing or building failures is the landlord's cost.
Can a landlord charge for cleaning a dirty oven or stove?
You can deduct for a genuinely filthy, grease-caked oven left well beyond move-in condition — but not as a routine fee when the tenant left the kitchen reasonably clean.
Can a landlord charge for broken towel bars or bathroom fixtures?
Fixtures loosened by normal use are wear and tear, but towel bars, holders, or fixtures a tenant snapped off or cracked can be replaced at their cost.
The general rule
Normal wear and tear is the natural deterioration that happens when someone lives in a home normally — faded paint, light carpet matting, minor scuffs, small nail holes. Landlords are expected to absorb it as a cost of doing business and generally cannot deduct for it. Damage is harm beyond that: things caused by accident, neglect, abuse, or a pet, which a tenant can be charged to repair.
Two ideas make almost every deduction defensible: useful life (you charge for the value a tenant destroyed, prorated for age — not a brand-new replacement of something already worn) and documentation (move-in and move-out photos plus an itemized statement). When you can show both, deductions hold up; when you can't, tenants win.
Ready to put it in writing? Use the itemized deduction letter generator and the security deposit calculator.