Do You Think My College Students Tenants Busted this Floor Joist?

[Will Gaston]

All:

My handyman just called me and said that a floor joist was split underneath one of my college student rentals. Five guys live there and had friends over for the Super Bowl on Sunday night. They claim it was only "20-30 people" and they weren't jumping. They did not report this until Tuesday afternoon. I imagine this is going to be a several thousand dollar fix (3k-5k?) so I would like to try and collect. They, of course, will deny that they've done anything wrong based on my experience. 

Can anybody provide any insight on what you think happened based on the pictures below? The property was built in 1965 if that makes a difference. 

Naturally I am biased but do not believe them. However, in a he said/she said situation with college kids and their grizzly bear parents things can get heated and nasty very quickly so I want to know what kind of case I have here.

I will have dealt and seen a lot over all the years I have rented to students but this is a first for me.

[Account Closed]

No. I don't believe the tenants broke the "joist." That's not a joist BTW. It's a beam that was unsupported and there is a tear where it came apart. Likely because there were too many fasteners in close proximity. If it would have split because of weight, jumping the lumber would have long "fingers" on each side of the break instead of being torn like a sheet of loose leaf.  - Said a Licensed Builder.

Now take this with a grain of salt because I, like most other builders, can put it together fantastic but rarely do we see how stuff gets broken. I'd personally be looking out for numero uno, amigo. Call your insurance company because the adjuster is going to have more experience then any peanut gallery. Then call the local building department to see if the home is occupy-able. Base your next steps from the adjusters recommendation. Builder's and handymen are not going to be very credible in court because their we are the equivalent of a tow truck driver at an accident scene.