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Michael Mignogno
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Who is responsible for destruction to property, the PM or Owner

Michael Mignogno
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Posted May 19 2022, 04:39

Hello Everyone, Recently in one of my STR homes, the tenants cause major destruction to the property. It looks like they rented it for 2 days and went wild. Holes in walls, broken bathtubs, smoking weeds in the house, and a stolen 75inch TV.

I am completely hands off on this property.  I have a PM that deals with everything from leasing, to cleaning, to checking the house, to payment.  I was never informed of this damage, but only saw that my monthly statement was much lower than expected.  Deducted from my earnings was a Police report, extra cleaning, repairs, and a new TV.

My question is why am I being charged for these items when it was clearly the fault of the PM to properly vet the tenants.  Is this normal?  There is a pending investigation from Airbnb to recoup some of the funds.

Feed back is greatly appreciated, so thank you!

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Nathan Gesner
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Nathan Gesner
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ModeratorReplied May 19 2022, 05:23
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Hello Everyone, Recently in one of my STR homes, the tenants cause major destruction to the property. It looks like they rented it for 2 days and went wild. Holes in walls, broken bathtubs, smoking weeds in the house, and a stolen 75inch TV.

I am completely hands off on this property.  I have a PM that deals with everything from leasing, to cleaning, to checking the house, to payment.  I was never informed of this damage, but only saw that my monthly statement was much lower than expected.  Deducted from my earnings was a Police report, extra cleaning, repairs, and a new TV.

My question is why am I being charged for these items when it was clearly the fault of the PM to properly vet the tenants.  Is this normal?  There is a pending investigation from Airbnb to recoup some of the funds.

Feed back is greatly appreciated, so thank you!

I get the feeling you jumped on this forum first, rather than talking to your PM. You have someone managing an expensive asset for you. They have a contractual and legal obligation to work in your best interest. You need to figure out how to communicate with them and learn how they manage your investment. 

When a tenant causes damage, it's the tenant's responsibility to pay. They should have a security deposit. The PM completes the work, charges the security deposit, and pays the contractors. You may see it on your monthly statement as an expense, but then also as an income so it balances out and costs you nothing. If the expenses are more than the deposit will cover, then you have to pay the difference to ensure the work is done. Your Agreement should require the PM to contact you for permission before spending any of your money. For example, my PM Agreement states I will contact the Landlord for permission before I spend anything over $250. If I am spending the Tenant's money, then there's no obligation for me to contact the Landlord for permission.

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Dave Stokley
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Dave Stokley
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Replied May 19 2022, 06:12

Who does your contract say is responsible?

I think it’s unreasonable to expect your PM to take responsibility for damage to the property. They would then need to buy property insurance on your property, which (a) I’m not even sure is possible, and (b) would be passed onto you as an expense anyway, so just do it yourself. Check out a company called Safely, which has been super easy for us to work with.

Our clients are always responsible to repairs to the properties they own unless the damage is caused directly by my company, e.g. one of our cleaners accidentally puts a broomstick through the wall. That being said, we always discuss major expenses with them before taking action. 

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Trish Mccoy
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Trish Mccoy
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Replied May 19 2022, 06:15

You are responsible because it is you home.  

Even with the proper vetting - you can still get a bad tenant 

I don't use a PM and vet everyone myself - I find that if it not your home then there is less vested interested into putting extra effort into booking someone - regardless it's your home so you bare the brunt unless there is an agreement that say otherwise.

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Michael Mignogno
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Michael Mignogno
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Replied May 19 2022, 06:26
Quote from @Trish Mccoy:

You are responsible because it is you home.  

Even with the proper vetting - you can still get a bad tenant 

I don't use a PM and vet everyone myself - I find that if it not your home then there is less vested interested into putting extra effort into booking someone - regardless it's your home so you bare the brunt unless there is an agreement that say otherwise.


 Thanks Trish this is my exact sentiments.  We no longer live in the area and are actually quite happy with this PM as they provide an excellent service.  They have been growing and I see as they expand they seem to drop the ball on a few things.  Like calling me when they need to make repairs and when there is damage, and finding stolen/damaged items.

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Michael Mignogno
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Michael Mignogno
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Replied May 19 2022, 06:33
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Hello Everyone, Recently in one of my STR homes, the tenants cause major destruction to the property. It looks like they rented it for 2 days and went wild. Holes in walls, broken bathtubs, smoking weeds in the house, and a stolen 75inch TV.

I am completely hands off on this property.  I have a PM that deals with everything from leasing, to cleaning, to checking the house, to payment.  I was never informed of this damage, but only saw that my monthly statement was much lower than expected.  Deducted from my earnings was a Police report, extra cleaning, repairs, and a new TV.

My question is why am I being charged for these items when it was clearly the fault of the PM to properly vet the tenants.  Is this normal?  There is a pending investigation from Airbnb to recoup some of the funds.

Feed back is greatly appreciated, so thank you!

I get the feeling you jumped on this forum first, rather than talking to your PM. You have someone managing an expensive asset for you. They have a contractual and legal obligation to work in your best interest. You need to figure out how to communicate with them and learn how they manage your investment. 

