Renter ran into garage and paid for repair without asking us

[Natalie Keller]

Hi all! 

We are new to this and these are our first renters.
Here is the scenario:
The renter reported an incident from earlier in the day.

" I went to back up and did not realize the garage was open 3/4 of the way. ( I am assuming it stopped due to being too cold). that said my car hit it and so my husband called a repair guy and he came out and fixed it to be functional. The cost was 550 and we paid it already. The repair guy did say that he recommends getting a new one due to it being 20 years old. I am not sure what you feel we should do next about payments etc. as it was an accident but the garage door did not open all the way."

What are your initial thoughts? how should we handle the situation? What should be our next steps?

Thank you,

Natalie

[Nathan Gesner]

My thoughts:

1. The tenant should have reported it to you first. Without seeing it, you have no way of knowing if the Tenant is telling the truth. I've heard of doors hitting a certain spot and reversing, but I don't recall a door opening 3/4 of the way and then just stopping. I manage 100+ rentals with garage doors and I'm in a very cold climate (we've warmed up to 7 degrees today!). I also find it curious that the very first time it happens, the tenant runs into it.

2. Even if the Tenant is telling the truth, he has a responsibility to look behind him before backing up. He needs to accept responsibility for his part.

3. Tenants don't have the authority to spend your money without your permission. If he had called first, you may have preferred to spend the money on a new door rather than repair the old one.

Without any evidence to support his claim, I would tell him this repair is on him.