Bad Tenants - Has lead to the Council getting involved..HELP

Hi there, I have a large issue at hand and if anyone can assist with their thoughts, opinions and/or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated.

To simplify it, here is a timeline of events

Nov15 - New Tenant signed 12 mth term through real estate
Nov16 - Same tenant signs for another 6 months through real estate.

- During the initial term - we attended to any issues at the property and there was nothing out of the ordinary.... business as usual.

01 Dec 16 - Summer weather in QLD starts - Large storm occurs, minor flooding due to 100 mils in about half hour.

Minor flooding occurred in a small garage and the tenant had plenty of camping gear which got flooded. He was not happy and after this date, tried to find every reason to complain about the property being defective. We attended to fix the storm water issue, although it was a little more complex, which took time for the tradesmen to get there.

Long story short, there was a breach notice sent to RTA with very unreasonable requests - which were acted upon by tradespeople.

After this, an intention to leave form was submitted, although we are clear to them that this will be a break lease.

At this point, the real estate has not done a good job in my opinion, as i felt they were on the tenants side from the beginning - which has now changed because I have engaged my solicitors. The real estate is back on my side.

I got a call today from the local council saying somebody anonymous "the tenant" has complained about the building approval for the downstairs area. It had been built in by the previous owner to make an extra bedroom/kitchenette bathroom and living area.

This lady is now attending the property next week to prove that it is not certified.

I am actually shocked this is happening.

There is nothing wrong with the property, it is in excellent condition.

We need help. I guess at the end of the day, I pay the mortgage, Repairs, Outgoings and the tenant still wins. This is unbelievable.

 

...and their relocation costs too if you're lucky.

 

I'm confused. You seem to be talking about a few different issues which seem unrelated. Either that or just having a vent?

For example, what's the issue with the unreasonable requests that were acted upon - is that still a live issue?

And if there is nothing wrong with the property, then what do you have to fear from a council inspection?

 

Maybe if the tenant was reimbursed for the water damaged camping gear there would be no problem.

I once slept in a wet sleeping bag and it was not a nice experience let me tell you.

 

How much is your solicitor costing you?

Surely just cheaper to let them go.

 

I had a situation a few years ago where tenants were only a couple of months into their 2nd 12 month lease.
They suddenly started a series of ridiculous complaints..... their hot water wasn't hot enough... Not enough power running to the properly to heat their iron... A/c not cold enough.. Wanted new blinds as the sun was still too bright when they were shut...crazy stuff
I had trades people attend on different occasions but everything was always fine. As expected for a 3yo property.
Then I received notification they wanted to break the lease..
I was happy to see them leave. I had thought about pursing them or enforcing the lease but the costs for this quickly add up..

In the end it's better to lose a few weeks rent, and pay for a re-lease than spend possibly months chasing them and who knows how much $$ on legals..

In regards to council. You just need to wait and see what their response is.
How long ago were the 'renovations' made? From memory I believe a time limit applies to when the can be actioned against by the council if they were made without their approval.

 

Is the downstairs renovation council approved?
Marg

 

Se if you can increase the drainage. That should sort things out...

 

Lots of issues in your list. Seems to me like you're getting flustered and not playing the shots systematically with a straight bat.

- tenants gear damaged from flooding. They need to take this up with their contents insurer. The insurer may in turn take it up with you but cross that bridge when you get to it.

- breaches for not repairing things. Definitely repair stuff! Its not optional its a legal obligation.

- tenant wants to leave a) if property uninhabitable as a result of these floods let them go, or b) commence breaklease procedure

- PMs are not on tenants side. Good ones know what all the tenants rights and responsibilities are and will inform you of those so as to minimise your risks and troubles.

- Don't lease unapproved spaces. If downstairs is not legal please stop leasing it or get it approved. Irrelevant who dobbed who in. If you were / are doing the right thing there'd be no problems.

- yes, lots of things are tenants sided / biased. We can't do much about that. Just fulfil your legal rights and responsibilities and if other people want to be dicks that's their problem.

- lose the solicitor, this is a residential tenancy issue not a cold case.

 

This was my thoughts to.

If it wasn't approved you should of discovered this when purchasing and as such paid less for it otherwise you took the risk for not doing the relevant searches and it has backfired on you.

 

And why a solicitor?

I can't see that the tenant has done anything illegal from what you have said.

If Brisbane, the council is very strict on renting out unauthorised extra space - and an unauthorised extra kitchen downstairs will ring alarm bells loud and clear with them.

And you are assuming the anonymous caller was the tenant - it could have been a neighbour for all you know.
Marg

 

Agreed ditch the solicitor and engage a Sargent from the local chapter

 

Thank you for your responses guys. To make it clearer;

- The renovation was done Pre-1990's and it is part of the house now. I find it frustrating when the council says they cant see any previous approvals and when i did a PD online search it showed 2 previous, which apply to the current subject. So the building is fully approved.

- Solicitors we there in order for everybody involved to do the right thing. Simply because the lady from the council on the phone was very sure there were no previous building approvals, and she was trying to tell me that I will pay........ Very unprofessional i must say. The solicitors did their required job.

- Property Manager literally calls me to ask what she should do...... for example - she rings and says the tenants are moving out and that they don't want it to be break lease. Excuse me? Of course it is a break lease - we fulfilled all conditions of the ridiculous breach asap and we have documentation of it all. IMO The property manager may have let the tenant pull too much string for a while there which got us into this crap. I may be wrong though.

- The contents in that small garage that flooded was still there 1 month later...... in the same positions. Property manager says why is the stuff still there as is (after i told her to ask this question). and they claim all of the stuff was a write off. I inspected these goods when we were attending to the storm water issue and it was Tool Sets and Steel objects - THAT ARE WATER PROOF. Surely they cannot be written off.

- Anyway, in the end, this is a break lease any day of the week.

Thank you all so much for your input. Much Appreciated. Merry Christmas

 

It may technically be a break lease, but seriously you don't want to hold the people who are living in your house to ransom. It won't end well for you. Let them go. Get new tenants and treat them well and they will look after your investment for you.

 

Actually. It would have helped us all if you had made things clearer in your first post. You put the reference to the solicitor in with tenant problems, when it appears they were involved with the council approval issues??
Marg

 

My Apologies, Solicitor was engaged once the breach notice and intention to leave forms were produced - After we attending to all of the breaches.