Use Security Deposit in this Situation?

[Mike Huggins]

I have a situation where the boiler room pipe sprung a needle size hole, spraying a very small amount of water against drywall.   From the beginning of the lease, I have instructed the tenant to look at the boiler room once a week.  Check for smells, smoke, standing water, spraying water, anything out of the ordinary.

I show up at the unit and find out that the boiler room pipe is spraying water.  I call a plumber and get it fixed right away.  I asked the plumber how long its been like this and he responds saying looking at the black mold on the drywall, it has to be over a month.  Turns out small pin hole leak can be a lot of water over a month.  Makes sense.

I ask the tenant when they were last in the boiler room and they say 2 days ago.  They did not see the standing water or the straying water or the damaged drywall with black mold on it.  Obviously they were not in the boiler room 2 days ago or even 20 days ago.

Does this situation warrant me using part of their security deposit to fix the moldy drywall issue?

[Nathan Gesner]

I probably wouldn't charge the tenant for this. You can't prove when they were last in there or how old the leak is. Even if you instructed them to look in there once a week, that's not reasonable. Did you ask them to look in the attic, or at the roof of every closet once a month? It's nice if they do it, but it's an unreasonable expectation.

Second, you should never, ever use the security deposit while the tenant remains in the home. If you intend to charge them for something, charge them and try to collect payment from them. You want the security deposit in place because that provides security for the faithful performance of the lease. It's your leverage. If you spend it, that leverage goes away.