Return Of Security Deposit
A tenant has just moved out and I am itemizing the return of what is left of her security deposit. Question: She did not report a leak around the bottom of the toilet. It rotted the (3 year old) floor beneath the toilet and the wood had to be replaced and of course the whole bathroom had to have new vinyl on the floor. Has anyone ever charged for this because the tenant did not report a leak?
Even if the vinyl had started turning blue, I would not expect a tenant to realize that this might be related to a toilet leak. If you did not notice the problem during your annual inspections, I don't think you should expect the tenant to notice this problem and report it either.
Chalk it up to wear and tear, forget it, move on.
It would depend on the condition that the tenant left the unit in otherwise, how long they had been my tenant, and whether the leak might not have been detectable by the tenant. If they had been an otherwise excellent tenant, I would not charge them. --If they had been short term and borderline tenants, IF I thought they should have known, I would charge them for the damage resulting from not being repaired in a timely manner. (After checking my areas definitions of normal wear/tear.)