Aha! The importance of regular/annual inspections

[Jack B.]

We had some rain storms recently in the Seattle area, For the past few weeks. I almost wanted to email my tenants and ask them if there were any leaks, as the roof on my primary residence which is only 11 years old leaked.

I decided to just book an inspection since I needed to get some pics of a water heater I need to replace (with the one tenant that has not been visited recently). Sure enough, the tenant says, oh, by the way, I was going to email you today, the Chimney leaked in the garage after the recent rains (roll eyes here, I'm sure she was going to email me today). Then she asks if I need to get into the daughters rooms, so she could have them pick their clothes off the floor.

I told her I would need to get in there for sure to make sure there are no other leaks. Sigh, I almost feel like I need to stop by every few months. My last tenants at another property didn't report a washing machine water pipe leak for TWO days. They admitted as much in writing. Good thing since if there is mold when I tear the carpet out to replace it in a few years, I may pursue a claim against them since my lease requires them to report things like that ASAP otherwise they will be responsible for the charges.

I get people don't want to trouble their landlord or have their landlord coming around for stuff, but when these people don't report it, it ends up causing far more damage. My lease allows me to charge them for it, but man, I guess people who have no skin in the game are just careless.