Tenant caused water damage to unit AND neighboring unit

[Steve Cho]

Hi all,

New landlord here (<1 year) on a small apartment unit in a 32-unit complex. I own a unit on the second floor.

5 days ago, my tenant apparently left the kitchen sink on and caused flooding. Unfortunately, this led to a fairly substantial amount of water leaking to the unit below and causing at least some visible wall/ceiling damage.

My tenant caused the flooding (he has admitted in writing that this was the case). Per his lease (and common sense), he should cover the cost of repairs to my unit and the unit below, but I have a lot of questions that hopefully the veterans here could help with...

1) Does my homeowners insurance need to be involved at all? I am not sure yet how much the repairs will be (a plumber is coming by later today and the restoration team will likely come tonight or tomorrow), but this could be fairly extensive. With my tenant being responsible for the damages, is there any reason to involve my insurance? It will likely just raise my premium no? Or is this something that should be dealt with by my tenant's renter's insurance?

2) Without insurance coverage, this will likely be a couple thousand dollars. What is the best way to proceed with getting that payment from the tenant? If I make the initial payments, he will have to reimburse me, but if he can't do a lump sum payment, how to best go about that?

3) In the event that my home insurance should be used, it doesn't strictly mention adjacent unit damage. If the repairs are such that it takes a few days or even longer, the tenant for the unit below will likely need to be accomodated for. My insurance covers for loss of rents for my unit, but obviously wouldn't cover the unit below. If the tenant for the unit below needs to be rehoused for a short period of time, what would be the best course of action for this?

As I write this, I am realizing this is more complicated than I initially thought...but these are some of my most critical questions. I would really appreciate insight!!

Thank you.