I tried scrubbing with all purpose cleaner and hot water, which just spread tiny bits of the ink around and made it worse. Any advice is appreciated.
Some imbecile sprayed this on my front door last night and my landlord is telling me I have to clean it myself or pay for the damages.
OutdoorsAgreed, obviously this is not your responsibility. Don't let your landlord take advantage of you.
Plot twist. This is the view of the front door from inside.
So that means that they had an imbecile over for dinner?😂
Answers phone, “We traced the call, it came from inside the house”
Oops!
Deeper plot twist: OP, landlord, and imbecile are all related.
These are the most annoying posts because OP always ignores the most sensible comments like yours but if you scroll down a bit, they only things they are reponding to are like, "But what kind of cleaner should I use?" or whatever. It feels like the moment someone suggests "looking something up" on Reddit, people completely shut down.
The fact that they came to Reddit instead of initially looking up "is tenant responsible for vandalism to property in (insert jurisdiction)" should alert us that they might just be looking for an answer and not having to open maybe 3 links
… they might just be looking for _attention_…
Fixed that for you.
I had a conversation about something similar recently. People often comment that they need to learn less in school because we can all just look it up online. But I have come across many situations where someone just didn't bother to look it up. This might be one of those situations. So either pay attention in school or learn how to do a deep search on the internet.
Because these people are mostly just looking to vent, they aren't looking for anything actionable.
Well there could be a million reasons they ignored me but I think collectively we are sick of landlords treating their tenants the way they do.
The housing market is so precarious, they honestly might be worried to go head-to-head with their landlord and jeopardize their housing situation. Landlords seem to be getting away with more and more because they know people are desperate for housing.
This is called cleaning tips though lol
How dare you suggest someone educate themselves regarding the post they are making!!! /s
Not if the imbecile in question is a guest of the resident.
I am sure there isn't other damage elsewhere, otherwise OP would have mentioned it. Does OP know the vandal? If so, any police report is gonna be problematic.
If there is trouble brewing and OP is moving out anyway, i would have bought a small tin of white semi-gloss, a brush, and fine grit sand paper and told no one anything. Vamoose, as they say in New Mexico.
For real if you’re responsible then the landlord could literally come back tomorrow, spray your door again after you clean it, and then bill you again. That just can’t be right
I'm pretty sure it's illegal to make you pay for and take care of that. I would have left it there. Look up the tenant rights where you live.
It’s not even about tenants rights at all. It’s more of a lack of landlords rights to pin this on the tenant. The landlord has nothing. The tenant can actually send a certified letter demanding it be cleaned by the landlord. If the landlord tries to evict then they will lose 100%.
Did you call the cops?
This. Make a police report for vandalism and give it to your landlord. This is not your problem to resolve, it's his.
It's also what insurance is for -- and that process begins with a police report. It could be that your landlord doesn't want to take a ding on premiums, and is forcing this on you.
It's also going to be documentation that you need should your landlord try to bring you to small claims or housing court (depending on where you live).
This comment needs more traction. Reporting the vandalism to the police and getting a copy of the police report makes it your landlords problem. I can’t imagine that your lease stipulates that you’re responsible for cleaning up damage to common areas.
Anyone that is actually renting knows there are some battles you fight and some you don't. Depending on your landlord and how easy it is to find a new place when the lease is up is going to determine if you fight this battle or not. Even if this is the landlords responsibility if you live in a place that has really weak tenant protections, this might not be the battle you fight.
Bingo. Some landlords are really taking advantage of the fact that people are desperate for housing.
If the rent is decent, I can see this being a factor
Of course, if I'm in charge of paint removal and repainting, that door is going to be purple. 😈
Also, the city might have a task force tracking vandalism (and possible gang relation) in the city. If nothing else, it possibly allocates more patrols in the area
Correct answer here
Find out your rights as a tenant. You’re probably not responsible for vandalism
They make a specific graffiti remover spray. It's pretty inexpensive and I think I bought mine at Ace hardware, but I'm sure it's at any big store.
Be warned- they do make graffiti remover but it will also remove paint from the door as well
Source- I am a custodian
If OP damages the door paint trying to remove the graffiti, he WILL be responsible for that damage.
This is the landlord’s problem — let him handle it.
Best comment here. Landlord is tempting the tenant into making it worse so they can actually pin it on him.
