Repair problem: who should pay for repair.

[Eric Li]

I managed a rental by myself for a few years. I have this tenant moved in since Jun this year. In end of Oct, I got a message that the garbage disposal stopped working and there was leak under the sink. I went there to inspect myself. I found the leak was at the bottom of the garbage disposal and the garbage disposal was stucked. I reached in the garbage disposal, reverse the rotation and pull a knife from inside. The knife was about 6 in long (including handle) and the blade was about 3 in long. One of the three tenants was with me at that time. I told her that it was damaged by the knife and I needed to charged them for repair. I could order a repair and charge them or they could order a repair themselves. They chose to find their own plumber.

In two days, they message me back saying that the plumber said the garbage disposal was old and the damage was wear and tear. The plumber was saying that even a garbage disposal was stuck, it won't damage the unit. Now they wanted me to pay for the damage. I disagree and refused. They still had the garbage disposal fixed and sent me the bill. Following the bill, I called the plumber. The plumber told me that he did not know about the knife and that's why he made that comment. The plumber agreed with me that the knife could cause the damage.

I circled this back to the tenants in email (cc the plumber who was chosen by the tenant). The tenant still insisted that it was a wear and tear as their claim that's what tenant union told them (something stuck in the garbage disposal is wear and tear). They refused to talk to me but only asking for physical address to send legal paper. I refused to give them address but willing to talk to them. They refused to talk to me for resolution.

Not sure what I should do at this point.