Another plumbing issue- does tenant pay?

Question

Hello,I’ve been a landlord of a Dundalk townhouse since August. For reference, this is a housing voucher situation. Every 3 months I go out to change the HVAC filter. And when I announce my visit, I find out about plumbing issues.

The first visit there was a $400 clog of baby wipes and diapers (2 babies in the house). I fronted the costs and asked the tenant to pay $50 per month extra until it was paid off and told the tenant to only flush toilet paper down the toilet.

This time, the tenant told me there was a leak from the upstairs bathroom. Leaving this damage in the ceiling. Apparently this leak had been going on for weeks!

my handyman fixed the leak, repaired the ceiling and was then asked to unclog both toilets. He told me he could not identify the items flushed down the toilet but it was not toilet paper.
My question: how would you handle this situation? I have money saved to handle this from the rent payments and I'm getting enough in rent payment to cover PITI plus funding for my next real estate purchase ($500-900 per month). What would you do?

Greg Scott · Answer

If your resident has renters insurance, I would try to get their insurance to cover the costs.  If the resident had told you about the leak, the repairs would have been less severe.  With a market-rate tenant, I would charge them back the drywall repairs plus any damage to the cabinets, but not the leak repair.   Your voucher program may have rules around what can be charged back. I'd check on that.

They may be accustomed to living in sub-standard housing, so a leak may have been normal for them. Reinforce that they need to call about any issues.  (This is one of the challenges with Section 8.)

The clogged toilet is a separate issue entirely.  If you do not have evidence they did something to create the problem, including flushing wipes, I would consider it a normal maintenance call.