How to charge tenants for damage while they are still in unit

[Stacey Tiamfook]

Hi All. I am looking for some advice. I have a 2-unit rental property and my tenants in one unit reported a clogged toilet. I sent a plumber over and it turns out that the tenant, in the other unit, has been putting baby wipes and tampons down the toilet and has clogged the sewer line. The blockage is so severe that this is going to be a several thousand dollar repair. This same tenant was putting full containers of food down the garbage disposal and clogged the sewer line earlier this year. I paid for that repair, and had the garbage disposal removed. While I don't think the tenant has done this intentionally, this is neglect and I want to charge the tenant for the repairs. I have never charged a tenant for a repair while they were still living in the unit. How have others gone about doing this? Did you send a letter stating the issue with a bill?

I also want to note that this tenant is in the US on an assignment from their European employer, who is paying their housing costs. Their company has paid the security deposit, so if she were moving out, I would use that money to pay for the costs but there is still 4 months left on their lease (and they have already said that they would like to sign again at the end of the term). Is there a way to extract this from the security deposit and then have them update the security deposit at the time of new lease signing? I know that this is somewhat risky as there are still 4 more months in which they could break something else but I am also trying to explore this option as it could be covered by their employer instead of coming out of their pockets.

Thanks, in advance, for any advice.
 

[Julie Hartman]

@Stacey Tiamfook Are the tenants on the lease or is it the company that is listed? Is there a company rep you deal with? If so, I would notify the rep and then send the tenants an itemized bill including the cause of the repair. I would give them no more than 14 days to pay and if they don't, then it would come out of the deposit. I would make sure the wording is very direct and professional. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for them to mail you the payment. Considering this is such an expensive repair, if you get any push-back, I would let them know this will end up in collections if not paid.