Legally the tenant doesn’t have to do anything but die and pay taxes. If the landlord wants to pin this on him he will need evidence to prove it.
It would be a good idea to do a spot test on the surface with whatever cleaning product they use. But yeah commercial vandalism remover spray will strip paint too
It would be easier to just paint over it then
We must have been lucky with the brand we use.
Probably has more to do with the surface you used it on
I had to use this when my work van got tagged overnight. It came off much easier than I expected!
I used Krud Kutter Graffiti Remover at an old job. Stunk to high heaven but it worked.
Graffiti remover works good on spray paint. This looks like a paint pen which tends to go on much thicker and tends to dry as an enamel. There's not much that will take this off without also taking the paint off underneath.
Best bet is to scrape it off and repaint the door.
It does look pretty fine. What a mess.
They do. It's called tell your landlord it's their problem.
It will also remove the paint on the door
Ours didn't. The brand we bought made the graffiti wipe off like nothing, but the paint on the door and finish on the siding was fine
…what brand
BUCKEYES WORKOUT
Cops may be able to advise how to remove this taggers particular artwork.
City public works may have an idea as well.
This doesn’t look like conventional spray paint.
Cleaning is my job. Rubbing alcohol will remove that and if it needs a little help add a few drops off dawn dish soap.
Should I use a towel/cloth or a sponge?
I use microfiber clothes.
Thanks I will try that
On principle, don't clean it, have your landlord put in the time, effort and money.
Great idea but might not be worth it if the landlord refuses to sign a lease renewal because of it
Great idea but might not be worth it if the landlord refuses to sign a lease renewal because of it
That's not the point. You need to let the landlord know that it is NOT your responsibility or your job to clean up vandalism.
Then you can say that you will still make your best effort to clean it but you're doing it as a favor and because you're a good tenant.
IT'S ABSOLUTELY THE POINT. It's probably why the landlord is making them clean it. How hard is it to find another place when the landlord refuses to renew the lease? Or raises the rent just because they feel like it, say 100%? Many places have little to no tenant protections against this. Many places another rental is tough to find. Pick your battles. This one might not be worth fighting depending on all the facts considered in totality.
I agree. This is a cleaning tips sub, not legal advice. If OP wanted to fight the landlord they wouldn’t be asking how to clean it.
All well and good posturing until they decide to evict you for something else and you're homeless I guess
Agree. Even if it just needed a hose off I wouldn’t do it after the landlord told me to
Hose off the landlord
What about if your lease is up in two months? What about if it took you 4 months to even find a place to rent? What about if your landlord deciding to raise the rent 100% would make you homeless? Those are real questions renters have to ask themselves when deciding to fight something like this.
What if you clean it and then landlord decide to rise the rent 100% because he (is an as*****) need more money?
There's no point in living in fear of something that might not even happen.
Agree. Don’t touch it
Or just clean the door and avoid the drama but what do I know
Cake
Wait dude, this isn't your problem. This is your landlords problem. You should call back and complain that the unit is vandalized and you want him to come down and fix it immediately
It’s not your responsibility at your landlords. Don’t touch it. Don’t be a pushover.
Trousers orT-shirts?
Don’t use anything. Stand your ground and make your landlord deal with it.
White paint
Use something you don't care about. I also suggest soaking a paper towel in it and placing/sticking it on top. Let that sit for a few minutes at a time and wipe
Painting over will be easier. Even easier of you tell show your LL it’s their responsibility.
I’m my country you give your rent to the labour board and they’ll hold it until the LL fixes the problem.
It’ll light a fire.
As others have said - you trying and making it worse it could make you liable when you actually aren’t now. Don’t touch it.
It looks like they used a "stainer".. those aren't so easy to get off and usually leave a permanent mark
Yeah I wouldn’t attempt to clean it yourself. Back in the day people would use things like brake fluid in graffiti mops/markers to stain so that it would show up under a repaint, but there are other products now that can be visible after repainting. You won’t really be able to tell what they used until attempting to clean, so it could just be ink or paint but those can still sometimes require an actual repair so you’ll just make a mess trying to “clean” it.
Either way the landlord is responsible to remediate.
Removing that should be the least of your worries. I would start looking for a new place to live.
I’m moving in two months lol
Police Report, then send the police report to the landlord and tell them it must be another tenant (not your guest) that did this and the building needs to clean it.
FYI you might end up in small claims court trying to get your security deposit back after you move. That police report might help you get that deposit back, and if they fight it x3 the amount.
