Tenant's Damage - Who pays?

shezza

I'm a new landlord and I've rented out my apartment recently. The new tenants are in about 3 weeks and the letting agent dealing with it called to say the bathroom door got jammed as the lock broke and the door had to be forced. The tenants agreed to by half to get the repairs done. The door and lock were perfect the 3 years I lived there they are there 3 weeks! What are my rights? Should I have to pay for something like this it doesn't just sound like wear and tear?
Any advice would be great thanks

grizzly

My guess is that they were having a house warming and one of there guests passed out in the bathroom – requiring the others to bust it open. But that's beside the point – it's impossible to know what really happened.

I'd say the best course of action would be to pay the half (can't be that much, right?). Hopefully this is a one off experience and you can have a good business relationship.

EDIT
... just reread your post – if the door was faulty surly they would expect you to pay all the repairs.

shezza

Yea it seems strange that they have agreed to pay half if it was a genuine issue then they would demand full payment from me.
If its not that much and the repair can be done by a mate I will cough up its avoid bad feeling but they could start taking the piss....

grizzly

Best to pay half to avoid bad feeling. Hopefully they'll appreciate your good nature and give you respect. You could arrange for an inspection in the next few months – make sure that it was a once off and they are not doing needless damage.