Garage door shattered tenants’ windshield

[Michael Nahm]

Hi everyone,

I have a great tenant in a condo, that’s been with us for years. Recently, as she was going through the common garage, the door abruptly slammed down on her windshield and shattered it.

From what she explains, she was shaken, backed out slowly and called the complex’s management office to let them know what happened.

In the meantime, her insurance covered the windshield replacement.

A bit later, she received an invoice from the complex’s management for the repair of the garage door.

The garage door has sensors, which would prevent the door from coming down if there was a vehicle going through. The fact that the windshield shattered, to me, is evidence of a strong force, such as the garage door abruptly coming down.

I feel I should also add that this tenant did not ask for a thing from management. In fact, she’s an immigrant, and does not speak English fluently. All she wanted to do was inform them of what happened. My feeling is that management is taking advantage of her, as any other person would go “suit” happy.

My question is, am I missing something? I’m about to write a letter to management on her behalf demanding they remove the charge, and would like your thoughts. 

Thank you all.