Pffft, just leave it then. Probably best to look up tenant laws anyway so they can’t hit you with moving out charges.
In all honesty, it could be a lot worse. The painting is well centered, the color is uniformly solid, and the drips are distributed evenly. You could even pass it off as some abstract art. It beats some smeared chicken scratch.
Oh then who cares? Clean it if you want to, otherwise not your problem
Thank goodness! Be safe and don’t let that landlords make you pay for this.
You need to make sure the landlord fully understands it’s their responsibility and not yours, or else they’ll keep your deposit
Do file a police report, though. Any city worth their salt has a database of graffiti (and usually someone who knows the meaning if it has meaning) and it might help prosecute the vandalism.
Also increase security… someone might be casing your place
Don’t touch it. You could remove paint from the door itself and then be charged for a whole door + labor. File a vandalism report and ignore the landlord
Thought exactly the same
Not sure where you’re located but we had something similar happen. We called the local graffiti line for our city. They came, took pictures, and then removed it for free. I’m in SoCal.
As a renter, unless you, someone who lives with you, or one of your invited guests did this- this is not your fault and is the landlord’s responsibility to remedy. Also I would file a police report for vandalism.
There are cleaning solutions in hardware stores specifically made to remove graffiti.
If you clean this and it makes it worse now it’s definitely your responsibility. This is your landlords job.
Literally the moment you touch this it’s your problem.
Don't touch it at all. Look up your rights and tell the landlord to clean it. If you damage the door cleaning it then you will definately be liable. Its not your property, you didnt do it, not your problem.
Swing by r/legaladvice if you don’t feel confident (you totally should) about the advice that you’re not responsible to clean/pay for vandalism. I personally would not clean it in case whatever I use causes additional damage. You are not responsible to clean/pay. Your landlord sounds like an AH.
i agree with those who are telling you not to touch it, both because it's not your responsibility and because you could ultimately cause more damage, but if you decide to, keep your receipts for all supplies and deduct it from your rent. then provide copies of receipts to the landlord (keep the originals).
Rubbing alcohol.
Don’t forget the step where you file a police report.
Probably the landlord that did it to charge money to remove it
💀
He's hoping you try to clean it and damage the door, then you WILL be responsible for the replacement/repairs. Exterior doors are insanely expensive, this is a great way for the landlord to either get a new door, or just keep your deposit.
Picturing an overweight, balding middle aged landlord practicing elaborate menchies on his tenants doors.
To be fair. With how runny it is it doesn't look like whoever did it is very practiced.
What a genius but diabolical concept!
Yeah, but the world is made this way, feeding the ego, and prices only goes up, due to inflation, so its my first thought, that this maybe be the case, that the landlord did it to.make a buck
It’s not technically IN your rented unit so therefore not your responsibility.
Also vandalism should be reported to the police........
Inform the landlord you’ll be filing a police report for vandalism and that he needs to call his insurance company for them to send someone to clean it. Tell him specifically that if you are to clean this yourself with graffiti cleaning spray, it will remove the paint from the door. Therefore, you will be filing a police report and he needs to take this up with the insurance company. Also, informed the landlord, there seems to be a security issue in your building because this happened. Request in writing that they put cameras in the hallways facing peoples doors and a camera facing the main door. You should not be responsible for this mess. Contact a free legal aid clinic in your area.
Definitely don't touch it, your landlord will only find a way to say you made it worse and it's not your responsibility in the first place
This is a benefit (and I say that begrudgingly) of renting: you don’t pay for this.
OP, do not spend a cent on this. Call the police, file a report and send to your landlord.
Before you attempt to clean this, document that your landlord doesn’t want to fix it and is OK with you trying. You can’t have him claim a new door on your account should you accidentally damage it further. Also, he’s the landlord, he should fix it.
This isn’t spray paint. It’s likely a solvent based ink. Knew a guy who would put cattle stain on his markers to make it last forever. Cleaning it likely won’t solve the issue. You’ll need to clean, prime twice and paint. This is your landlords job.
Maybe you shouldn't have started that turf war /s
But I agree with everyone saying it's not your responsibility
Try IPA in water, maybe 70% pure, should take it off
My brain went. Huh? Why would a hoopy beer help at first. Then it clicked. Just wanted to share the morning brain fart
😆 isopropylalcohol, not beer!
