I had a 10 year tenant move out. One of the few tenants I have "encouraged" to move out. The worst housekeepers I have ever seen. Final straw was when plumber told me bathroom floor was in danger because closing the shower door was I guess just too much trouble for them.

My "damage is well above the security deposit". These are my questions, first I let them stay so long because they paid the rent on-time and I figured the damage was already done. Also never seemed like aq good time for a major project. (I KNOW I normally do in home visits, but the market was very soft (yes they made excuses when I suggested it) at the time and i weighed it against months of vacancy.

Fast forward 10 years. Do I take them to court? Remember this was a 10 year tenancy, so normal wear and tear along with depreciation will play a very big part. Easy to argue that most of the damage was done to items which were close to the end of their lifespan. I want to maybe (but afraid anything in writing could backfire ) say if you contest me keeping all of your securty deposit I will counter sue for all of my damages. FYI...wife works in property manangment, so she knows the deal. For what it was worth I got 10 years of market rent (on the high end) and they were easy to deal with. I feel that if i had had normal turnover (not a 10 year run, it would have cost me the same and been more of a hassel. Thoughts on how to proceed. I do plan to keep the entire security deposit....lots of damage.