Q: On more than one occasion, I have tenants who have damaged the property, and the tenant expects me to pay for the things that were preventable, not just based on my opinion, but that of professionals who came out to fix the problems. At what point may I charge the tenant for these costs, even if they were not spelled out in the initial lease?

A: I get this question also quite a bit.

So I have a client. They own a property, and the tenant is repeatedly clogging the drain to the sink or to the bathtub or shower. The tenant believes that it's because of old drains. The owner believes it's because of the way in which the tenant misuses the actual plumbing. For instance, they don't clear the drains, they leave and are not as sanitary as one would expect.

And so you get clogged in the actual drainage. What do you do? I will often unilaterally fix the problem and thereafter deduct it from the tenant's security deposit. You don't have to sit and ask permission to make a deduction from a security deposit. You can unilaterally deduct and simply take the funds from there that doesn't mean that there won't be a dispute, but there is an Avenue for you to recoup out-of-pocket costs from the security deposit.

If you in good faith credibly believe that the tenant caused the damage. Another approach is to look at your lease agreement. If you have a good lease agreement that specifically says tenants are responsible for damage arising out of the property, including maintenance-related issues. If a tenant has caused a clog above the drain, if you find that sanitary napkins or other types of items have been flushed down the toilet causing a drain clog, you can charge them for the cost of clearing that drain. That's the typical type of situation that I have arises on a frequent basis.

A tenant breaks a window, I charge them for the break. You can be aggressive and serve a notice to cure or quit to recover that damage, but sometimes avoid a dispute. An easy remedy is to deduct those phones from the security deposit.