Question about my Renter and can I sue for more than deposit?

Well your situation depends on two things:

1) The law in your home state.

2) The language of your rental agreement.

I really hope you had a good rental agreement which covered damage of property. You can definitely sue your renter for damage to property and the amount does not depend on your deposit amount.

Please take as many photographs as you can, date all of them, make a folder with all the before and after shots, rental agreement and talk to the neighbors of your house to check if they had any complaints against the renters. These all will help make a strong case.

Yes, you can sue and recover reasonable costs minus the deposit amount. Take before and after photo's or if not available, competent reliable witnesses. Physical evidence is best. Your dollar amount would put you in small claims court in most states.

Check with your small claims court clerk, in many states you have to make an effort at collection first such as writing a demand letter and if the defendant does not respond within a given time a petition can be filed with the court, make sure you have the letter sent registered mail.

Yes, you can sue her for ALL damage that was caused to your house even if it was above and beyond the security deposit. Just be sure that you have good documentation on what condition the house was in prior to the lease and after. And be sure to have a neutral third party testifying about what it will cost to fix it. That'll make it far more likely that you'll get the entire amount you're asking for.

I would take pictures of everything to have in case you go to court. Make sure that the pictures are dated using digital camera. If you can get estimates of repairs. Get all documentation that you can it helps in court. Most of this will depend on the state you live in. Get yourself a good lawyer as I did and ask questions. Check the landlord laws in your state for starts. People will say something about rental agreements, will that does not give the tenant the right to destroy the home or apartment that they rent.

The answer will depend on state law and the language of your rental agreement. A security deposit usually is just a prepayment against charges that will occur due to misuse of the property. The amount of the deposit does not act as a cap to the amount you can recover against misuse of the property.

Perhaps. It depends largely on what your rental agreement states.

Next time, screen your tenants more carefully :(. And don't put anything nice in a rental. Stick to Pergo - tough to damage that stuff. And in most states, you are *required* to repaint after every tenant, anyway.

Certainly you can. A security deposit is just that, a deposit. It has no bearing on the cost of damages. If your claims are legitimate, you will prevail.

if you have before and after pics you should have a solid case, I would take your renter to small claims.

I would need to see your rental agreement before advising you any further.

Yes, you can sue them for more.