Updated almost 11 years ago on . Most recent reply
Tenant got Robbed
On of my best tenant's was burglarized this last week. He and his family were at work and school and someone kicked in the front door and stole a lot of valuables. The police are still investigating, but it sounds like the tenant's daughter's friend's boyfriend (I know that was complicated) is the culprit. Still pending an official report.
As I stated before, my tenant is really good, so I immediately sent someone over to fix the door on my dime. But this got me thinking....Is this something landlords would be responsible for? If someone kicks in the front door and robs the tenant, would the tenant not be responsible for fixing the damage? I mean, if someone kicked in a bedroom door, they'd be responsible, right? W/ this tenant, I wouldn't charge him regardless....just wondering if, God forbid, this happens again.
Most Popular Reply
Crime and vandalism to your property are on your dime unless the tenant caused them. That's what your insurance is for. That's why a police report is so important. You can't just go charging tenants for damaged caused by someone off the street. You fix it not because the tenant is a good one, but because fixing property damage is your responsibility.
In courts here in CA you'd never be able to charge the tenant for damage caused by a break-in they had nothing to do with, and any such lease clause would be ignored. This topic comes up quite often here on BP for some reason. I'm not sure why. We can't go holding tenants responsible for crimes committed against them if they had nothing to do with it. Break-in damage and vandalism to the property is a landlord responsibility. Missing and damaged personal property is a tenant responsibility .
I have no idea what the other poster is talking about in regards to renter's insurance. No renter's policy I know of will repair real property damage for which the tenant is not responsible. Perhaps he had never actually made such a claim? Again, renter's insurance is for the tenant's personal property theft and damage.