Painting & Repainting Deductions: The Useful-Life Rule

Interior paint has a recognized useful life — usually 2-3 years under most state guidelines. The tenant is only responsible for the portion of the paint's value that remained when they damaged it.

Example: if your paint was 2.5 years old and has a 3-year useful life, only ~17% of its value remained when the tenant moved out. Even if they marked every wall, you'd typically deduct only 17% of the repainting cost.

You generally cannot charge the tenant for repainting when:

• The paint was already at or past its useful life when the tenant moved out
• The only issues are normal wear (faded paint, minor scuffs, small nail holes)
• You would have repainted anyway between tenants
• You're upgrading to a higher-quality paint or a new color

Repainting may be partially deductible when:

• The tenant painted walls an unauthorized color and you must prime + repaint
• Walls have heavy marks, crayon, or marker beyond normal wear
• Large holes, anchors, or damage requiring patching before painting
• The paint was relatively new (under a year) and clearly damaged

1. Document the paint's age (move-in inspection, prior work order). 2. Establish useful life (2-3 years interior is common; verify your state's table). 3. Compute remaining life as a percentage. 4. Multiply the actual repainting invoice by that percentage.

Keep the repainting invoice and the move-in/move-out photos showing the damage. Generic 'repainting $800' charges without these get thrown out in small claims.