When a tenant causes damage, it's the tenant's responsibility to pay. They should have a security deposit. The PM completes the work, charges the security deposit, and pays the contractors. You may see it on your monthly statement as an expense, but then also as an income so it balances out and costs you nothing. If the expenses are more than the deposit will cover, then you have to pay the difference to ensure the work is done. Your Agreement should require the PM to contact you for permission before spending any of your money. For example, my PM Agreement states I will contact the Landlord for permission before I spend anything over $250. If I am spending the Tenant's money, then there's no obligation for me to contact the Landlord for permission.

Thanks for the help Nathan, I have been in discussion with the PM routinely. They are a good company and seemed to dropped the ball on this specific case where they didn't contact me in order to make repairs faster. I am not sure if you use AirBnB for STR, but there is no security deposit for short stays, so there is no way to directly charge a tenant for the damages. Airbnb needs to first conduct and investigation and if the findings are in favor of the owner, then they will then charge the tenant. Unfortunately this take a lot of time and things need to be repaired quickly so the charges upfront a directly taken out of my profits.

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Michael Mignogno
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Michael Mignogno
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Replied May 19 2022, 06:36
Quote from @Dave Stokley:

Who does your contract say is responsible?

I think it’s unreasonable to expect your PM to take responsibility for damage to the property. They would then need to buy property insurance on your property, which (a) I’m not even sure is possible, and (b) would be passed onto you as an expense anyway, so just do it yourself. Check out a company called Safely, which has been super easy for us to work with.

Our clients are always responsible to repairs to the properties they own unless the damage is caused directly by my company, e.g. one of our cleaners accidentally puts a broomstick through the wall. That being said, we always discuss major expenses with them before taking action. 


 I appreciate the response Dave and will look into Safely.

Thank you

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Theresa Harris
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Theresa Harris
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Replied May 19 2022, 07:11

Your PM should have let you known, but they should be going after the tenants for the costs. Unless your PM stole the TV or broke something, the costs go on to you.  For repairs, most PM only have to ask permission if the costs are over a certain amount (eg $500), otherwise in your contract it actually says they can do the repairs.  They will have the tenant's contact info and can send them the bill.  You can also go after them in small claims court.  You said you aren't in the area, but if a few things go missing, I'd just replace them with items from a thrift store.

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Nathan Gesner
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Nathan Gesner
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ModeratorReplied May 19 2022, 15:17
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Thanks for the help Nathan, I have been in discussion with the PM routinely.  They are a good company and seemed to dropped the ball on this specific case where they didn't contact me in order to make repairs faster.  I am not sure if you use AirBnB for STR, but there is no security deposit for short stays, so there is no way to directly charge a tenant for the damages.  Airbnb needs to first conduct and investigation and if the findings are in favor of the owner, then they will then charge the tenant.  Unfortunately this take a lot of time and things need to be repaired quickly so the charges upfront a directly taken out of my profits.  

Sorry about that. I was answering a lot of questions this morning and didn't pay attention to it being a STR.

I have a STR and I used to manage 65 of them. We always kept a credit card on file and would charge the damages to their card. If no card, we would send them to collections.

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Michael Mignogno
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Michael Mignogno
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Replied May 19 2022, 18:39
Quote from @Nathan Gesner:
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Thanks for the help Nathan, I have been in discussion with the PM routinely.  They are a good company and seemed to dropped the ball on this specific case where they didn't contact me in order to make repairs faster.  I am not sure if you use AirBnB for STR, but there is no security deposit for short stays, so there is no way to directly charge a tenant for the damages.  Airbnb needs to first conduct and investigation and if the findings are in favor of the owner, then they will then charge the tenant.  Unfortunately this take a lot of time and things need to be repaired quickly so the charges upfront a directly taken out of my profits.  

Sorry about that. I was answering a lot of questions this morning and didn't pay attention to it being a STR.

I have a STR and I used to manage 65 of them. We always kept a credit card on file and would charge the damages to their card. If no card, we would send them to collections.


 Well in that case I wish you were managing this unit.  Funds would have been recouped, reno done and moving on

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Russell Brazil
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ModeratorReplied May 19 2022, 18:49

The owner is responsible. This isnt even a gray area, its black and white.

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Scott K.
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Replied May 20 2022, 05:09

What a nightmare boss. Thinking their employee is responsible for a customer's behavior, and even further, thinking they are fiscally responsible for their actions. There is no level of vetting that can fish out every possible problem tenant. And even above-average, kind-hearted people have accidents.

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Chris Mury
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Chris Mury
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Replied May 20 2022, 06:35
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Hello Everyone, Recently in one of my STR homes, the tenants cause major destruction to the property. It looks like they rented it for 2 days and went wild. Holes in walls, broken bathtubs, smoking weeds in the house, and a stolen 75inch TV.

I am completely hands off on this property.  I have a PM that deals with everything from leasing, to cleaning, to checking the house, to payment.  I was never informed of this damage, but only saw that my monthly statement was much lower than expected.  Deducted from my earnings was a Police report, extra cleaning, repairs, and a new TV.

