Tenant Responsibility or Wear & Tear?

Question

We had tenants move in a few months ago.

Yesterday they sent the following picture claiming that that was there since they moved in. (During the last walk through with previous tenants, that was not there at all). The new tenant did say she showered and/or took a bath daily and that it’s gotten bigger every time she’s got out of the tub.

I spoke with a friend and she said her child had caused something similar when he was bathed in the tub and water would spill over (and she was too tired to clean it up). She caught it before it got as bad as the photo but she did have get it replaced/fixed. I spoke to a floor specialist (that she used) and he said that was due to excessive moisture.

My question is, who is responsible for that? Would it be considered normal wear and tear or is this something excessive that the tenants have caused due to carelessness? She said it stinks and smells like urine as well. They do have a cat and dog. The house is professionally cleaned after each tenant leaves and the house is also inspected after each cleaning service is completed (to make sure it was cleaned well). So the house is inspected at least twice after the previous tenants leave. Before they moved in, it was inspected more than that because we just had new floors put in (not in the bathroom but the rest of the house).

She also stated that the TP holder and the towel holder in the bathroom are loose/ and coming off. Again, during the walk through from the last inspection, they were fine/working/not falling off or were loose. We don’t mind replacing that but I’m just concerned at this point that the tenants are not taking care of the property/maintaining the property and expecting us to fix everything by claiming wear and tear. These are just a couple of issues that have risen during their stay. They’ve only been there a few months as well, so these issues are starting to concern me.

Thanks in advanced.

Brian Kantor · Answer

I'm going to have to go with @Bill Brandt and his POV here, unfortunately.

Tenant's will never treat a property as if it's their own, because it isn't. Even if it truly is their fault, for one this is tough to prove and two, it's unfortunately on you to ensure your rental is resistant to excessive wear and tear. Water spillage is common in a property and it should be up to you to reinforce the bathroom to ensure that isn't an issue.

I think you need to "eat this", and when you have it fixed, use a quality vendor who can repair it in a way to keep this from happening again.

Jill F. · Answer

This is such a minor thing. Put down an new piece of bathtub trim and/or caulk well. Tell your tenant that is due to splashing water and they should be more careful or it will happen again and next time they'll pay for the replacement.

Julie Hartman · Answer

At first glance, to me this looks like a tenant caused issue. Either someone is taking a bath and splashing excessively or they are showering and not closing the door completely. The water then gets out through the door corner and runs down causing the foam expansion. Since you did a full inspection prior to the new tenant, I am working off the assumption that you have photos and can point to that when explaining that they are responsible for a repair. I would tell them they need to make sure the shower door is completely closed when showering and to stop splashing. They also should wipe down the floor and side of the tub after each use and keep a mat on the floor at all times. Hopefully, this isn't causing mold to form under that linoleum as well.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

Both. It was improperly caulked/sealed, and the tenant is sloppy. Fix it, give her a written warning and move on....

Kathy Benavidez · Answer

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your reply.

Unfortunately, we don’t have photos but we did do a walk through after the last tenant; after the cleaners cleaned; after the new floors were inserted; and the day or two before the new tenants arrived as the yard was cleaned that day.

This is our first rental, so we will definitely be taking photos after each tenant now.

Dan H. · Answer

The caulk/seal job is wrong.   Granted without tenant having any water leakage there would be no problem.  However, if sealing job was correct I am unconvinced that there would be any problem.

Fix it correctly and pay for it.  Discuss with tenant the need to clean up any water that escapes the tub enclosure.  If you do not know how to caulk, they sell bath corner seal strips.  Properly clean/prep surface before applying the seal strips otherwise they will not seal properly.

At tenant turnover, take photos of everything (you will still miss stuff).  In addition, give the new tenant one week to document on a move-in checklist any damage, mess, etc. that was present at move-in.  The pictures and move-in checklist document the state of the unit at move-in.  Any damage not indicated on the checklist and not depicted in any of the photos is new damage.

Good luck

JD Martin · Answer

Toilet paper holders: we use single mount holders with the integrated arm, so the spring holder can never be lost and so we can mount the holder directly into a stud. That prevents them from coming off the wall. If that's not an option, then we use the heavy base floor model TP holder. Towel holders are a little more tricky but you can usually get at least one mount in a stud. The other side, we use the screw-in drywall anchors which take a whole lot more effort to tear off the wall and generally is intentional if it does happen.

Christen G. · Answer

I agree with this completely. And I'd add that you need to clock that these tenants are hard on the property. It's ok to let them know: technically this is your responsibility and your fault - same as the TP holder, etc... I'll handle this now - take photos of EVERYTHING when you go in to fix it and put this all in their tenant file. From here, make sure your annual inspections are routine and regular. This could have been much worse.

Marci Stein · Answer

What exactly is wear and tear anyway ? if the condition is not the same as when they moved in , then they are responsible.

John Underwood · Answer

@Brian Kantor

I agree.

I'd just send my handyman over to fix and further waterproof this.

Some of this can be caught on routine inspections, which I am bad about doing  frequently myself.

Tenant Responsibility or Wear & Tear?

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