How do I handle a Tenant Car Break-In?

[Jeremy Bartlett]

A question for the masses:

I own/occupy a 4Plex in Anchorage and am still trying to figure out how to talk to tenants - and what medium to use. In the lease I have with my tenants, we stipulate that each unit is authorized 2 vehicles per unit. The last week of August, one of my tenants bought an RV and parked it on the driveway (they already have a Hyundai and a jeep). Because they said they didn't have anywhere to store it and had a plan (they were just waiting for a spot to open up at the facility), I gave them a week to move it.  I came back from a trip three weeks later, and it was still there. I knocked on their door and told them that I would have to have it towed if it wasn't moved by the next day. They moved it that night - just parked it down the street where it currently remains.

Fast forward to last Saturday - the same tenants purchase another vehicle! They park one of their original vehicles behind their RV down the street to respect the 2 car per unit policy. At 5:30 AM on Sunday, their car alarm goes off and wakes everyone in the cul-de-sac up. As we drive by it on our way to run errand later in the day, we find the back window had been shattered. We informed the tenants that their jeep had been broken into and let them know we could help if they needed anything. They brought the jeep back on the property, parked their new bronco behind it, and parked their Hyundai half on the pavement and half on the lawn.

My question is: how long should I wait before bringing it up? I don't want to be heartless - they just had a car broken into. But at the same time, none of this would have happened if they would have planned ahead and found storage for both the vehicles they knew they didn't have room for anyway. I have another unit filled by three siblings, and we told them they couldn't have a third car - so how long should I give these guys before bringing up that it needs to be moved without souring the rapport I have with these guys? And if/when I do - should that just be a face to face conversation or a formal notice that they were instructed to move their car?