Tenant Drove into Garage Door

[Ron C.]

Hello - I would like to get some feedback on how to properly handle this scenario. A tenant who is on a month-to-month lease recently drove his car into the garage door on my rental property, causing irreparable damage to the door. I contracted with a local shop to replace the door at my expense because I didn't trust the tenant to replace the door to my satisfaction. Now I want to recover the cost from the tenant. The lease clearly states that the tenant is responsible for damages caused by the tenant. 

I told the tenant that I would be expecting to be compensated for the door by a certain date, which has come and gone without action. What is the best course of action?

Thanks,
Ron

[Chase Gochnauer]

Hello Ron, I see you're in Des Moines as well. 

Not sure of the size of garage door, or if there was any damage to vehicle, but you could mention using their auto insurance to cover it. I would imagine running your car into the door would be an insurable incident. He could get any damage to his car fixed, as well as the garage door, for his deductible. If it's a 1 car garage it might not be worth it to him, but for a 2 car door it might.