I am a small time landlord with 3 rentals. My deposit policy is I have 30 days to mail you the deposit back, if any. I do this in case you have tried to “hide” something like trying to make a floor repair, covered it with a rug, and I didn’t notice it on the walk through. I also get your new address so I can forward the bills you are trying to avoid paying. If you don’t want to give me your new address, you don’t get the deposit back.
You should probably check your state laws on this policy - in my state, you have to mail the deposit within 30 days unless you document that you haven’t been able to assess all of the damage yet (in which case you have 60 days), and if you don’t have an address for the tenant you have to hold the deposit for them to collect in person. If you don’t do this, they can take you to small claims court for the full amount of the deposit (you don’t get to use any for repairs) plus their legal costs. Some states will award triple the deposit in a case like this. While most people will just leave a forwarding address, if you try to hold someone’s deposit hostage to demand one you might end up paying for it.
Pictures? No. I wouldn’t care about that as a landlord.
Cigarette burns on the hardwood floors? Ehhhh. Honestly I might not even notice that. Even if I did, I might not care, depending on how noticeable they are.
My last tenants, I don’t know what the fuck they did. But they ended up losing most of their deposit to pay for a new refrigerator. Also a few bucks to pay for a new roller on the closet door, which they inexplicitly tried to replace themselves with a roller from a screen door. It’s a 30 lb glass and aluminum door. Screen door roller isn’t going to cut it moron.
My experiences tell me that any of the above posts may be right or wrong. How long you lived there and how good/demanding you were as a tenant will be one of a number of variables. Ask the rental office if they have a fee schedule of standard charges for things left uncleaned or unrepaired. If you know a former neighbor well enough, ask him about his move-out experience.
Not necessarily. Management may have maintenance staff that handle these tasks. You’ll pay for material costs, of course, but the per-minute or per-hour labor costs sometimes get folded into everything.
If you hire someone, you’re paying every cent yourself.
Could wind up being a “six of one, half a dozen of the other” scenario, where your ultimate net cost is roughly the same.
In a just world, that’s precisely how it would wash out - pay for the damage or pay to fix the damage.
I want to bring up another viewpoint. I can’t tell where the OP lives, but many cities have laws defining landlord behavior, and often will have some maximum time after end-of-lease for handling the deposit. As in, requiring either its return, or a certified letter explaining deductions within 2 weeks (or thereabouts).
I’ve gotten two deposits back by just waiting quietly for the deadline to pass. One realized their mistake and cut me a check, I had to sue the other one. I got both back in full.
You might look into tenant/landlord laws in your local area.