Tenants cause broken pipes by not dripping water

[Susan Arndt]

As a buy and hold real estate investor, can you charge a tenant for repairs if they do not take precautions during a freeze by opening cabinet doors, letting water drip, covering outdoor spigots etc. which cause pipes to burst?

[Justin Larese]

If it is stated in the lease as one of their responsibilities. However, if it is not stated as their responsibility it could be argued that they assumed you would handle covering outdoor spigots. If you did not advise them of what was needed to prevent pipes from freezing and they were not blatantly negligent like turning the heat off to house then that is on you since the incident is considered natural disaster. Another example is it wont be their fault if the house has gutters and leaves clog them up and water backs up into the roof because it was not stated they were responsible, or if the property has a fire place and the house burns down because the chimney was not clean sweep by them or you before use because it was not designated responsibility. Every state has different laws so you could check. You could also inform them that you plan to take it out of their deposit and see if they fight you on it. Replace with plex, has ability to give some expansion without cracking like PVC or copper. Sorry about your situation.