dealing with tenant....disposal leak

[John W.]

quick summary.
sfr. remodeled home. including new disposal and sink. young tenants (dont seem to be handy). they moved in in march.
got a text on sunday morning that they just noticed the disposal was leaking. they had a bucket under it for the dripping water. i reminded them that they were responsible for minor repairs especially when it was something they did. it was brand new. they said they had somebody that was handy that could fix it. i told them that they could use him if he called me, if he couldnt do it, i would send someone out at thier expense. the wife (who i was texting with) was appreciative and said she would let me know if thier handy guy could do it. i did not hear back so i texted on wednesday...no response. thursday...the husband wrote me....'we dont have the money so i dont think it would be a good idea to send him out." i called him and he said he would like to fix it himself, but needed to gather them money as they didnt have it right now. the contract states i can send someone out at thier expense.they pay first $50, but if i felt they caused it, they pay the entire bill. i would pay the plumber, but would in turn bill them.

what would you do? they say they have bucket underneath and it is not causing any damage and will get it fixed. i doubt they will fix it any time soon, but i dont know that.

would you ......send someone out and send them a bill? (btw. gramdmother co-signed)
followup up in a few weeks and see if they fixed it?
other ideas?

thanks.

[Adam K.]

Another potential implication.....next time they have a problem they might not call at all. The tenant might be worried about having to pay for a minor repair and instead allow a small problem to get much worse. I am far from an expert especially on SFH rentals but would be very worried that tenants would ignore problems rather than pay for repair.