If a tenant damages a garbage disposal by jamming it permenantly (I can fix these, and this is jammed forever) — do you guys normally make the tenant pay for it? Or do you - the landlord - pay for it?
First, is the tenant a good, pay on time, never give you any problems tenant?
Or, is it one thing after another?
The reason I ask is that, if, you can prove, the tenant acted with neglect, then make them pay for it. But, you could lose the tenant or make a good tenant into a lousy tenant.
If you have a good tenant, and don’t want to lose them, just replace it and warn them if it happens again you will charge them to replace it.
That’s my opinion.
Good luck.
That is exactly why I never put garbage disposals in rentals. Garbage disposals can be a problem from time to time even for homeowners. Tenants are much lower on the food chain (pun intended) and operating a complex piece of machinery like a garbage disposal is way beyond their skill level. My suggestion is to TAKE IT OUT and throw it in the garbage can!
Mike
I’ve fished pennies and screws out of garbage disposals that were “permanently jammed”. You might try to pull the disposal completely out, flip it upside down, and turn the mechanism using a large socket wrench with the proper bit inserted into the center of the drive shaft on the bottom of the disposal. My units tend to be a little higher end (values around $200K with rents in the $1500 area) and the tenants expect a disposal. Replacements can sometimes be found on craigslist for as little as $25.
jmd_forest
If the tenant did it on purpose or if there was something put in the disposal that was not supposed to be in there I would make the tenant pay for it. You may want to remove it to avoid any issues in the future.