Determining and proving damage amount

[Bob39]

I had a guest reserve my house for 5 peopke, but then 3 hours after checking in, turned into a party for about 25. Aside from the violation of the agreement, they created some small damages which I have been unable to determine the value of. How do I properly document and present this and how much, realistically do I ask for?

Black marks on porch - they used a wheelchair which made black marks all over the kitchen floor, which I was able to remove, but also all over the front porch i had just painted the porch 2 days before their visit. I had bought a gallon of paint for $42, but I no longer have the receipt for it. Had half the gallon left. Used about half of that to repaint the porch... Maybe $10 worth of paint to cover their marks, but I no longer have a receipt for that paint. And how do I value the 30 minutes it took me to repaint? I did take a photo of it before repainting.

Broken folding lawn chair. 2 straps broken by them, chair is now unsafe to sit on. Replacement seems to be about $25 with shipping. Have a photo of it.

Some substance dried onto the arm of the couch. I hope it's some kind of food, not some body excretion. Have tried removing it with carpet cleaner but no success. No photo yet. Don't know what value to place.

Kicked-over solar light broken, won't work any more. Unsure of the value because it was part of a set I bought maybe 4 years ago. I'm just going to let that go, I guess.

There were a lot of other little things - used condom wrapper laying there, spilled coffee allowed to dry on the counter, that sort of thing - but not permanent damage from those.

How have you placed a value on your extra time spent on cleanup? How would you go about making this request?

Thanks for your help!

[Helen120]

Hi

It depends on your Terms and Conditions, but the biggest thing for me is the excess people and the fact that this broke your policies.  I would either just take their full deposit, or charge per person, per extra hour clean up and per breakage.  You could just do the replacements and repairs and keep note of everything you spend as its your replacement costs that they should be paying for.

They're not people I would want back in my house so I wouldn't be worrying too much about any ongoing relationship if I was you.

Hope this helps.

[Bob39]

OK, thank you.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

If you can't place a value on the damage then you will find it difficult to claim anything. Wear and tear is not something you can charge for - but it seems that many of your items are more than that. So get a quote for repainting. Get a quote for professional cleaning.

However, you are unlikely to succed in getting full replacement value for a chair that has a small stain that you have tried to remove.

As for the little things - a condom wrapper? Some dried coffee on the counter! These are standard minor cleaning items that should be covered by your cleaning fee.

Sort out what is actually a claim and get a 'professional' quote to have any chance of a successful claim.

[Bob39]

Thank you for your reply.