Landlord Charging You for Normal Wear and Tear? Here’s What You Don’t Have to Pay

The bond claim arrives with a list: repaint two rooms, $900. Replace bedroom carpet, $1,200. Re-oil the deck, $450. Steam clean the couch that came with the place, $180.

You lived there four years. You didn’t trash it. You just lived in it. And that is exactly the point.

Wear and tear is the landlord’s cost

Every Residential Tenancies Act in Australia says the same thing: a tenant is responsible for damage, but not for fair wear and tear. Wear and tear is the slow decline that happens to any home when someone lives in it normally. The landlord is running a business. This is a cost of that business.

Wear and tear vs damage: real examples

Wear and tear (you don’t pay):

• Paint that has faded, dulled, or has small scuffs and nail holes from pictures.
• Carpet that is worn in high-traffic areas or has flattened pile.
• Curtains or blinds faded by sun.
• Loose or worn door handles, hinges and locks.
• Minor marks on benchtops from normal use.
• Cracked grout, small tile chips, worn tap washers.
• Lawn that has yellowed in summer.

Damage (you pay):

• Holes punched or kicked in walls.
• Burns, cuts or large stains on carpet or benchtops.
• Pet urine stains or chewed skirting boards.
• Broken windows or doors.
• Unauthorised painting or holes from shelving you didn’t have permission to install.
• Mould caused by you never opening a window in a well-ventilated property.

The age of the item matters

Even where there is real damage, the landlord cannot charge you the “new” price for something old. Tribunals use depreciation. Carpet is usually treated as having a 10-year life. Paint, around 10 years. If you damaged an 8-year-old carpet, the landlord gets 20 percent of the replacement cost at most, not 100 percent. They do not get a free renovation on your bond.

Cleaning claims

You must return the property “reasonably clean.” Not showroom clean. Not professionally clean (unless your lease has a valid clause and you left it dirtier than you found it). If the entry report says “oven: dirty” and you left it “reasonably clean,” you owe nothing.

How to refuse the charges

1. Go through the list line by line. Mark each item as wear and tear, damage, or “wasn’t me.”
2. Pull your entry report and photos. Anything already noted at move-in is not your problem.
3. Ask for receipts. The landlord must show the actual cost, not a made-up number.
4. Send a written response. An End-of-Lease Bond Dispute Letter that rejects each charge with reasons, quotes the wear-and-tear rule from your state’s Act, and demands release of the bond.
5. Let the tribunal decide if they won’t back down. They have to prove it. You don’t.

Why a letter helps

Agents throw big lists at renters because most renters pay something to make it go away. When they get back a line-by-line rejection with legal references and a demand, they have to decide if it is worth defending at a tribunal hearing.

Claim Done drafts your End-of-Lease Bond Dispute Letter for $49. Done in about 5 minutes.