Normal wear and tear is deterioration from ordinary use, and you cannot charge a tenant for it
Normal wear and tear is deterioration from ordinary use: carpet thinned by years of foot traffic, paint gone flat, a washer seal that failed at end of life. None of it is the tenant's fault; the deposit is not where you recover it. There is no national definition. Texas Property Code section 92.001 calls it "deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling." Most states leave it to case law: check yours.
Wear or damage? The test is the cause, not the cost
The usual mistake is judging by the repair bill. The rules turn on cause: time and ordinary living on one side, an act or a lapse on the other. These are the everyday readings, not something you can cite at a hearing; your state and your lease decide.
| Usually reads as wear | Usually reads as damage |
|---|---|
| Carpet worn thin along the main walkway | A burn, a tear, or a pet stain into the underlay |
| Faded paint, small nail holes from pictures | Crayon on a wall, bolt holes from a mounted TV |
| Hardwood scuffed by foot traffic | Gouges from dragging an appliance |
| An oven element that failed with age | A cracked oven door |
A long tenancy moves the line
The same worn carpet reads differently after six months than after six years: more of it is explained by time. California Civil Code section 1950.5 bars a deposit claim for "ordinary wear and tear or the effects thereof," including its cumulative effect across tenancies. So in California, an item at the end of its life is yours to replace, even though the last tenant used it up.
What makes a deduction defensible
None of this gets settled by arguing on the day; it gets settled by what you wrote down before the dispute: agreed condition at move-in, the same walk at move-out, dated photos at each end, both signed. Charge the repair, not the replacement, where a repair will do, and keep the invoice. The free move-out checklist is the sheet that record goes on.
Some states tell you exactly what to record
Even where the definition is vague, paperwork rules are specific, and that is where deductions usually die.
- California. Civil Code section 1950.5 requires photographs at move-in and again at move-out, before and after any repair you deduct for.
- Texas. Property Code section 92.104 bars charging wear and tear to the deposit and requires an itemized, written list for every deduction.
- Massachusetts. Chapter 186 section 15B requires an itemized list within 30 days, sworn, backed by receipts; wear and tear is excluded.
Check your own rule before you deduct
There's no federal definition either: even HUD's public housing rule, 24 CFR 966.4, requires charges "beyond normal wear and tear" without saying what that means. Read your own state's statute before you deduct, and treat any useful-life table as convention, not law. One habit travels everywhere: write the condition down the day you walk the unit, photograph it, and file it: that's what a tenancy timeline is for, alongside the documents worth keeping.