What if the fridge breaks and spoils the tenants food?

[Patrick Philip]

Should I reimburse them?

[Ryan Murdock]

@Patrick Philip

I am a firm "no" on this. I even include this exact example in my routine every time I sign a lease. All of my tenants are required to carry renters insurance. My pitch goes something like this:

"As part of this lease you are agreeing to carry renters insurance. It covers your personal property. If the building should burn to the ground the owner has insurance to rebuild the structure but there is no coverage for your stuff (even if there is owner's coverage I still say there isn't in my pitch...). If you have $1000's of dollars of computers, jewelry, and furniture the owner's policy will not cover that. Sometimes it's not as drastic as a fire. If the fridge dies I will get you a new one but I can't guarantee it will be the same day. If you have $400 worth of steak, lobsters, and beer that spoil I feel bad for you but I'm not reimbursing you for it - that's what renter's insurance is for should you choose to file a claim". 

I am upfront with them right from Day 1 so in the event of any issue (fire, flood, outage, whatever...), it should come as no surprise when we don't reimburse them.