Tenant accusing me of stealing 500!?

[Benjamin Orozco]

Me and my brother just bought a triplex in Hemet CA, all three units needed work so we went to do repairs on Sunday. On Tuesday(yesterday Jan 18) I received a phone call from Unit C, she calls me asking if I went into her unit on Monday because she is missing 500 dollars. I told her we went Sunday not Monday for repairs and I can assure you we have nothing to do with your money being lost. Then she said I think I might of seen it on Monday but not sure.

Do I document this ? Or what’s advised to do in this situation?

[Patricia Steiner]

Yes, document it - and you will want to do so every time you enter a tenant-occupied unit to protect yourself from claims and to document your proactive maintenance/care of your property.  Note when notice was given to the tenant of the inspection, date/time entered, who entered the unit, purpose, duration, and document with photos the work perform.  In this case, also note the after-the-fact inquiry from the tenant and your response.  You can't know the tenant's motive - it may be that she is trying to scare you off from ever entering her unit again or it could be something more.  It's always a good idea to have a second person with you when possible during inspections.  Just document it and forget it.