Hi Folks, 

New tenant informed me the garage door was going down and hit his car trunk as he was backing out of the garage, there are some light scratches on his trunk. 

They are looking for advice (and I think hoping for me to pay for the damages). I am curious if anyone has been in this situation and knows how to respond and what my responsibilities are. I verified the garage door safety sensors work just fine and the last tenant of 2 years never had any issues. I am guessing the garage opener got bumped as they were backing out and the sensors didn't trip because the wheels weren't to the sensors yet. 

This seems to be a case of bad luck/accident. I dont think I am responsible for anything but looking for advice from others, maybe offer to pay for half as a good faith?

Yeah I would push back and not being interested in paying anything. Doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. What if the tenant broke their shoe in the front door? Is that your problem your problem?

Ask then if they damaged the door and leave it at that.

Did they specify that they are looking for you to pay for damages??

If they didn't I wouldn't even mention it..

They should contact their Car Insurance or Home Rental Insurance if they want car repair, you should not be responsible.. If garage opener was not working correctly that would be a different story.

You did your part by making sure Garage Opener is functioning Properly..

They didn't come out and say they want me to pay but are hinting at it. 

I will just tell them to check with their car or rental insurance. 

Thanks all!

file an insurance claim.

If you feel the tenants are hinting that you pay for it, I suggest you instead hire a specialist to "service" the door and make sure all sensors work -- which in this case, you say they work properly. 

Following this, Inform the tenants that you had the garage door checked and it works properly.

This way, you have evidence that the door was functioning and it was simply user error.

Typical service fees are relatively low; shop around locally and on CL. Your really doing this for formality sake. 

To your success!

@Byron Bohlsen

I make all my tenants get renters insurance per the lease paragraph and  I tell them: " file the claim and have the adjuster check the door for damage as well. " Renters insurance is about $150 per year. 

Standard renters insurance policy wouldn't respond here.

Doors don't just come down without operator error.

Originally posted by @Byron Bohlsen :

Hi Folks, 

New tenant informed me the garage door was going down and hit his car trunk as he was backing out of the garage, there are some light scratches on his trunk. 

They are looking for advice (and I think hoping for me to pay for the damages). I am curious if anyone has been in this situation and knows how to respond and what my responsibilities are. I verified the garage door safety sensors work just fine and the last tenant of 2 years never had any issues. I am guessing the garage opener got bumped as they were backing out and the sensors didn't trip because the wheels weren't to the sensors yet. 

This seems to be a case of bad luck/accident. I dont think I am responsible for anything but looking for advice from others, maybe offer to pay for half as a good faith?

Tell them to make sure the garage door is all the way before they start backing out. Even if they bumped the button, garage doors move so slow that clearly this tenant wasn't paying any attention. It is not bad luck or an accident, it is negligence. Pay nothing and keep an eye on this tenant, because they don't seem too bright.

I drove into my garage door once as it was opening. I was 19, and it was 100% operator error. (Sorry, Dad!) 

This is also 100% operator error. You know this, because you checked to make sure the door was working properly. 

Your tenant also knows it's 100% operator error. I can't believe they told you about it. 

I had to tell my dad, because I knocked the door off the rails. 

Thanks for all the responses!

To the point about the negligence, he admitted it moves really slowly but was looking at the back up camera the whole time

Regardless, I have enough to go on and thanks again