Intra-Tenant Laundry Dispute

[Rebecca Shine]

Hello!

I was hoping for some advice. I have a multi-family property in which each unit has their own set of washers and dryers, but both sets are located in the basement - a common area.  The tenant from one of my units has been messaging me that the family in the other unit has been using his dryer, even though they have their own.  He says he feels bad taking their stuff out of the dryer and putting it on the floor, and he also doesn't like to touch belongings that aren't his for fear of being accused of stealing. 

The family upstairs has been a pain since day one - they pay, sometimes late but they pay a late fee so I've put up with it.  They leave their belongings everywhere.  I've had to send them several notices about keeping the common spaces orderly, that you can't store items in the foyer, and that the basement can be used for storage but needs to be orderly.

It does say in the lease that the landlord provides a washer and dryer, but it doesn't specify in the lease which ones are which, although the washers and dryers are labeled with 'first floor unit' and 'second floor unit'.  My first reaction to this issue is that it's not really a landlord problem.  I pay their electric and water so there's no question of utility payments.  How should I best respond to this issue?  Although it seems somewhat of a menial intra-tenant problem, each unit should have their own washers and dryers available to them as they are included in the lease.  There really isn't space or hookups in the units to move the washers and dryers out of the basement, and that would be costly so I'm trying to avoid doing that.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks!

Becca