Hello all. I'm wanting to get some opinions on a "reasonable" repayment schedule, which I presume will be ignored, but needs to be presented. Here's the details:

About 3 weeks ago, a married couple went to work at leaving their two teenage sons and two of the sons friends home alone.

Upon rising, one of the guests was slow to wake up, so the other two friends opted to pour water on him. A scuffle ensued resulting in a broken 4x7 foot upstairs window, lacerations requiring stitches in one of the guests, a phone call to police and drama.

The parents left work to address problem and each of them promised to repay for the damage done. One of the guests mother's also said she would pay for the damage.

The damage has been mostly resolved. 3 carpets were permanently stained by blood (but they were very old carpets). The window replacement cost $3,800. I presented the tenant with copies of the bills and requested that they pay immediately or arrange a repayment schedule. The tenants responded that they would have to make payments.

As I was running errands out of town yesterday, I saw the husband at an employment agency. Previous jobs have ended for him and though no one would say so prior to renting to him, later it came out that he was an okay employee - when he chose to come to work - which was not all that often. The wife is overburdened working long hours and doing her best to maintain sanity. They were supposed to have a renter's insurance policy, but I suspect they let that lapse.

They have trouble paying their rent at $1,700/month. They now owe $3,800. Their rent is up to date. In addition to the two teen sons, they also have a toddler. If this ends up in court, I can see this absorbing more unpaid time of not returning the rental and costing additional money in legal fees to get them evicted.

For now, it appears that a repayment schedule must be arranged and only if they do not pay may I pursue eviction. What is a reasonable repayment to offer? (Colorado courts have become quite tenant-friendly. If this results in eviction, I realize I will never see a dime of the damage and the legal costs will escalate the financial loss.)

Thanks in advance for your input.

"Dear Tenant, you must pay the damages in the amount of (fill in the blank) per month due on or before (fill in the date) until paid in full. Failure to pay according to this schedule will result in eviction papers being filed immediately due to damage to the unit. Sincerely, The Manager"

That should do it. You pick the amount. You pick the due date. But based on what you've told me, they either can't or won't pay no matter how low you go. They're already struggling. Adding $50 per month to them means they will struggle that much more. At this point, there's no need to be "nice" or use kiddie-gloves. They did damage. They need to work more hours and get the money pay or they need to leave. It really is that simple.

Don't wait. You're only one more bucket of water away from another $4,000 repair bill. These people sound crazy. They can and will break your property faster than you can bill and collect from them for repairs. For that reason, I try to get rid of crazy asap!

You think they have let their tenant's insurance lapse, but find out for sure.

Get the mother of the guest who was involved to sign some sort of IOU for part of the amount. Maybe she is capable of making payments.

To Oregon: I wonder if you have considered the back side of claiming it on the owner's insurance policy. Insurance rates will be jumped significantly and quite possibly they will cancel the policy.

To Sid: You are right. I look for this tenancy to fail, but in Colorado now, the only reason I can evict is for criminal activity or non-payment. I've served papers based on late payment enough to build the case for termination due to repeat offending, but these tenants have, thus far, kept ahead of it by paying their rent just before action can be taken. With this additional bill, it will make it harder for them to keep up.

I rented home to a nice couple with two grown children over 20, male and female. The kids fought like cats and dogs. So when the parents were out of town on business, the kids got into it and damaged two interior doors, frames, locks and some wall holes.

The parents were of the opinion they were not responsible for repairs. I sent them an estimate of the repairs, giving them 1 week to pay up. Then I posted a 24 hour notice and have things professionally repaired/replaced.

Now the final bill came to almost double. I sent them a demand letter. No response.

So I went to the place of employment for the parents, they were professors at a college. The President was not amused that the couple allowed their kids to damage a rental and no one would pay for the repairs. I also went to the son's place of employment, working for his girlfriends dad.

are parents of the friends home owners? If so, their insurance probably will pay.

30ish years ago my personal homeowners insurance paid for my share of a tractor that one of my children and his friend crashed.

To Nicole: The parents of the other teens are a mess. One lives in a camper on her parent's property because, I presume, she lost her regular housing. Oddly, she's the one who offered to pay on the damage, but I've not seen anything of that yet. Her teen was the one who needed stitches, so I imagine she's got a hefty medical bill to deal with, too. My agreement is with the tenants who rent the dwelling, so I do not have authority to do collect from their guests.

Regarding insurance claims, it's fine if the tenant submits this to their renter's policy (providing they kept it current) but submitting this to the homeowner's policy will likely result in refusal to cover this property and/or a significant increase in premiums.

At the end of this rainbow, I need to get the actual tenants to move, but Colorado has made that process very difficult if the tenant is paying and not doing criminal activities.

By accepting a payment plan, you're giving them a loan. Remind them that it will be in their best interest to pay it off early, as the 6% interest will continue to accrue.