My question is why am I being charged for these items when it was clearly the fault of the PM to properly vet the tenants.  Is this normal?  There is a pending investigation from Airbnb to recoup some of the funds.

Feed back is greatly appreciated, so thank you!


 I'm curious...was this a direct booking or through a platform like AirBnb or VRBO?

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Collin H.
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Collin H.
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Replied May 20 2022, 07:18

Property Managers do not "vet" tenants, and any property manager that tells you they do is lying to you.  Nor is a Property Manager responsible in any way for damage to your property, any more than you would be responsible for the Property Manager's computer crashing.  Furthermore, aside from competent rental policies, age limits, and credit card requirements, I don't know how one would hope to "vet" a guest to prevent damage.  

Unfortunately, these things can and do happen on occasion, and it is the Property Manager's job to mitigate the damages by trying to charge the guest for damages (and many times this is unsuccessful), and get repairs made as quickly as possible to avoid further revenue loss.  

Instead of focusing on blaming and transferring your damages, use your energies to work with the PM to get your property back to renting ASAP.

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Nancy Bachety
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Nancy Bachety
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Replied May 23 2022, 17:58

Im sorry this happened to you. 

As you can see, in some markets where PM companies have a good competitive edge over or at least with Airbnb and VRBO, they have more control over collecting from these kinds of guests, like  @Nathan Gesner said his company did. No one can prevent this bad behavior though. 

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Rodney Sums
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Replied May 23 2022, 18:22
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Hello Everyone, Recently in one of my STR homes, the tenants cause major destruction to the property. It looks like they rented it for 2 days and went wild. Holes in walls, broken bathtubs, smoking weeds in the house, and a stolen 75inch TV.

I am completely hands off on this property.  I have a PM that deals with everything from leasing, to cleaning, to checking the house, to payment.  I was never informed of this damage, but only saw that my monthly statement was much lower than expected.  Deducted from my earnings was a Police report, extra cleaning, repairs, and a new TV.

My question is why am I being charged for these items when it was clearly the fault of the PM to properly vet the tenants.  Is this normal?  There is a pending investigation from Airbnb to recoup some of the funds.

Feed back is greatly appreciated, so thank you!

Based on the presumption it was the guests that definitely caused the damage and your PM was able to verify this vs this being a burglary:

I'm no expert in STR however considering it is a STR it appears the most vetting you're going to get is whether or not the guest has a billable credit card. Being short term I doubt they're going to run socials, check credit, and contact references. Your PM should have a hold on the card for incidentals and be able to charge within contract/legal limits for damage. Your next consideration is an insurance claim if you have the appropriate coverage and a police report for the theft.

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Michael Mignogno
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Michael Mignogno
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Replied May 24 2022, 13:25
Quote from @Chris Mury:
Quote from @Michael Mignogno:

Hello Everyone, Recently in one of my STR homes, the tenants cause major destruction to the property. It looks like they rented it for 2 days and went wild. Holes in walls, broken bathtubs, smoking weeds in the house, and a stolen 75inch TV.

I am completely hands off on this property.  I have a PM that deals with everything from leasing, to cleaning, to checking the house, to payment.  I was never informed of this damage, but only saw that my monthly statement was much lower than expected.  Deducted from my earnings was a Police report, extra cleaning, repairs, and a new TV.

My question is why am I being charged for these items when it was clearly the fault of the PM to properly vet the tenants.  Is this normal?  There is a pending investigation from Airbnb to recoup some of the funds.

Feed back is greatly appreciated, so thank you!


 I'm curious...was this a direct booking or through a platform like AirBnb or VRBO?


 Through AirBNB I believe

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Lucie Tighe
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Lucie Tighe
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Replied Jul 30 2022, 15:48

Depends how you have it set up in your contract. But if there was a police report and substantial damage, I'd say your PM should have informed you of that. A good communication between PM and homeowner is crucial. There is no way to completely mitigate the risk of having bad guests. When accident happens, we handle damages from a damage waiver fee. If it is negligence and careless intentional behavior of guest causing a damage, we go after the guests.

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Replied Jul 31 2022, 05:41

tough situation. Would having a minimum stay of 3 days or more decrease the chance of this type of behavior happening in a STR?

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Paul Sandhu#4 Short-Term & Vacation Rental Discussions Contributor
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Paul Sandhu#4 Short-Term & Vacation Rental Discussions Contributor
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Replied Jul 31 2022, 10:35

Someone got wiser.  Someone else got richer.

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Andrew Steffens
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Andrew Steffens
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Replied Oct 13 2022, 18:17

We manage 60 or so properties in Tampa area. About 20 of them are owned by me or my partner. I treat every house/guest the same regardless of the property and that has served me well in the 6 years we have done STR's. However, bad things can happen. I would think on a moral and maybe even legal standpoint you should try to see if your PM was negligent. If for example they knew they rented the property to a large group of college kids during Spring Break, and did not mitigate risk with a security deposit or in some other way, it could be argued they are negligent or derelict in their duties. If reasonable vetting was done, they are not responsible for damages. Best of luck, I hope all works out. Feel free to shoot me a message.

Andrew Steffens