It's an additional cost that can change dramatically over time, and you rarely get your money's worth for whatever it's supposed to cover, and you lose complete control over your investment. 

If I don't do this, then I risk the amount being paid as rent falling further and further from market each year which means I need to either raise rent dramatically after years of not raising them for a particular tenant (which never goes over well), or waiting for the old tenant to leave so I can establish a market rate for a new tenant (which can take along time).

It would dramatically increase my return #s but would damage my quality of life.

When the sales market is strong, more people purchase so there is a decreased demand for rentals.In general, rent will not dramatically decrease like we experienced with property values in the 2008 crash.

And as luck would have it the SF Bay area has seen some pretty dramatic appreciation over the decades coming out of the 70s prior to that prices were no different than almost any other part of the country and maybe lower than many.. 

If interest rates were to increase dramatically over the next 10 years, I believe cap rates would also increase.  

I would contact your resident personally, thank them for their long term and tell them how much you appreciate them; while informing them that because your expenses have gone up dramatically in the past several years, you do need to increase their rental rate; but you will still keep them under the market rate.They should understand.

Originally posted by @Matthew Paul:i told them to take a cash advance on their credit card your basic C D tennant probably has no credit card I mean half of them dont have checking accounts.. its an issue .I think land lords just need to Triage and make the best decision they can.3 weeks ago I made  a post on BP about the same subject at the time landlords were still unclear how dramatic this would be so of course most said they would expect payment.. really depends on your tenant base..  

The simple answer, I imagine, is to serve them a notice to comply and require the additional deposit or the removal of the pet. however they are the best tenants I've had in my investment career (4 years), moreover evictions are temporarily on hold till who knows when so my threat to evict can be drawn out dramatically longer.

Based upon the facts you've laid out, I do not see how you would have known, or should have known that this oil drum would be spilled by your tenant.As many have pointed out above, this analysis could change dramatically if you told your tenant to move it, you gave him permission to move it, or if the oil drum had some sort of defect in it and you knew about it and that contributed to the spill.