Painting a rental apartment

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I live next to a 4 unit apartment (an old house like mine that was broken up into rental units). Every time someone leaves, the owner has that apartment re-painted. It seem excessive to me, but would like to hear some speculation as to why he might feel it necessary to do that.
 

That seems to be a pretty common thing around here. I haven't rented an apartment in a long time but I do remember rules about painting and nail holes. Every apartment was the same beige walls. In the lease it would say the tenant could paint and put up wall décor. But when they moved out they might be responsible for filling in nail holes and repainting back to beige.

Maybe it's a way for landlords to maintain their apartments easier?
 
Depending on the length of the tenant's stay, it's pretty standard to touch it up at the least when a tenant leaves.
 

I wouldn't rent an apartment that needed painting for myself unless the landlord re-painted and had the floors done. Appliances and bathroom fixtures clean. The landlord does have certain responsibilities to keep the property up, not just sit back and count up the rent money.
 
If it's two years or more and/if it needs painting, yes. I would expect it if I was moving into a rental unit it would be fresh and clean. I think a reasonable landlord would not request spackling but to tell the new tenants no barn nails in the wall! Hanging pictures today, you use picture hangers that leave only tiny holes-no biggie to fix. If they are planning to hang a TV or something with weight, then permission should be necessary, that way you can be certain the proper anchors are use.

We rented out a townhome for several years, had two good tenants and two not so good. We always painted, but the last tenants were having a baby so we allowed them to paint and we put down new carpeting in the baby's room.
 
Painting an apartment before a new tenant moves is standard procedure in my building, including making any necessary repairs and cleaning. The Landlord and Tenant Rent Control agency of my city ensures tenant and landlord rights are enforced.
 
I agree, a repainting and cleaning is standard before asking another person to pay money to rent the apartment.
 
It is not at all necessary to paint on a one year lease. Sure scrub the walls do the touch up and its good. We had I think 9 tenants in that house. We painted 6 times and changed the carpet 4 times,once the tenant paid for it. (bleach stain).
 
In some areas, there's an ordinance that requires a landlord to paint and clean the apartmebt. It's not a matter of whether or not it "needs" to be done; it must be done.
 

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