10 Examples of Damages Caused by Tenants (and How to Bill Them Back)

Maintenance is one of the largest line items on any rental. Routine upkeep and equipment failures land on the owner, but there’s one big exception: damage caused by the tenant. Every time a work order comes in, the question a property manager has to answer is the same one the owner will ask later — “did the resident cause this?” Get the answer right and you bill it back. Get it wrong and the owner eats a cost that wasn’t theirs.

That question is also where money gets lost. The gap between normal wear and tear and tenant-caused damage is the single most common source of security deposit disputes, and it’s the reason documentation now matters more than ever. In California, Assembly Bill 2801 made timestamped move-in, move-out, and before-and-after repair photos a legal requirement for deposit deductions as of 2025. Even where it isn’t the law, that standard of evidence is what wins a bill-back.

Below are ten types of damage we see constantly across the work orders Lula completes for property managers, how to tell each one from ordinary wear, and how to make the case for charging it back.

1. Jammed Garbage Disposal

A jammed disposal is one of the most common service requests, and residents often don’t realize they caused it. The usual culprits: bottle caps, glass, coins, silverware, bones, or simply too much food at once.

This one is almost always tenant-caused, which makes it a good candidate to coach through rather than dispatch. Let the resident know a jam is on them, and many will clear it themselves. If you do walk them through it, have them unplug the unit first. An avoided injury is worth more than an avoided trip charge.

2. Clogged Toilet and Backed-up Drains

Harder to prove, but water backing up is either resident behavior or a compromised drain line. Flushable wipes (which belong on the banned list in every lease), excess toilet paper, feminine products, or other non-flushables will eventually back a line up whether or not the pipe was already weak.

If your vendor pulls back anything beyond normal toilet paper, you likely have a bill-back. If it’s paper alone, have a drain specialist run a camera to document the cause. Ask the technician to photograph whatever comes back on the auger. That evidence is what turns a “maybe” into a chargeable deduction.

3. Drywall Damage

Aside from a hidden leak, nearly all drywall damage is caused by someone in the unit. Holes don’t appear on their own. The nuance is wear and tear: nail holes, small scuffs, and door dings usually count as normal use, so exclude those (and install door stoppers to prevent the dings in the first place). Anything larger, like a fist-sized hole or a doorknob puncture, is a defensible charge.

4. Clogged Dishwasher

The myth that dishes go in unrinsed costs property managers real money. Food has to go somewhere, and most of it ends up in the filter or drain hose. If your appliance tech finds the drain line packed with food debris, that’s a resident-caused clog and a chargeable repair. Document what the tech removes.

5. Overloaded Circuits

When power goes out in a unit, it reads as an emergency, but the root cause often isn’t. Electricians will tell you a large share of no-power calls come down to tripped breakers, GFCIs, and overloaded circuits. Few things sting an owner like paying an electrician to flip a breaker.

The frequent trigger is a resident drawing too much from one circuit, common in kitchens or when a high-draw space heater runs all winter. Sometimes the panel genuinely needs an upgrade. A good electrician can tell you which it is, and if it’s an overload rather than a system fault, that’s a coaching conversation and potentially a bill-back.

6. Lockouts

If a resident loses a key or locks themselves out, responsibility isn’t in question, and most leases already spell it out. For local teams this is also a margin opportunity: if you can run a spare key out yourself, you bill the trip instead of paying a locksmith to swap the locks. That’s revenue for your company, covered by the resident.

7. Pest Control

Many leases assign pest control to the resident, and for good reason. Infestations are often preventable and frequently tied to how a unit is kept. Sanitation issues invite rodents and insects, and that’s within the resident’s control. Programs like PestShare let residents opt into discounted coverage as part of a benefits package, which keeps small problems from becoming portfolio-wide ones.

8. Broken Windows

Windows never break themselves. The hard part is proving what did it. Storms and break-ins happen, but the resident or a family member is the more common cause. When someone denies it to dodge the bill, have your technician check a few things: is the broken glass on the inside or the outside, is there any evidence supporting the resident’s explanation, and is it cracked or shattered? These rarely produce a confession, but they build the record you need.

