Damaged Hardwood from Hookah Coal Burns

[Victor Kao]

I have a tenant who smoked hookah in his room against the lease agreement's non-smoking clause. He has agreed to stop smoking in the house, but I'm not sure he has. Is there any way to make sure he stops smoking?

Also, the other issue is the visible damage already caused by hot coals used with his hookah. There are burn marks in the hardwood flooring and the wood steps. How do I go about charging him for damages? Can I do it before he moves out? Can I get a flooring expert to do an estimate or even do repairs now instead of after he moves so that I have a better chance of him paying for damages? I don't want to wait until after he moves out because his security deposit definitely doesn't cover the damages he's caused.

[Thomas S.]

Landlords should be following the practice of regular inspections, having repairs completed and billing tenants for the work while they are still tenants.

As a landlord you have no reason to believe your tenant is going to stop smoking. If he was trustworthy he would have followed the lease in the first place. After he has paid for the damage I would save myself the effort of having to police his smoking and evict him for having violated the lease.