Fridge Broke Down - Tenant Requests Reimbursement for Medications

[Radley Estrada]

Hey BP members, I have an interesting situation.

I moved a new tenant into one of my properties 2 months ago.  She is a great tenant and have had no problems so far.

Recently, I was informed that the fridge was working sporadically - then had stopped working all together after 3-4 days from initially noticing the fridge was not getting cold.  I immediately contacted a repair person and scheduled everything to be looked at the next day.  The fridge is still under warranty, and was told the repair will be completed in a week due to a part that needed to be ordered.

My tenant asked if she could be reimbursed for food lost the 3-4 days the fridge was not working well.  

I said I would have to make a reimbursement request.  I asked her to message me a short itemized list of food lost, and I'll run it by the company for reimbursement.

I just received the itemized list, and she included $100 worth of food (which I am fine with) and an additional $350 for her insulin medication she said that was thrown out because it had to be in the fridge.

Now like I said, I have no problem with food loss.  But, the medications?

I've never had an issue like this arise before.

What would stop this tenant or future tenants to say - "Hey, I lost $2 million dollars in medication in your fridge that broke down....give me my money" 

Because she is a good tenant, I am considering going ahead and reimbursing the food and the medication.  On a condition moving forward, we add an addendum stating that refrigerator will only be used for food storage, and that I the landlord is not responsible for any special medication that requires refrigeration.  And that the tenant will provide a mini-fridge for their medication. 

I am considering adding an addendum like this to all my leases.

Before I contact the tenant, I would love to hear opinions on this.  

Thanks in advance to all who's read and respond to this post.  

[Kim Meredith Hampton]

@Radley Estrada I used to have medication that had to be refrigerated, but I also knew that if I was on a long flight, I would put a freezer bar in a package with my shots. If she knew the fridge was not cooling, which soundsbiulke she did, that was her responsibility to put in a cooler until such time as it was repaired. 

I say NO on reimbursement