Water Damage Deduction from Security Deposit

[sharmavjraj]

My question involves a security deposit in the State of: Colorado
Late June tenants reported water flooding in the basement of my rental home. It turned out that there was water leakage due to bursting of frozen pipe attached to an outside faucet. I found garden hose attached to the faucet and I guess that tenants left hose attached over the winter and that they opened the faucet only late June when frozen pipe burst. Drying and reconstruction cost of more than $10,000 is being covered from the home insurance, but I had to pay $1,000 deductible. The repair work is still going on. On July 31, the lease expired and tenants moved out. I believe I am entitled to deduct $1,000 (the above-mentioned insurance deductible that I paid) from tenants' security deposit. Before I do so, I am seeking advice from anyone who has knowledge on such damages. There was lease agreement with usual clauses, but no explicit mention of frozen pipe water damages.

VJ

[Mr. Knowitall]

I found garden hose attached to the faucet and I guess that tenants left hose attached over the winter and that they opened the faucet only late June when frozen pipe burst.

You can try whatever you want but if they dispute the deduction, a "guess" isn't likely to convince a court that the tenant should pay the bill.

When a tenant leaves a rental unit, the landlord has 30 days (unless stipulated differently in the lease) to return the security deposit or send a written list of damages and the amount of money owed for repairs to the tenant. The above must be sent to the tenant's last known address. If a security deposit is wrongly withheld, the tenant could receive a judgement of three times of the amount wrongfully withheld, and court costs and attorney's fees. A tenant may utilize small claims court for this purpose.

(Via the Colorado Division of Housing.)