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Window glass rarely breaks by itself and I would place this under the category of being beyond the standard of "normal wear and tear" which requires under my former leases that the tenant make the repairs. However, as a former Texas landlord, I would have repaired the first breakage and after that, the tenant pays. The last single pane glass (24"x24") I had to buy was $12.00. Add to that the small cost of a box of glazer points and glazing putty.
I am a former landlord because my last tenants, among other serious damages, broke two window panes in the house and two in the garage. The garage panes had been intact for fifty years. I evicted these nomadic thugs, then sold the property by owner-finance to a young family who truly needed and appreciated a home.
for 20 bucks to fix the window, the LL should just eat the cost.
$20 is the cost for a pane of glass...
Nothing in it for time.
If I call a local glass company as a non-emergency repair I'm looking at $135 minimum...
Also, some tenants will be very helpful and others not so...
I've responded and found broken glass everywhere with no effort to clean anything... when the glass is laying outside the house, chances are it was damaged from the inside...
The responsible party may or may not be the unit resident... could be the kids playing ball outside, a tree branch, etc...
I've seen a fair share of broken windows... anything from kids that got locked out, boyfriend/girlfriend fights with phones or remotes being tossed to kids tossing rocks to get some one's attention without the parents knowing.
Accidents do happen... just saying the responsible party should bear the cost.
I'm an attorney and I disagree with the majority of these posts trying to pin the stress crack on the tenant. Unless the tenant did something to break the glass, a stress crack would fall under the category of "normal wear and tear," as it's really not that uncommon. A stress crack is caused by thermal changes or even foundation changes or shifting in the window frame, etc. It's not the tenant's responsibility to pay for what should be the landlord's maintenance of the property unless the tenant is the one who caused the damage (in which case you would probably have a radial crack in the window). I know this thread is old, but it still shows up on the first page of google and I wanted to assist landlords who come across this issue so they don't end up being sued by their tenants.
I'm an attorney and I disagree with the majority of these posts trying to pin the stress crack on the tenant. Unless the tenant did something to break the glass, a stress crack would fall under the category of "normal wear and tear," as it's really not that uncommon. A stress crack is caused by thermal changes or even foundation changes or shifting in the window frame, etc. It's not the tenant's responsibility to pay for what should be the landlord's maintenance of the property unless the tenant is the one who caused the damage (in which case you would probably have a radial crack in the window). I know this thread is old, but it still shows up on the first page of google and I wanted to assist landlords who come across this issue so they don't end up being sued by their tenants.
Unfortunately I have observed that this forum seems to have a massive amount of landlords who make comments blaming the tenant for everything and trying to find ways to make things the tenant's responsibility. Worse these people rarely disclose that they are landlords. I fear that many people are getting some rather biased advice when they come to this forum...
Regarding the OP I question how anyone can read it and blame the tenant. It very clearly states that there was first a small crack and the LL was notified. The LL then did nothing and then weeks later it completely broke. It's obviously not the tenant's fault.
I'm an attorney and I disagree with the majority of these posts trying to pin the stress crack on the tenant. Unless the tenant did something to break the glass, a stress crack would fall under the category of "normal wear and tear," as it's really not that uncommon. A stress crack is caused by thermal changes or even foundation changes or shifting in the window frame, etc. It's not the tenant's responsibility to pay for what should be the landlord's maintenance of the property unless the tenant is the one who caused the damage (in which case you would probably have a radial crack in the window). I know this thread is old, but it still shows up on the first page of google and I wanted to assist landlords who come across this issue so they don't end up being sued by their tenants.
The broken windows theory is a criminological theory of the norm-setting and signaling effect of urban disorder and vandalism on additional crime and anti-social behavior. The theory states that maintaining and monitoring urban environments to prevent small crimes such as vandalism, public drinking, and toll-jumping helps to create an atmosphere of order and lawfulness, thereby preventing more serious crimes from happening.
I'm an attorney and I disagree with the majority of these posts trying to pin the stress crack on the tenant. Unless the tenant did something to break the glass, a stress crack would fall under the category of "normal wear and tear," as it's really not that uncommon. A stress crack is caused by thermal changes or even foundation changes or shifting in the window frame, etc. It's not the tenant's responsibility to pay for what should be the landlord's maintenance of the property unless the tenant is the one who caused the damage (in which case you would probably have a radial crack in the window). I know this thread is old, but it still shows up on the first page of google and I wanted to assist landlords who come across this issue so they don't end up being sued by their tenants.
I'm bumping this old thread again also due to my concern with window issues in my apartment. I'm a contractor and i agree with what you said about foundation issues and thermal stress cracks. Several of the windows in my apartment are severely hard to open, have condensation between the panes and some stress cracks. Also the home was built in the 40's and upstairs their are signs of foundation issues because of cracks in the drywall in the corners of the room. That along with DIY work from many landlords that dont know how to shim or install a window properly will cause this. I've seen people install windows directly against the window trimmer studs with no shims and that is a recipe for disaster when the framing expands.
I'm just concerned that i will be charged for this by the property management that is taking over.
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