Another reason to let it go is that during the time they lived there it sounds like the tenant was trying not to bother the landlord with small repair items that would have added up in time spent and repair costs. It is easier for the landlord to just get the place fixed up all at once after they have moved out as long as what the tenant did to keep things working did not result in something major like leaks causing mold in the walls.

From about 1997 to 2006 my wife and I had a condo we were renting to a person on section 8 subsidies. The place was getting dingy over the years from lack of cosmetic maintenance such as interior painting, but the tenant did not generally ask for much in terms of repairs other than a few clear problems like the heating element going out in the water heater. The last year or so that she lived there she had a hard time paying her portion so she fell behind by about $1000 over about 9 months. We decided not to pressure her too much because we were getting 80 or 90% of the monthly rent from the county section 8 program and she had been mostly a low trouble tenant. In the end we asked her to move out because my wife's son needed a place to live and we also felt the place really needed to be freshened up. We waved the money she still owed on the condition that she moved out on time designated in our eviction notice. The eviction was amicable.