Homeowner · Oceanside San Diego County and Barryville, NY · Member since 2022 · 32 posts · 14 votes
Hello everyone-
We have a Single Family we are renting out in a very rural part of upstate NY.
We had a septic main line go out and had to have a contractor repair it in between snow storms in 8 degree weather.
This repair necessitated part of the driveway being dug up . The contractor filled it back up with dirt but notified me we cannot re - asphalt that part of the driveway till the weather gets better and the soil settles.
Tenant told me that the dirt was settling down a bit creating a slight ditch .
I asked for pictures and but they never sent .
Then two days later at midnight their car got stuck in the ditch and now they are saying they are going to be late on rent since car cost $750 to get towed out .
They asked that contractor pay for the tow and the damage to their car ( which we are unaware of at this point to what extent that is)
Our contractor feels they had no liability .
To add he is a great contractor and has saved us many times from big costs dealing with code inspectors etc
Mg question to the forum is should we compensate the tenants for anything ?
My worry is that if we offer something it might create a snowball effect ( car damage reimbursement , etc )
We offered to take some $ off the rent until driveway is fully functional but that doesn’t seem to be satisfactory to them .
My thoughts: $750 is way too much to tow a car out of a ditch. Before you would pay even a dime, you'd need to see pictures of the car in the ditch and being towed out. Everyone takes pictures of everything nowadays, we all have phones in our hands constantly, so I don't believe they don't have pictures.
Your Contractor is right in not re-pouring the driveway while it is so cold, so I would believe his story.
I would stick to your generous offer to deduct a few bucks off of the rent (maybe $100) for their troubles and then tell them to go pound sand.
My thoughts: $750 is way too much to tow a car out of a ditch. Before you would pay even a dime, you'd need to see pictures of the car in the ditch and being towed out. Everyone takes pictures of everything nowadays, we all have phones in our hands constantly, so I don't believe they don't have pictures.
Your Contractor is right in not re-pouring the driveway while it is so cold, so I would believe his story.
I would stick to your generous offer to deduct a few bucks off of the rent (maybe $100) for their troubles and then tell them to go pound sand.
My thoughts: $750 is way too much to tow a car out of a ditch. Before you would pay even a dime, you'd need to see pictures of the car in the ditch and being towed out. Everyone takes pictures of everything nowadays, we all have phones in our hands constantly, so I don't believe they don't have pictures.
Your Contractor is right in not re-pouring the driveway while it is so cold, so I would believe his story.
I would stick to your generous offer to deduct a few bucks off of the rent (maybe $100) for their troubles and then tell them to go pound sand.
We had a 1099 guy on site doing work in our house. Another guy was putting in a new roof. He has metal sheeting nailed to the roof to hold the tarp down because of heavy winds. The metal sheet came up and hit the guys windshield and damaged his windshield and scratched his car. I told him to file with his insurance and we would pay the deductible. Thought all was good. He decided he wanted us to pay for everything or file against our property insurance. I talked with our insurance agent and he told me I was being generous for offering anything as we were not obligated to pay him anything. You can only be as nice as you can. 750 tow 10009% didn’t happen and rent is rent. Likely they have probably been late before and now resorting to excuses why they are late. I’d stand your ground and offer a peace offering (calling a tow company and getting cost to tow from that location) as a good gesture
That's a lot for towing. The tenant was aware of the situation and knew that the dirt was settling....I agree with Bruce-ask for photos and proof of towing. If it is real, offer $100 off rent and tell them never again.
So far we only received half of the rent . Not sure what next steps to take .
I’ll offer them $100 off the rent till the driveway is fully functional and have them sign or agree in an email that with the discount they agree to not pursue damages or reimbursement for their car or tow company.But they need to pay the balance of rent ( minus the $100)