Tenant Deposit. Water Damage. Negligence?
I am a new real estate investor. I just had my first tenants moved out after renting my first unit for 15 months. A few months ago, they reported water damage. By the time I was notified the whole master bedroom laminate floor was ruined. They blamed it on the bathroom shower doors not being installed correctly. This happened after they lived in the apartment for 13 months. After they moved out, we realized the water damage covered the whole master bedroom (16 ft), so I have to replace the whole floor. I have not given them their deposit back. My rental home insurance does not cover tenant negligence. We have sent plumbers and restoration companies and the conclusion is that it was the tenants negligence. The tenants is blaming me for not having the doors installed correctly. The plumber that went to help 2 hours after they reported the incident said said they had wet towels on the floor and that he believes the bathroom doors had fallen and they installed them back incorrectly. Not sure what to do to prove that their negligence is going to cost me more than their deposit. I don’t think they should get their deposit back. Any advice and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Quote from @Daniella Hernandez:
I am a new real estate investor. I just had my first tenants moved out after renting my first unit for 15 months. A few months ago, they reported water damage. By the time I was notified the whole master bedroom laminate floor was ruined. They blamed it on the bathroom shower doors not being installed correctly. This happened after they lived in the apartment for 13 months. After they moved out, we realized the water damage covered the whole master bedroom (16 ft), so I have to replace the whole floor. I have not given them their deposit back. My rental home insurance does not cover tenant negligence. We have sent plumbers and restoration companies and the conclusion is that it was the tenants negligence. The tenants is blaming me for not having the doors installed correctly. The plumber that went to help 2 hours after they reported the incident said said they had wet towels on the floor and that he believes the bathroom doors had fallen and they installed them back incorrectly. Not sure what to do to prove that their negligence is going to cost me more than their deposit. I don’t think they should get their deposit back. Any advice and/or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
I would say suck it up and pay for it to fix it. How would doors fall off to begin with? The tenant will say was faulty components and not worth time to go to court for probably $2k dollars to repair. Plus, if there was issues to begin with when water did leak, probably should of been there yourself or your property manager to see if anything needed to be done to prevent further damage from water and time. Probably just a expensive learning lesson. Plus now can do LVP flooring so no issues in future.
