Tenant Tries to Blame the Owner for a Bad Shower Enclosure that She Broke.
We manage a Duplex which had a pretty nice shower enclosure broken by a tenant that now needs to be replaced. She claimed her daughter just leaned on it and it then fell and broke in pieces. She further told one of the ladies in our office that it was “already taped up” and defective when she moved in and did not feel responsible for it’s replacement.
Click the video below and pay particular attention to the Shower Enclosure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EzDoNJHuRg
I don’t think this is “normal were and tear” do you..? I mean just because you don’t own this property doesn’t mean you don’t have some responsibility to exercise reasonable care of it.
Now you know and I know the Landlord/Tenant laws seem to always defer in favor of the tenant. Therefore this is the reason you see Landlords and Property Managers forming “trade groups” like the Regional Housing Association of Sacramento and the California Apartment Association to become “more professional” in dealing with tenants.
If this tenant doesn’t pay for the cost of this shower enclosure, we will deduct the cost of replacement out of her “security deposit” when she moves. Now the question is… if she decides to takes us to small claims court will the Judge rule in our favor…? I don’t know because you never know what a Judge will do… but I think my chances are much better because I have this “move in video” with her in it.
What do you think…?
Make it a Great Day…
Ed Favinger, Broker, CRS, GRI, SFR, favinger2rwnetwork.com 916-203-1260
Related articles
- Landlord not liable in treadmill fall, court rules (sfgate.com)
- Rental Week 2011: Renting Laws Your Landlord Doesn’t Want You to Know (sf.curbed.com)
- Our Rental Properties – (FolsomRealEstateOnline.com)
Ed,
That was nice, you took the move-in video, Nice job