They took this pad from posh to “putrid.”
A Manhattan couple who rented out their three-bedroom luxury condo claims it was trashed by tenants whose method of decorating included painting everything in sight and leaving holes in all the walls.
The $3.3 million apartment was to be Steven and Julie Young’s dream home when they bought it in 2006, but when Steven’s contracting business got hit by the economic downturn, the couple decided to rent out the TriBeCa apartment instead of selling it.
In May 2010, Theodore and Patricia Coburn moved in after forking over a $20,000 deposit, agreeing to pay $15,000 a month in rent and signing a two-year lease that forbade alterations to the home.
But by the time the Coburns moved out in June, they had slapped “dark saturated colors” across the walls of each room, extending the paint job to the doors, vents, built-in speakers, sprinklers, light fixtures, mirror and window frames and outlet covers, according to a Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit filed by the Youngs.
The tenants added “three-dimensional stripes” to a living room wall, left holes in the walls from hundreds of pictures, and about $150,000 worth of additional damage in the three-bedroom, three-bath apartment in their wake, the Youngs claim.
“The colors in my apartment are — what’s the word — putrid,” he said.“Their styles are so eclectic. They had made it like a dungeon.”
The repairs still aren’t finished, and the Youngs have had trouble renting out the apartment again, they allege.
“I lost months and months. People wouldn’t even look at it because of its condition,” he said.
The Coburns, who eventually took the apartment right next door, denied the allegations but declined further comment on the pending litigation.
The Youngs are seeking $213,200 in damages for both the cost of the repairs and the llost rent.