Tenant drilling into joists

[Ludmila M.]

My lease is fairly comprehensive and among other things, it explicitly prohibits nailing and drilling into ceiling joists in unfinished basements and garages. I also emphasize this rule when going over the lease with new tenants during lease signing.

Last week I came to change an air filter for the first time since this couple moved in (they passed the screening). Unfortunately, I noticed a few lease violations, including nailing/drilling into the garage ceiling joists. The tenant had a few buckets and a lamp nailed to the joists, and there was also a pulley hanging on some hook that was drilled into the joist. I think the pulley might be related to the tenant's boating/fishing hobby (his boat is permitted on the property). Please note this SFH has plentiful storage and there is no need to hang stuff.

I’m waiting to address issues after the first quarterly inspection, which is due in two weeks. I suspect I’ll find more violations inside the home too, since this tenant seems “handy”. Meanwhile, I wanted to ask your opinion on the following:

1. When notifying the tenant about this lease violation, would you ask him to remove the items off the joists, or would you let him keep everything up until the lease ends in 9 months?
2. How do you calculate the cost of damage for nailing/drilling into joists?  I understand a few smaller holes are not hurting much, but if every tenant takes liberty to drill/nail things, I’ll end up with Swiss-cheese-looking and possibly compromised joists. Not to mention, unlike sheetrock, holes in joists are permanent. I feel there has to be a financial consequence, especially since this was specifically prohibited in the lease and verbally.

Thank you in advance for your input!