Painting a Czech rental at move-out: 2026 tenant rules

The lease is ending and the landlord says every wall must be white—or a painter will be deducted from the deposit. Do not answer with the slogan that painting is always the tenant’s cost or that every mark is ordinary wear. Compare the original condition, length and manner of use, your alterations, any underlying defect and the remedy actually needed.

Start with the demand you actually received

• “Paint professionally before I accept the keys”: separate the condition dispute from returning possession; ask which surfaces exceed ordinary wear and why.
• You changed the colour with written consent: check whether that consent also required restoration at the end.
• You changed it without consent: restoration is the default unless the landlord tells you it is unnecessary.
• There are stains, smoke, holes or pet marks: compare the move-in baseline and propose the smallest competent remedy.
• There is mould, damp or peeling: preserve the pattern and investigate the cause before painting over it.
• A quote or invoice was deducted from the deposit: test cause, scope, price, payment and whether unaffected rooms or an upgrade were included.

Separate maintenance during the lease from the return standard

Government Regulation 308/2015 classifies painting, plaster touch-ups and wallpapering as routine apartment maintenance normally performed during use. That allocation under Section 2257 has no minor-repair price cap. It answers who ordinarily performs and pays for maintenance while the lease runs; it does not create a separate rule that every tenant must commission a full professional repaint on the final day regardless of condition.

Section 2293 of the Czech Civil Code says the apartment is returned in the condition in which it was received, while taking account of ordinary wear from ordinary use and defects the landlord must remove. Current MMR guidance therefore says a landlord cannot automatically demand move-out painting after normal use, while tenant-caused heavy soiling, drawings, animal damage, smoke or markedly different colours may justify a repainting requirement.

Start with the move-in baseline, not today’s white paint quote

• Move-in protocol, dated photographs and video showing colour, existing marks, patching and finish.
• Lease clauses about painting, alterations, approved colours and return condition.
• Messages approving a colour, wallpaper, shelves, children’s room or later repair.
• Length of the tenancy, household use, smoking, pets and earlier painting or touch-ups.
• Leak, damp, mould, cracking or other reports that may explain discolouration or peeling.

If the move-in record is vague, neither side should pretend the original condition is proven. Assemble the best dated evidence available: listing photographs, handover emails, contractor invoices, witnesses and images from shortly after move-in. A generic statement “apartment freshly painted” is weaker than a room-by-room record of colour and condition.

Ordinary wear is not a fixed number of years

MMR notes there is no statutory painting frequency and mentions three to five years only as a recommendation, with shorter intervals sometimes relevant for smoking or solid-fuel appliances. It is not an automatic depreciation table. A clean wall after one year, a heavily smoked wall after one year and normally faded paint after six years are not the same evidence.

Judge each room and surface: age and quality of the original coating, light, ventilation, furniture shadows, scuffs expected from ordinary living, isolated holes, washable marks, nicotine, crayons, grease, pet rubbing, unauthorised colour and building defects. Then identify the smallest competent remedy.

Consent changes the restoration rule

Section 2293 distinguishes changes made with and without the landlord’s consent. If you changed a white room to dark blue, installed a mural or made another visible alteration without consent, you restore it unless the landlord tells you restoration is unnecessary; you also cannot claim a settlement merely because the change increased the apartment’s value.

If the landlord did consent, you restore the change only where the parties agreed that obligation. The landlord may still claim compensation if the authorised change reduced the apartment’s value. Preserve the actual consent, any colour specification and every end-of-lease condition instead of treating “permission” as a complete answer.

Do not assume “original colour” means the owner may specify a premium product, a different finish or repaint undamaged rooms. Ask for the colour or reasonable match, rooms and surfaces involved, preparation needed and acceptance criteria in writing before spending money.

Do not paint over a defect to make handover look easy

Peeling paint, damp staining and mould can arise from ordinary use, insufficient ventilation, a leak, thermal bridge, failed heating or several causes together. A cosmetic coat can destroy evidence and fail quickly. Photograph the pattern, report the defect, preserve repair communications and use the mould, heating and underlying-repair workflow before accepting responsibility.

Request a pre-handover inspection with testable items

• Clean a small test area before assuming a full coat is required.
• Avoid random spot painting where an unmatched patch will make the finish worse.
• If you will paint, agree colour, coverage, preparation, deadline and inspection in writing.
• Use a competent contractor where height, damaged plaster, lead risk or another hazard makes DIY unsafe.
• Photograph the empty room in daylight after cleaning and any accepted work.

If the landlord refuses your offer to fix a specific item

Make a concrete written offer: identify the room and wall, proposed preparation, colour or match, competent person, access date and completion deadline. Ask the landlord to accept it or explain the objection. Preserve a refusal, silence or a demand for a wider job. That record can matter if the landlord later claims a contractor price for work you offered to remedy proportionately.

An offer to cure is not permission to retain possession indefinitely, and it does not prove the landlord must accept unsafe or substandard work. Return the apartment and keys on time, record the unresolved item separately and avoid authorising an unspecified future cost.

Write the handover protocol wall by wall

Bring the move-in record. Describe colour, marks, holes, stains, damp and agreed work by room; attach numbered photographs. Separate “condition observed” from “tenant accepts liability and amount.” Do not sign a blanket statement that the landlord may retain the whole deposit or that an unknown future invoice is agreed. Use the handover protocol checklist for keys, meters, possession and attachments.

Do not keep possession beyond the lease merely because painting is disputed. Offer a documented handover and all keys at the agreed time. If the landlord refuses to attend or accept them, use the refused-handover and key-delivery evidence workflow rather than letting the condition dispute extend possession.

A deposit deduction needs a real, proportionate claim

The landlord may set off valid due claims against the deposit, but “painting” is not a self-proving lump sum. Request the claimed rooms and cause, comparison with the move-in state, legal and contractual basis, scope of work, quote, invoice and proof of payment where available, calculation and the remaining deposit plus interest. Distinguish restoration from the owner’s planned refresh, betterment or repainting of unaffected rooms and surfaces.

A contractor invoice proves that money was charged, not automatically that the entire scope was caused by the tenant, reasonably priced or actually paid. A quote shows a proposed cost, not completed work. Conversely, the lack of an invoice does not erase proven damage. Include any timely, proportionate cure that the landlord refused, and use the deposit, interest and deduction workflow for the itemised demand and escalation path.

How to read an “always repaint” lease clause

Read its exact trigger, standard, colour, method and relation to the statutory ordinary-wear rule. Czech residential-lease protections cannot be reduced merely by placing a broad sentence in the contract. Do not assume the clause is worthless, but do not let it replace evidence of the actual return condition and reasonable loss. A material deduction under a disputed blanket clause deserves individual Czech legal review.

A seven-item evidence pack

• Lease, amendments and every painting or alteration approval.
• Move-in protocol, original listing and dated move-in photographs.
• Defect, leak, mould and repair reports with landlord responses.
• Pre-handover request, room-by-room response and any agreed remedy.
• Final empty-room photographs, video, witnesses and signed or annotated protocol.
• Painter quotes, invoices, colour specifications and proof of payment.
• Deposit statement, set-off calculation, demand for the balance and delivery proof.