9. Mold and Mold Tests

At some point every property manager gets the demand for a professional mold test. Oblige it, because habitability is your responsibility. If mold is found, you own resolving it safely and finding the moisture source. If no mold is found, the resident who requested the test can reasonably be billed for it.

When mold does appear, the source decides who pays. A leaking roof, toilet, or pipe is on the owner. Resident behavior — showering with no curtain, letting wet laundry pile up, ignoring spills — can shift responsibility, but only with discernible evidence tying the moisture to how the unit was used.

10. Cracked Cooktop

Cooktops are built for extreme heat and heavy pots, so they don’t crack on their own. The three causes are extreme temperature, weight, and impact, and all three are tenant-caused. Impact is the easiest to prove. Look at the pattern of the crack and decide from there.

Bonus: fire. Rare, but it happens, and residents are sometimes the cause. This is exactly why renters insurance belongs in the lease. Roughly 55% of U.S. renters now carry a policy, and at an average of about $170 a year it’s cheap protection, most of it driven by landlords who require it. Coverage turns a catastrophic loss into an insurance claim instead of a fight over who pays.

How to handle damages caused by tenants

Proving a tenant-caused repair can be as hard as the repair itself. The evidence may point one way while the resident fights the charge tooth and nail. A repeatable process keeps you out of that standoff:

1. Prepare in advance: Keep a running list of commonly tenant-caused repairs and the questions that establish cause, so your team isn’t improvising under pressure.
2. Ask the resident first: Get their account of what happened, with photos. Lead with a question, not an accusation. Accused residents cover their tracks; asked residents often just tell you.
3. Document with the vendor: Have your technician photograph the problem and note the likely cause. This is where AB 2801-style before-and-after photos earn their keep, in California by law and everywhere else as best practice.
4. Reference the policy, don’t wield it: Once you have evidence, remind the resident of the relevant lease terms calmly.
5. Offer to split if they dig in: If they deny responsibility, proposing to share the cost beats eating the whole bill and often resolves it.
6. Escalate to the deposit as a last resort: With solid documentation, unpaid tenant-caused damage can be recovered from the security deposit, provided you follow your state’s rules and timelines.

None of this is legal advice. Landlord-tenant law varies by state, deposit caps and documentation rules change (California’s did in 2024 and 2025), and you’re responsible for complying with local and federal regulations. Check your state codes, which are available online.

The bottom line

Billing back tenant-caused damage isn’t really a disagreement about repairs. It’s a documentation problem. The property managers who recover these costs consistently aren’t better arguers. They’re the ones whose vendors show up, diagnose the cause, and photograph the evidence on every work order, so the case is already built before the resident pushes back.

That’s the part Lula handles. Lula coordinates maintenance from work order to resolution with a vetted vendor network, and those vendors document the cause and the fix, giving you the proof you need to charge damage back to the resident instead of the owner. When a unit does turn, Lula’s make-ready service gets it rent-ready fast.

See how Lula helps property managers keep maintenance costs where they belong.

Tenant Caused Damage FAQs

What counts as tenant damage versus normal wear and tear?

Normal wear and tear is the gradual, expected decline from ordinary use — minor scuffs, small nail holes, faded paint. Tenant damage is caused by negligence, misuse, or accident, like large drywall holes, a cracked cooktop, or a drain packed with non-flushable items. The distinction is the most common source of deposit disputes.

How do I prove a repair was caused by the tenant?

Photograph the damage before and after the repair, have your vendor document the likely cause, and keep move-in condition records for comparison. In California, AB 2801 makes timestamped photos a legal requirement for deposit deductions as of 2025, and that level of evidence is best practice everywhere.

Can I deduct tenant damage from the security deposit?

Yes, if you have documentation and follow your state’s rules and return-window timelines. Deposit caps and documentation requirements changed in several states in 2024 and 2025, so confirm your local law before deducting.

Should I require renters insurance?

It’s worth it. About 55% of renters already carry a policy at roughly $170 a year, and requiring it in the lease turns events like fire or major accidental damage into an insurance claim rather than an out-of-pocket loss.