Just need a short glass of IPA to solve that. Beer, not solvent.
I did the same. Imperial? Hazy? Does the ABV or IBU matter?
Mine - probably something about the bitter that helps remove this. 🤷♀️
Comon man- age old cleaning trip… the stain hops right off.
Hee eheee
I’d look up my tenant rights in your area and just ignore LL if it’s not my responsibility.
dint know about where you live but where i live all this would take is to inform 311 about graffiti and the owner of the property would be issued a fix it citation that if ignored the city would abate it and fine them.
That's in the common area of the building, and is therefore likely not your responsibility. Landlord can kick rocks. You might need a lawyer to tell them this on letterhead though.
While it would be simple to fix this yourself, I personally would not put up with your landlords audacity and make him come fix the damn thing himself. I’m petty enough to make it worse somehow before hand.
If it was your door i would say to save the effort, paint the whole door red, then paint it white again and it would hide it. Since it's your landlords I'd tell him to take a run and jump then take him to court when he withholds the deposit. You might even net a profit.
The landlord’s insurance should cover this. 🤷♀️You should also demand better security.
Just get a $3 can of white spray paint and go over it a few times. Then move elsewhere.
Generally speaking, vandalism from a third party isn’t your responsibility, it’s the property owner’s. Spray paint isn’t worth an insurance claim over, but hypothetically if the same act of vandalism had included actual damage (idk like taking a hammer to the door, or breaking a window) then the situation is still the same. It’s the landlord’s issue, not yours. If you knew who did it, the landlord could file a police report, but still on them.
That said, a scraper and some fresh paint isn’t that hard to do yourself. I would, but I’ve been on the same house for 8 years with only $150 rent increase ($100 of it was just this last month), and I literally never hear from the landlord. It’s a nice quiet relationship, so I don’t rock the boat.
I let him know when the AC went out, he sent someone. When the hot water heater had its lower element go bad, I told him I knew how to fix it, so he said to take the amount of parts and another $100 off rent next month. The disposal went out (although that was the roommate’s fault) we just replaced it without telling the landlord. I pick my battles, but for the small stuff I treat it like my own place.
Up to you and the relationship you have with the landlord.
Landlord here, you are generally not responsible for vandalism (technically not mine either, the vandal is supposed to make everyone whole). However, read your lease agreement before telling them to go fly a kite.
I hate graffiti.
Tell your landlord to clean it themselves, it's their responsibility.
When our front doorstep was tagged I used acetone and that will usually work with minimal effort on your part. soak a cloth in acetone (nail varnish remover) then get to work. If there's any traces left, allow to dry and repeat the process.
It doesn't seem like this is the tenant's responsibility to fix.
Acetone might work, but it could also take the paint off the door. The landlord might try to hold the tenant liable for any damage done by the acetone.
If the tenant really wants to be non-confrontational with the landlord, they could attempt to clean it. However, I would stay away from strong solvents like acetone.
Paint thinner will remove it without damaging paint below.
Police report too!
Call the police. File report. If landlord won’t take care of it call the building department.
KTLO? Keep the lights on?
Try magic eraser
Post in your local Facebook gossip group asking if anyone knows who's tag it is and that you'll pay a reward, someone will name them, go to police. Also don't pay it's not your responsibility it's your landlords
Malicious compliance, match the color and spray paint the entire door blue
I wonder what it says. I can read doctors handwriting easier than graffiti
Just go to the store and buy a pint of white paint on their already mixed clearance shelf and paint over it.
There are chemicals to remove paint, I’d strongly recommend reading the SDS for the chemicals you opt for as the chemicals aren’t exactly nice
Hardware stores sell graffiti remover but I would definitely try to push to have the landlord do it
The word damages doesn't mean anything anymore.
Not your responsibility
It's actually quite artistic. Perhaps lean into it, build some abstract art around it/turn it into a mural. 😂
Seriously, though, I think the best bet is a good primer and a new coat of paint. AND this is a landlord responsibility, not a tenant responsibility.
This would be a landlord responsibility/ owners insurance claim in my state so long as there is a police report. Just about anything you use on it is going to strip the finish/gloss and make it obvious there was something there that was removed. Then it's repainting..... I wouldn't touch that. Make a pd report and tell your landlord this falls outside of the pervue of normal wear and tear or renters/occupants damage. It's on him.
Tell your landlord to get f'd and clean it himself.
File police report and the landlords insurance should pay for it.
