Can a Landlord Make Tenant Pay for Damages?

As a proactive property manager and company we’re always thinking of ways to save our landlords money and most importantly, hold our tenants responsible for the actions that they take. In the video, Jarrett Lau, CEO and Founder of GOPM is sitting in a bathroom and discussing the three things behind him that they typically will change. 

#1 Toilet

Whenever we give them a property, we always check and make sure that the toilet’s flashes just fine. However, there are times when tenants will flush something, either on purpose or by accident. If it will flush down, then there is no problem, what if it doesn’t. It could be a toothbrush by accident or tampons, or just too much toilet paper. If they do flush these things in and call us, we will let them know that we’re going to come over and fix it. However, these are billed back to them. This is actually stated in the lease.

#2 Sink back ups

Whether it’s in a kitchen or a bathroom, we’ve seen bottle caps that are breaking it and backing it up, or just frankly putting things into the sink that they shouldn’t in over a long time period. We will bill back to them if we’ve already cleaned it, and we determined that it is something that they are responsible for.

#3 Paint

We typically use the exact same paint color and every single one of our properties. We know that if it gets changed by our tenants. In the video, Jarrett is discussing about the green wall, which is not their standard color and saying that they can actually bill that to the tenant. Tenants can change it back but it has to be done professionally or we would do it and we would have a set price. Thus, they know how much they would be charged for. We do put it into our lease at every single tenant. If they want to change any paint color, they have to get written approval from us. If we don’t have that written approval when we walk through when they leave, we will bill it back when we change it to them.

As an overview, those are the three most common things that tenants do that can be billed back to them. If you or anyone else you know is looking for a property manager that is proactive and will hold your tenants accountable and try to minimize your expenses, please think of Green Ocean Property Management, we get more than a property manager you get peace of mind.