Who pays for wearand tear after the lease ends?

I'm selling an IP. Two days ago the PM and I inspected the place. It was in a fair condition, with some items that should have been reported during the tenancy. It's unclear who should pay for these items, which are as follows:

Curtain rails not working, pulley jammed. This has happened before and I've paid for it, rail quality not good. The tenants did not report this prior to vacating.

Towel rail fallen off, has been fixed before, my cost. The tenants did not report this prior to vacating.

There are a lot of picture hooks, solid nylon anchors, but the tenants added three more, ugly plastic, and not as good as the existing ones. The lease says nothing extra on the walls. I took off the plastic ones and there's now shallow holes, will be fixed with filler and paint. Tenants pay for this.

Who should pay for the above items?

 

Jammed pulley - you should pay as it’s a maintenance issue with the track (this is an easy diy fix). This has happened to my curtains a few times.

Towel rail - was it fixed with screws into the studs? Or was it just fixed into the plaster? Or even just stuck on? Since it’s a house for sale, I’d just screw the rail back in - a three minute job. Unless it’s a really cheap looking plastic rail.

Picture hooks - tenants should pay if there’s actual damage. But it might be easier just to put three nice hooks in yourself - or leave it. Will anyone really notice the small pinholes?

 

you

 

Has bond been released?

Generally all are fair wear and tear unless they broke the towel rail in which case bond can pay for it plus you could claim on bond for the damage from the picture hooks.

 

Agree with Terry_w, It sounds like normal wear and tear, and you should pay.

 

As a member of the tax paying community, I believe you claim the deduction and we pay for it.

 

Thanks. I want to be fair to the tenants. The picture hooks are the sort that glue on, and rip off plaster when removed. The rest is fair wear and tear, so I pay for it, and then Scott pays me. Thanks mate. Next FY I will be paying rather a lot of CGT, so Scott will get his money back in early 2020. Of course I could sell my AMP and Telstra shares, so no CGT for the IP. It's been a good year on the ASX - I've lost less than in FY17. Success!

 

Another item has come up. A top drawer in the kitchen had a cutlery tray, and it's gone. Is it worth replacing? Put another way, do buyers have their own or expect one to be there?

 

Probably cost $10 from KMart.
Is this really worth quibbling over?
Marg

 

I'm not quibbling. I was wondering if I should leave the drawer as is or get a replacement tray.

 

Thanks. I'm having a number of items fixed, notably the bathroom, cleaned and repainted. A former tenant took the cutlery tray, as he thought that the flatmate had bought it. The tray is being returned.

 

All sorted. The lifted paint and plaster was painted over, and solid picture hooks were installed, partly covering the shallow area that was ripped off. The cutlery tray was returned, taken in error. These were good tenants and I accept the mistake. The rest will be fixed next week. It's a fair result for everyone, which was a major goal.