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Interior of apartment
Hi all
We have found somewhere to rent and went to meet the landlord there at the weekend. My question is related to the interior. The previous occupants have moved out and left dirty paintwork, holes where pictures hung, unpainted walls (this was behind the previous fridge), exposed wiring at the gas boiler and in general it is quite dirty. The landlord has said he will not be doing any work on the interior we will just be doing the inventory with external person. Is is usual? He has said we can paint the walls (if he agrees) but he will not be paying for it. Who is responsible for the interior? Unfortunately we have already signed the contract but not moved in yet. Any advice?
Thanks
Bee
If you have alredy signed the contract then I'm afraid it's too late to be asking these questions. You have agreed to take the apartment as it currently is. The landlord is under no obligation to do any work on the decoration.
Many landlords do decorate between tenants, but this is to make it easier to rent the place again. As he has already found tenants willing to take the place (=you), he has no incentive at all to spend any money on the works.
There are two things you should do now. First, make sure that the entry inventory report (état des lieux d'entrée)accurately lists every single thing that is wrong with the place, down to the last small hole in the wall and every single scuff of the paintwork (there should be lots of photos clearly showing the damage). Anything which is not listed in the report, will be charged to you when you leave the apartment. So you should really make sure it is as detailed as possible.
Secondly, if you do decide to paint the walls, get the agreement of the landlord (including listing the colours to be used) in ADVANCE and in writing. If you do not do this, and use a colour he does not like, when you leave he can demand that you paint the walls again to return them to the original colour.
