Difficult Tenants - Solar Panels

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by Dark Phoenix, 20th Nov, 2018.

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  1. Dark Phoenix

    Dark Phoenix Well-Known Member

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    Hi everyone,

    It is my first time posting a new thread here. I have this property in Sydney rented out to tenants. At first, they were nice and there was not any issue until lately.

    I understand anything in need of maintenance is the landlord's liability in NSW. I had the roof, damaged wires, doors etc. fixed in a timely manner as long as the PM escalated to me, which is fine.

    I also did the right thing by having rewarded them a gift voucher last month.

    Last week, it was the air condition that had been repaired. The PM called me this week letting me know their energy bill soared from $300 to $800, which is not the usual case. They doubt that the solar panels on the roof must have stopped working leading to a sudden surge in their latest bill. The PM explained to me whatever had worked before tenants moved in must be in usable condition throughout their tenancy and it is my obligation to have them maintained.

    Just because they claimed that solar panels must have stopped working, it does not mean they did. There were several factors for example they might have overused heater, air condition, which was out of order just last week etc. Let the PM do their job now but it is ridiculous in the sense that I feel like they are now abusing their rights.

    Has anyone been through this before? Please helppp!

    Cheers,
     
  2. thatbum

    thatbum Well-Known Member

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    I get your point, but don't you want to at least do some rudimentary checks on whether the panels are working?
     
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  3. Dark Phoenix

    Dark Phoenix Well-Known Member

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    That's what I said above by letting the PM do their job now by asking for someone to come in and do some check and a quote if broken.
     
  4. thatbum

    thatbum Well-Known Member

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    What's the alternative though? To ignore the request?

    Has there been any reason before to think that the tenant's requests aren't credible?
     
  5. James90

    James90 Well-Known Member

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    You need to see there electricity bill, see if usage has changed at all. Another common problem I see is when the energy companies 'estimate' usage and usually get it quite wrong. Then when they come and do a actual read they backcharge for the amount they didn't charge last time therefor making it look like there bill has suddenly increased.
     
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  6. DeJ

    DeJ Well-Known Member

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    Wouldn't it be pretty straight forward to look at the bill and see the "ins and outs" of it all?
    You get 'x' in credit for the panels, usage is 'y', y - x =...
     
  7. Marg4000

    Marg4000 Well-Known Member

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    It is a concern that you describe the tenant as “difficult” when they report maintenance or repair issues. It is in your best interests that the property remains in a good condition.

    And that is the nature of repairs. You can have a good run for a few years, then several expensive things go wrong at once. Unfair to automatically blame the tenant. Usually, under most leases, tenants have an obligation to report defects.

    The solar panels may need cleaning. Dirt and bird droppings can build up and reduce their effectiveness quite markedly.
    Marg
     
  8. Dark Phoenix

    Dark Phoenix Well-Known Member

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    I don't blame the tenants but if you had read the above, you would find the link i.e. the air condition had been broken the week before, then came the bill. They might have used energy excessively then came back and made a false claim. In fact, they should have monitored their own expenses in my view.
     
  9. G..

    G.. Well-Known Member

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    +1 to this. Get the PM to tell the tenant that you are not responsible for their electricity bills, but if they think that there is a problem then please forward the last two bills for you to have a look at.
    - Check whether the readings are "Estimated" or "Actual". Their last one may have been estimated, and when the elect company did the actual reading for the current bill they may have found to have under estimated previously.
    - Check what the bill has for solar feed-in, is it similar to the previous bill. This will fairly quickly tell you if the solar panels are working.
    - And lastly check their usage. If the solar panels are working but the usage has dramatically increased then tell them to lay off using the newly repaired air-con!
     
  10. shorty

    shorty Well-Known Member

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    Ask your pm to go there in the day time and check the inverter. It will tell you how much power the panels are generating
     
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  11. JasonC

    JasonC Well-Known Member

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    You would have thought. I’m with Energy Australia on net metering and there is no indication on the bill (or online in the usage statistics) of how much power was generated - just the difference between what you used and what you generated.

    Maybe the OPs bill is the same?

    Jason
     
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  12. charlie01

    charlie01 Well-Known Member

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    (1) Sometimes meter reading can be very wrong/inaccurate, especially if the figure is estimated.
    (2) You need to make sure that the solar panel is not using your tenants' electricity :p:D
    (3) Landlords don't have the obligation to provide tenants solar panels or other items (such as air-con, Foxtel). Many tenants live in the properties without solar panels and they pay their electricity bill without any questions. Should the landlords pay the "extra" electricity bill for the tenants because solar panels are not installed? I don't think so. Just my thought.
     
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  13. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    What was the cause of the AC fault?
    Was it excessively hot/cold proceeding the breakdown?
    Have they installed a hydro lab?
    15 new tenants?

    What has changed in their pattern of usage.
     
  14. Wiz

    Wiz Well-Known Member

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    I would just pay someone to come out and check if the solar panels are working properly. If they are, then the tenant's bill is their own problem. If they are not, then you fix them.
     
  15. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

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    LOL

    You gave a goft voucher ? As a new LL ?

    Well, now you have your gift......
     
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  16. shorty

    shorty Well-Known Member

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    Why? You can just look at the inverter to see how much energy they are generating.
     
  17. Joynz

    Joynz Well-Known Member

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    Might have had a lot of cloudy days.
     
  18. Wiz

    Wiz Well-Known Member

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    I would pay someone to check because that would put a line under it. If the tenants complain again, I can show them an independent report from an independent person.
     
  19. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

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    Do two independents make a republican?
     
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  20. Marg4000

    Marg4000 Well-Known Member

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    Quite true.

    But this property DOES have solar panels, and did when this tenant signed the lease. Unless specifically excluded in the lease, the panels must be maintained in good working order by the landlord.
    Marg
     
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