Understandably when the tenant phoned to say the shower had stopped working after 4 days and that the toilet seat was broken I was not best pleased.
I knew that some of the things that were broken were probably past their sell by date but the toilet seat was the final straw.
It's less than 4 months old and wasn't broken when I cleaned the house.
I called in my lovely and reliable plumber, got a quote from him then copied the relevant page of the lease and went to see her.
I explained that I wouldn't be replacing the shower immediately as it had been working fine and as it would cost £300 it would have to wait. There is another shower in the property and the broken one is over the bath.
I also told her she was responsible for replacing the toilet seat, this didn't go down well!
She then announced she wanted a different plumber, so I said that would be ok, but that she'd have to pay the bill.
I explained to her that according to the lease, she is liable to pay for any repairs.
Her reply 'Oh I didn't read the lease, it's too long'!
So I showed her the copy of the relevant page and told her that from now on every item damaged would be inspected by a professional to ascertain whether it was fair wear and tear or carelessness.
She will be billed for any damage caused by herself and her family.
11 comments:
A good job you've told her in no uncertain terms about the conditions of the lease and the fact that she will have to pay for breakages.
Hopefully she will make sure her family treat your house in a proper manner. Will you be doing regular inspections? Most rentals are inspected so as to minimise the risk of expensive damage/repairs.
A friend of mine says she never rents to women...they constantly call to complain! I hope things calm down...you do NOT need that stress!
Did she pay the deposit in the end? Be careful the damage/repairs don't exceed it.
What a c** My daughters have had lots of experience of rental flats going through university and this woman is really taking the p***. Little does she know who she is up against!xxx
Interesting to read this Hester and to get some understanding of the perils of being a landlord.
I sat down with my motherinlaw and we read every paragraph in her very long lease. That way neither of us was surprised. ana sweet usa
Well done. It could not continue x
I had a clause put in the lease about using a tumble drier in the house as they can cause a lot of damage. My tenant doesn't appear to have read the lease neither, it could prove very expensive for them!
I have someone inspecting on a regular basis, I arranged it before I even had a tenant.
It's no more than I expected TBH, I just assumed any tenant would take the piss, I have a managing agent lined up and they will step in and take over if/when I decide to go down that route.
I also couldn't believe that neither she or her partner would bother to read the lease.
What a bad example of a tenant; it's people like her who give renters a bad name. I have rented for many years, in several different houses and always treated each place as if it were my own. I can't understand why anyone would act differently - it is, after all, your home, whether or not it belongs to you. Why would you break things and treat it badly?
Hopefully you have now put her straight and she will be a lot more careful about things. She was probably just pushing her luck to see how much she could get away with and have replaced because she just didn't like certain things.
We are using letting agents for our flat so we don't have to cope with this sort of problem. Fingers crossed the extra money we pay out to them will be worth it.
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