Tenant Freezer in garage in Fourplex

[Kajal Aggarwal]

Hi,

We own a fourplex in San Jose and recently had to do some plumbing work for one of the units. Today we are notified by the tenant living in the owner's unit that the food in the freezer has been spoiled as the handyman unplugged the unit. The freezer is located in garage. They are asking us to compensate for the damaged food and some of it has been imported. So they are asking for transportation cost as well.

We think as landlord we need to stay away from this and have the tenant and handyman settle this. We are yet to reach our handyman. 

We also have couple of questions:

1. According to the lease, garage should be used only for parking. Due to this incident, we got to know that they have freezers in garage. Can we mention that its violation of lease to them?

2. What is the recommended course of action if the handyman does not have insurance?

Thanks

[Nathan Gesner]

Why would the handyman unplug a freezer in the garage while working on plumbing in an apartment? Is the toilet somehow connected to the garage outlets? That doesn't make sense. 

The garage is for parking only. Tell the tenant you don't know who unplugged the freezer, but it's his fault for storing something there when he shouldn't. He should remove the freezer and food immediately so it's not in violation of the lease or in the way of your handyman.