Damaged Refrigerator door handle, no one claims responsibility.

[Sada Rafi]

House is rented by 3 individuals. One left couple of months ago and replacement signed a new lease. Now they have reported to me that the refrigerator door is damaged. No one is taking responsibility as to what happened. They say it must’ve happened when the other person was living with them blaming it on that person. Yes, the checklist was completed and nothing was noticed at that time. It appears that The handle was glued back to the refrigerator at one point. So now who is responsible? Does the landlord take it or charge the tenants and fix it?

Problem is what other damages are going to be surfacing and blamed on the person who is left?

Appreciate your opinion/solution! Thanks

[James Wise]

Originally posted by @Sada Rafi:

@James Wise

Thanks all for responding.

The two of them are under one lease, however, the the new (3rd) person is under her own lease. Not sure if that makes any difference is how I handle this issue. I like and am leaning towards splitting between 3 of them regardless.

 No no no. There is no splitting. Don't punish yourself. Their inner workings with each other in regards to who pays what is their problem, not yours. The cost to fix the item is X. Tell them to give you X or hit the bricks.