Tenant damages or Contractor damages?

Question

John Moore · Answer

I would suggest an easy fix.  Before you rent your unit take pictures of the unit to show t.he condition of the unit. Do a walk through with your prospective tenant and have them agree to the condition of the property.Have you rental agreement specify that any abuse to the property other than normal wear and tear is the responsibility of the renter to repair.  This is not legal advice, just food for thought.  With a tenant in residence I would take existing pictures to avoid future problems.  Right now you are involved in a blame game.   What does your existing rental agreement call for?

Kyle Rice · Answer

Yes also a very good point. I can see how this would start to be a habit. Thank you for the input.

Kyle Rice · Answer

Very good point. If I put myself in the tenant's shoes I would definitely contact my landlord immediately if I noticed damage that wasn't my fault. Especially if I didn't want my landlord to assume it was my fault. I usually schedule any work to be done while I'm there but in this case I was out of town for christmas and so was the tenant.

Matthew Paul · Answer

The tenant would be responsible , if thats how your lease is worded , if the contractor did it , the tenant should have reported it right away . Bill the tenant

if you dont  everything that happens will be someone elses fault .

Steve Babiak · Answer

Why didn't the tenant immediately inform you of the damage done by the contractor?

I don't have any repairs done without either tenant or one of my team being there.  Just in case stuff like this happens ...

Colleen F. · Answer

No, I don't think people always go when they have work done,  I show up for some of the projects, big ones I do show up.   I also work fulltime but work from home when not traveling so for the big rehab I actually worked in a vacant unit for much of the rehab so I was able to see the contractors and any damage they might do.  The roofing guy was one I had to stay on because the workers didn't pay as much attention when doing demo as they should. And demo or removal is a time when the contractor can do damage in my experience.

If you think it is one contractor that it is always happening with I would show up without really saying to him I was coming. You may need to find a new contractor if it is always the same guy associated with this damage.    Dings may happen and no one is going to admit it but they are on notice now that you brought it up and really it doesn't hurt to say something about the kinds of care you expect them to take.  Please cover the floor when you are doing that. Or ask the supervisor to speak to his employees about what they are doing,  where they put their trash etc.

The stairs is another thing in that I doubt a decent contractor is going to drive on the stairs and it is probable the tenant drove on them.  do you even let contractors park in the garage?  hope it  helps some.

Kyle Rice · Answer

Colleen thanks for the feedback. The example I gave is from one tenant and that's the only thing I've had happen with them. These are also detached fourplexes so they are actually like 4 single family homes with garages so nobody else would have seen it. This type of scenario has happened with another tenant as well.

There were big dents in bedroom door trim and the tenant said that they think the contractor did it when they came in to do some work but of course the contractor says he knows nothing of it. I was just curious what other members do and how they handle it. Do most investors or property managers always show up to every repair or maintenance call? In my case I can't always be there for repairs since I work full time as well.

Colleen F. · Answer

A lot of damage at the same property with the same tenant and a tire track on the step, that's the tenant.  Take a picture of the tire tread on the tenants truck and the stair. Not sure if anyone else might have seen this happen too being a fourplex.

The only real way around it in general is to be there when the workmen comes.

Kyle Rice · Answer

John Thanks for your reply

Yes my leases do specify that the tenant will pay for any damages that are not normal wear and tear. We also do a pre inspection with the tenants. What Im having an issues with is when our contractor comes in to do repairs. How do we verify that the contractor didn't do any damages while in the unit and how do I know if it was them or the tenant. I took pictures before move in and I also took pics of the damages. This property was a brand new detached 4plex built last summer. These tenants are our first set of tenants so everything was brand new and no damage before they moved in. I have to admit i never thought about the whole blame game thing before becoming a landlord. People never cease to amaze me.

Tenant damages or Contractor damages?

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