Broken window

[Wesley W.]

Okay this is one of those situations where I am sure there is no definitive answer, but I am interested in seeing how everyone's management styles would address this.

Abbreviated facts:

Tenant moved in on 1/1 of this year, have had a good relationship with them thusfar.  They had frozen/burst pipes this winter and just had a water heater replaced, and they were understanding with the loss of hot water for a cumulative time of about 36  hours over the two events.

She reports that one of the windows in her unit is broken and sends a phone pic.

I have a pic of my own from August (when we bought the building) showing window intact.  Since August, then-current tenant was evicted and unit was turned over by hired team.  City Code Enforcement inspects and gives CO in December.

I am reasonably sure if the window was broken, Code would have flagged it.  (They love to ding owners for that kind of stuff around here.)  Although, it's possible they missed it, however.

Lease says "tenant is responsible for broken glass."

It's the bottom sash of a double hung window - vinyl, two panes.  From a pic she sent, it has about a 6 inch crack coming in from the side - my guess it was caused by trying to open/close the window without it being square.

Choices are (that I can see):

(1) Eat the cost in the name of positive rapport, and take tenant's word that they did not cause the damage.  (Although it still may have been caused during their brief tenancy.)

(2) Cite the lease and the Code inspection, and offer to split the cost as a gesture of goodwill.

(3) Cite the lease and the Code inspection, and politely remind them that the repair will be billed to them.

Is there another choice?  How would you handle the situation?  Would your opinion change if you self managed vs. a PM?

Thanks in advance for your collective input!

[Thomas S.]

For a good tenant I would eat the cost once unless there is something about the fit of the window causing a problem. In that case I would pay again but get it fixed. Wax the slides to be safe.