Tenant payment question

[Jacob Carlson]

Question about a tenant payment scenario..

My tenant has been struggling to pay the rent recently but has always ended up paying. She recently decided to pay someone to cut down a small tree in the yard. I would have taken care of this myself. I believe she over paid and that the entire thing was unnecessary - especially if she is struggling to pay for rent why would she pay to cut down a tree without first asking me? She is demanding I pay her back. I told her not without a receipt proving she paid that amount. I personally think that it should come out of her pocket since she did not ask me to begin with. What do you guys think?

Am I in the wrong and need to refund her that amount? Or did she take an unnecessary liberty that she is responsible for?

Thanks for your feed back

[Andrew B.]

No way I would suggest paying for that, UNLESS, it was a safety issue and she notified you of the issue several times.

In all honestly, she made an unapproved modification to the property and you would be within your rights to ask her to plant a new one!

I would tell her that she is not getting anything for the tree, then have a conversation about moving out early so she does not end up in an eviction. It's better to get her out now while she is still paying rent, before she falls further behind.