I charged Tenant for furnace abuse

[Nathan Gesner]

Previous tenant occupied the home for two years with no furnace problems. New tenant moved in two months ago. Last week they called to report the furnace wasn't running. I send someone to check it. Long story short, they kept getting different fault codes, replaced some parts, cleaned some parts, inspected for damage, etc. No matter what they did, they couldn't keep it running and said it would probably be best to replace it since it's 15 years old and a low-quality furnace.

I decided on a second opinion. Second plumber had same fault codes, cleaned some more, and couldn't figure out what the problem was. He finally decided to check the venting. He stuck a camera into the vent pipe and...

Yes, that's a baseball. The plumber digs it out but then...

A baseball, tennis ball, wiffle ball, nerf ball, multiple rocks, and trash. This family has four children whereas the previous tenant had none, so it's pretty clear who caused the issue.

My lease is clear:

I feel bad for the tenant but it took two different plumbers, around 10 hours, and several parts replaced. The invoices haven't arrived yet but I suspect the final bill will be in the neighborhood of $1,000 and the tenant will have to pay it all.

I hope this proves helpful to others.