Tenants not reporting issues as they arise

[Tony Velez]

I have a question. Here is our problem. We have an older couple that has a daughter and two grand kids. They have been here for only 4 months. 1-Got a call from our neighbor and said he watched the grand kids kick the basement window in. This is a $200 fix. Told the tenants... they yelled at the kids. We havent made repairs yet....not sure if we should charge them? 2-Rent pickup 2 months ago we found water leaking into the kicthwn from third floor. The tenant never told us anything. If not for us being in the apartment we would have never known 3-Last but not least. Pick up rent noticed water dripping from the tenants second floor closed porch. Like dripping and wood warped. Asked tenant what is going on? The tenant said the porch floods and all there storage boxes are always soaked. They also said all winter the water turns into ice! Well we had no clue! There is major damage to the porch. Have to replace alot of damged wood. We went there yesterday and found it was a simple clogged gutter. This damage could of been avoided of we were notified in a timely manner. We called thw tenants yesterday morning and let them know we need access to the apartment. They said they would be home. They were not home. They did not answer 5 of our phone calls. We did not enter the apartment un authorized. Should we have? Any suggestions on how we should approach this? I plan on sending a letter to the tenants today.

[Ray Harrell]

#1, whenever you need to enter, give the tenants two-days notice (per lease or law), and knock, knock, knock. If they don't respond, you have the right to enter. It's not unauthorized.

#2, it's not the tenant responsibility to monitor your property. It's your responsibility as the owner to do periodic inspections of your property.

#3. yes, charge the tenant for their children kicking in the window. That is considered willful damage, and technically is grounds for eviction.