Tenant damaged the property and took items - what do I charge him?

[kesm]

Hi all,

What amount do you put for damages at the inventory check out? Is there a list somewhere that I can refer to please?

Many thanks.

[leaseholder64]

The main unknown is the expected life of the item in a rental property.

You basically charge the purchase price, written off over the expected life, assuming the damage is sufficient that the whole item would need to be replaced.

[jpkeates]

The landlord is entitled to compensation for any loss in value of their asset(s) beyond fair wear and tear that occurred during the lease.

The formula that they should use, and a court (and the protecting company ADR process) will use is:

(Cost of the original item and any installation/fitting (not the cost of a replacement) / expected lifetime) * (expected lifetime - actual lifetime).

That is, compensation for the lost value (life of use) of the item.

That presumes that the item is entirely ruined and the landlord can show that it happened during the lease.

Alternatively, an actual repair cost might be claimed, but again, this should be adjusted to reflect the tenant's share of the lifetime (but sometimes this is just meaningless).

[theartfullodger]

Report theft to police, get CRN