Property damage-Milwaukee

[Jim Peret]

I'm going to My Duplex today after talking to my lower tenant. She said somebody was trying to break in and her brother (who doesn't live there) shot there the door. Then said something about drywall damage and mentioned she would pay if she had to. She is a very clean tolerant two year tenant I'd like to keep. At this point I don't know if it's a random break in or they were targets of something they may be involved in. I'm not in a war zone and located on 56th and Keefe.

[Marcia Maynard]

So, she is saying the damage was caused by her brother (her guest/invitee) because he thought a crime was in progress?

1. Did she file a police report about the crime in progress?

2. What do your city ordinances say about discharging a gun within the city limits?

3. How timely did she report this to you?

I would take pictures of the damage. Get a repair estimate. Repair the damage. Charge the tenant for the damage. If it was a lot of damage, I would invoice each job separately (drywall repair, door repair, door casing repair, etc.). I would require her to pay the cost of  the repair for the damages before the end of January.