What to check on a wallpaper replacement charge
For a wallpaper charge, collect the cause of the mark, the date it was last replaced, the area of this job, and the breakdown of the unit price. The number of years you lived there is only one of those facts.
The Ministry’s guidelines are a general reference. They are not a document that decides the duty to pay for a particular room.
Read the years together with the start of the count
In the guidelines’ example of how to share cost, wallpaper reaches a residual value of 1 yen at 6 years. That is not a table that turns the charge to zero from years of residence alone. The count starts from a different date if the paper was replaced before you moved in, or during your stay. The guidelines also do not say that, once those years have passed, there is never a construction cost when the damage is the tenant’s negligence.
When you check, separate these on the lease, the invoice, and the photos:
- Years from move-in to move-out
- When the wallpaper was last replaced. If unknown, leave it unknown
- How the mark happened. If unknown, leave it unknown
- Whether this job covers only the marked surface or the whole room
Match the area to the location of the mark
Even if the paper says the whole room, you cannot tell which walls without a drawing or a photo. If you have a photo of the mark, see whether that wall and the square meters on the invoice are the same. How to keep photos is in Photos to keep before you move out.
Fading from sunlight, and darkening behind an appliance, appear among the guidelines’ examples of the landlord’s share. A stain from a drink left in place, and a hole that needs the base layer replaced, appear among examples of the tenant’s share. They are examples. A photo that looks similar does not decide which one it is. Ask the other side to write the cause.
Split the unit price into materials and labor
The unit price sometimes mixes materials and labor. The guidelines’ Q&A explains that the price differs by grade and method, and that you can ask for a breakdown if you have a question. The reference is the guidelines Q&A.
This article does not set a national unit price for wallpaper. Ask what the printed unit price is, and whether it is materials or labor.
If there is a special term, read the sentence
If the lease says the tenant replaces the wallpaper, note the scope of that sentence and whether it was explained when you moved in. A heading that says special term does not mean you have read the square meters of this job. How to read it is in What to look for in a lease special term.