Who is responsible for missing outside items

[Tim B.]

I have a rental property in NC that has a few storm drains in the yard. There are steel grates covering the drains for safety reasons. My tenant called the property manager today and said the grates are gone and need to be replaced. The grates were properly installed when the tenant moved in (August 2013) and had been there for about 10 years since the property was built. My question is: Who is responsible to replace these?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Carolinatim

[Steve Babiak]

The metal harvesters likely are to blame. Iron work that is not locked down is always vulnerable to these thieves.

Your tenant might not be in a position where they can afford to pay for replacement. You can price the replacement and then determine whether you would want to file a claim with your insurance; you might be required to get a police report before the claim would be honored.