Water Damage Caused by Tenant - Charge Them Now or Out of Deposit

[Nazz Wang]

Hello BP Community,

I have some regular tenants that caused water damage to my bathroom floor and drywall as well as the downstairs neighbor's bathroom roof because they were filling a water can and forgot to turn the water off before they left home. The neighbor's damages were covered by their insurance and fixes to my unit is around $500. Would you recommend charging the tenants now in the next rental bill or taking it out of their deposit?

The tenants have been paying rent on time every month, and have had no other unreasonable demands. The accident seemed unintentional based on their description. If I charge them now in the next rental bill, I am worried it will leave a bad taste in our otherwise harmonious relationship, and thus gives them less incentive to leave the unit in mint condition when they leave.

If I don't charge them now, and wait till the end of lease to take this out of the deposit, then I will have a significantly smaller buffer shall they damage something else or decide to leave before the lease term.

I usually let small damages slide under $100 slide to focus on a good relationship. But this bill is too high to pick up for myself and I want them to pay.

What should I do?