The “normal wear and tear” means exactly that. The
tenant is legally responsible for restoring or paying
for the restoration of every single thing they do to a
place while they live there to put it back to the way
it was when they moved in. The normal wear and tear
(and dirt is not wear and tear) includes: carpet that
gets thinner as its walked on, paint that is dingier as
it fades and gets marked/washed/touched up and the
like. Stuff they do on purpose is never normal wear
and tear.
I’ve taken back possession of a single family home I rent in Indiana after the tenat went into the wind.
This property was completely rebuilt from the foundation up one year prior to this tenant moving in. The damage she caused was amazing, but most disturbing is the satelite dish nailed to a new roof and holes drilled through exterior walls (new vinyl siding), not to mention holes drilled through interior walls and floors to run wires.
I don’t want this on my property. I want the property back to the condition it was in prior to the tenant moving in (of course, less normal wear and tear).
Who is responsible for paying for this dish to be removed, the roof patched, all of the wires removed and the siding fixed? I say the tenant since they had no authority from me to make any alterations (certainly holes in the roof, siding and floors are alterations).