Looks like ink to me. It'll be a special 'non buff' type of ink which is what graffiti artists use in their pens that makes it harder to remove. Might be best to sand it off and repaint it yourself if acetone doesn't work.
No joke OP, the post under yours for me on my front page:
https://reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/1coqpfo/worlds_first_graffitiremoving_drone_debuts_in/
Can't you call the police and file a report about this? Give your landlord a copy. I would just for records and then see if you can help clean it up if its an easy job.
Your LL is kind of a jerk tho.
Try some WD-40 and and an old rag you don't care about getting ruined.
this should be covered under his insurance policy. landlords typically have insurance for their dwellings..
Is this a big apartment complex or a private land lord?
I’d take some hideous colour paint and basically paint a square over it and if the landlord doesn’t like too bad !
Where do you live? Highly doubt you'd have to pay for it.
Home depot or any hardware store. Ask where their paint and graffiti removal stuff is. There's sprays and wipes. I used to work for an electric bike rental company in Seattle and a huge part of my job was cleaning the graffiti off dozens of our bikes every day. I know you shouldn't have to do it yourself but it'll cost you like 10 bucks then you have the supplies if it happens again. Sorry people suck including your landlord
Ask your local municipality if they have a program. Our city comes and washes it off for free even on private property. It’s part of their anti-gang task
File a report with your City or Police. One usually has a graffiti officer or department. They probably won’t remove it (landlords responsibility) but they may keep a closure watch in your area.
THAT MAY BE INK NOT PAINT. That’s from a “mop” not a spray can. May affect how you clean, may just become a runny streaky mess as opposed to wiping off.
Outside of the apartment door is common property… not yours to fix. Or… just paint the entire door black!
Send them over to your renters insurance and they'll laugh at him. Tell him if renters insurance won't cover it than it's not your problem
Your landlord is a POS
Tell him it's a "BANKSY" 😂
Do you have rental insurance? Can you paint it?
Presumably paying for the damages is paying someone else to paint the door. . Which tour sort of paying for anyway, pay a little more and let someone else do it.
Try and hire the landlord to do it, just be like hey I know you landlords love money, here's 80 quid, paint the door.
I’d give it the worst land lord special he has ever seen. Just sloppy thick white paint over it.
This is a building responsibility. Not a tenant responsibility. I’m a property manager and landlord.
You can try Goof Off but that may remove the paint on the door as well.
That's the landlords responsibility. They cover maintenance and repairs. Since thats not a consumable nor is it in any way your fault, that falls under their responsibility. Dont let them bully you, call your cities renters association and they will handle the landlord for you if they start bullying.
I’d make a police report, because if there’s cameras then they might can see who the culprit is, and also clear you if any wrongdoing in the matter. If you didn’t do it, it’s not your responsibility.
Break clean or gun scrubber. Cheap and very effective
primer and paint - the graf will seep through white paint alone
also thats a drip marker not spray paint
I agree with people saying not to touch it because it’s up to your landlord, and that you should look up tenant rights in your area. I understand though if you want it gone because who wants vandalism on your front door? If you clean it, document, document, document. Document your landlord threatening you and keep the photos of the vandalism. They might come in handy should you choose to take action
Are you in the US? If this is on the outside of your door it should absolutely not be your responsibility.
It’s not difficult to clean up stuff like that at most costs you like 30 bucks for some solvent to wipe it off. This is not where you should dig in and cause a huge fight with your landlord.
UK based?
Try and find Autosmart tardis
It's a solvent based tar and glue remover for cars however it's very effective with removing most spray paints
Ebay or if you know anyone in the motor trade
Move. This is called vandalism. Landlord needs to call his insurance or paint the door.
Just because he’s saying you have to do it doesn’t mean it’s true. It’s his property and his responsibility to maintain it. Let him waste his time bringing it in front of a judge OP, don’t pay this scumbag or do his job for him
Nope. He can pay for small claims court if it means that much to him… he will lose.
Call the police this could be used as a way to mark your house this is graffiti known as a tag I’ve seen specials on tv about them
Nope. Thats all you gotta say.
If you ruin the door while trying to remove it ,it will really be your responsibility to pay for the damage . Leave it alone and ask your landlord to clean it . It’s not your property to take care of . It's a landlord's responsibility to repair damage caused by a crime.
1 missing reply
Why should you pay for vandalism. Look up tenant rights where you live