Tenant attending to repairs and then billing me?

[Nat C.]

This is relating to a house I have a property manager for.

The PM informed me that the tenant reported a plumbing issue where dirty water was coming up from the bathtub or somewhere, the specifics were very vague.

I have a plumber I use for all my work. I tried phoning the tenant to schedule an appointment but as usual she never picked up. My plumber and I personally went and knocked on the door 4 times, with no answer.

Then I was emailed by the PM that the tenant had it fixed and the bill was $500, which apparently the tenant paid. I asked for a copy of the invoice and it's a little handwritten receipt, which says '$500, pipe replacement, Miguel'.

My response was well no, sorry I'm not paying this. The PM advised me just to swallow it. Obviously next month the tenant is going to try to deduct $500 from their rent.

My thoughts are to them slap them with a 3 days notice after they don't pay the full amount.

My PM calls them 'great tenants', despite the fact the backyard literally resembles a tip, there is a rusted, broken down car in the front yard and they generally pay rent mid month or when they feel like it.

Landlords in Miami are so scared of eviction these days as it takes months to evict tenants. I know my PM let's tenants call the shots because he knows it's a better option than going through the courts.

I recently met a builder/landlord couple who were incredibly good people. They said they slap the tenant with a 3 day notice, then make a follow up visit informing tenants they will remove their stuff and change locks if they don't pay the rent. They said they have followed through with their threats dozens of times. I was like 'what about the tenant suing?' and they said 'Who is going to have the money to pay the legal fees when they don't have the money to pay rent?'

The last paragraph was a bit off subject but I would like to know others opinions on the plumbing repair issue.

[Account Closed]

To expand on my first point. Tenants do not, i repeat, DO NOT have permission to spend your money for you. End of story. Any "property manager" allowing this practice needs to be fired. Any tenant insisting on this policy and deducting this "money spent" is to be evicted. NON NEGOTIABLE.