Mark Rios
11-30-2008, 9:02 PM
Can anyone direct me to a place where I can get some info on how to proceed with a tenant in CA please?
One of my tenants called me a couple of weeks ago asking if I had anything to unclog his kitchen sink drain with. Totally clogged, takes all night to drain. Normally I do all the repair on the units but the tenants are free to call someone else do do repairs if they wish. I"m just usually WAY cheaper than a regular plumber or whomever so usually they ask me to do it. I told him no but to keep me informed about the progress (I manage the 3 units on this property). I don't volunteer to do the work, I wait for them to ask me to make the repair so that they don't feel like they HAVE to have me do it. I didn't hear from him for a few days so I went to his door and asked him about it and he said that he and a friend were just then getting to it. I again asked him to let me know how it went. Another few days goes by and I hear nothing so again I call him and ask him about the drain. He says that they couldn't get it to drain so he is just going to bail out the water from the sink. I told him that that wasn't acceptable and that he was responsible for repairing the drain in a timely manner and that he would also be responsible for any further damage caused by the water. He said that he couldn't afford to call a plumber but that he would try to get it fixed soon. I again told him to keep me informed. (BTW, when I went to talk to him the last time I had to wait for him to finish ordering chinese food delivery before he was ready to talk. He has money for delivery food but not for repairing his responsibilities.)
Today, he called me and said that his ex was coming over to trade washing machines with him. The access to the laundry (the access big enough to get machines in and out) is from my personal property so I usually take care of this type of thing for the tenants. After the swap was made and I had everything all hooked up and working I noticed a moldy smell. I searched and found a bunch of water and mold growing around a section of drainpipe, from the kitchen, and it was apparent that a hacked up repair job had been done on the pipe. The repair will require it to be redone properly and to find all of the wet areas and dry them out and mitigate the water damage.
He doesn't know that I have seen the repair yet and I don't believe that he even knows about the water leaking out from the botched repair. My question is, how do I proceed in getting payment from him for the repair. I will inform him that I will now be making the repair and mitigating the water damage and that he will be responsible for the costs but what if he says that he won't pay? Do I then give him a "Pay or Quit" notice?
I've never had to deal with this with a tenant before and I don't know where to get the correct and lawful info.
Thanks very much for any help and info you can provide.
One of my tenants called me a couple of weeks ago asking if I had anything to unclog his kitchen sink drain with. Totally clogged, takes all night to drain. Normally I do all the repair on the units but the tenants are free to call someone else do do repairs if they wish. I"m just usually WAY cheaper than a regular plumber or whomever so usually they ask me to do it. I told him no but to keep me informed about the progress (I manage the 3 units on this property). I don't volunteer to do the work, I wait for them to ask me to make the repair so that they don't feel like they HAVE to have me do it. I didn't hear from him for a few days so I went to his door and asked him about it and he said that he and a friend were just then getting to it. I again asked him to let me know how it went. Another few days goes by and I hear nothing so again I call him and ask him about the drain. He says that they couldn't get it to drain so he is just going to bail out the water from the sink. I told him that that wasn't acceptable and that he was responsible for repairing the drain in a timely manner and that he would also be responsible for any further damage caused by the water. He said that he couldn't afford to call a plumber but that he would try to get it fixed soon. I again told him to keep me informed. (BTW, when I went to talk to him the last time I had to wait for him to finish ordering chinese food delivery before he was ready to talk. He has money for delivery food but not for repairing his responsibilities.)
Today, he called me and said that his ex was coming over to trade washing machines with him. The access to the laundry (the access big enough to get machines in and out) is from my personal property so I usually take care of this type of thing for the tenants. After the swap was made and I had everything all hooked up and working I noticed a moldy smell. I searched and found a bunch of water and mold growing around a section of drainpipe, from the kitchen, and it was apparent that a hacked up repair job had been done on the pipe. The repair will require it to be redone properly and to find all of the wet areas and dry them out and mitigate the water damage.
He doesn't know that I have seen the repair yet and I don't believe that he even knows about the water leaking out from the botched repair. My question is, how do I proceed in getting payment from him for the repair. I will inform him that I will now be making the repair and mitigating the water damage and that he will be responsible for the costs but what if he says that he won't pay? Do I then give him a "Pay or Quit" notice?
I've never had to deal with this with a tenant before and I don't know where to get the correct and lawful info.
Thanks very much for any help and info you can provide.