Neighbor's fence and swimming pool Damaged by Tenant's Trampoline

[Lianjun Wu]

I rented my house to a tenant. Due to hurricane Helene, the trampoline belonging to the tenant hit neighbor A's fence. And it crossed the neighbor A’s back yard and hit another's neighbor B's swimming pool. Before the hurricane hit, I reminded the tenant to secure trampoline.

As a landlord, what is the best approach to handle this case? And who should be held liable for the damage? The neighbor A had a conversation with tenant and the tenant said their renter insurance won’t cover it due to the act of God.

[Charles Carillo]

@Lianjun Wu

Landlords should never allow tenants to have trampolines. They are lawsuits ready to happen.

Have the neighbors contacted you already? I would speak to your attorney before responding to them.

[Lianjun Wu]

A big lesson learned from this. The neighbor B did not contact me. The tenant did agree via text message to be held liable for all potential damage caused by trampoline before they put up the trampoline. Is this agreement via phone text valid? I'll look for a real estate attorney. Any experience or comments shared by the forum is much appriciated.