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?

[Marcia Maynard]

@Nazz Wang We charge for damages as we go.  If it is a significant amount, such as this, I would do as @Philip Williams suggested and let them pay in installments.  As @Account Closed said, meet with them and present them with the estimate.  When you have the real cost of the damages go with that.  Ask the tenant how much they can pay this month to get an idea of their financial position.  The tenant may be able to pay it all at once, or in a couple of payments, or at the rate of $100 per month.  

This would be a good time to talk with them about renter's insurance and to change your rental agreement to require it.  Responsible renter's will step up to the plate and do what they need to do.

On another note, we have found water alarms to be quite helpful in mitigating damage from appliance leaks and plumbing leaks.  Put them at the base of the hot water heater, washing machine, under the kitchen sink.  If water is detected on the floor, the water alarm makes a high pitch beeping sound.

As our plumber says... "The worse things on a house are water going where it shouldn't be going and a homeowner trying to do their own handyman work!"  That's also why we don't let tenants do their own fixing of structural components.

All the best!