Incompetent PM

So my tenants vacated and following the final inspection the walls are completely filthy, the carpets are all damaged – mind you that the carpets were brand new and walls were freshly painted before the tenants moved in 3 years ago. The routine inspection reports all say walls and carpets are clean but apparently because of the furniture being in the way the PM did not notice this. Insurance won’t cover it because its wear and tear – not malicious. So what are my options here? I’m pretty angry at my PM as it was her responsibility and she is not accepting the blame. Any thoughts?

 

Total bond claim
Can they be cleaned Martinez?

 

What state is the property in?

Curious what the pm said afterwards. Was it "I'm doing a bond claim", or " let's get it rented again like this" , or "can you pay for a cleaner?"

That might provide more insight into scenario there

 

Followed by an order against the tenant that you can claim through a magistrates court or debt collection agency - if damages exceed the bond.

But you need to claim full bond.

 

Is this your first IP? Its going to get dirty, you can't stop that - it is wear and tear in most cases. It probably needs a good clean. If its smelly, then perhaps you might have a chance, but dirty, not really.

Remember this: Not everyone will treat the property as good as you will. That said, in rare circumstances, there will be tenants that will treat it better than you will. Skimping on materials will only result in pain. Pay a little more for quality material.

My tips are:

1. Don't have carpet at all (or at the very least, limit it to bedrooms only). Tiles or floorboards (or any material that doesn't absorb water).

2. Paint with decent quality paint so that you can simply wash the walls with sugar soap between tenancies.

3. This way you don't need to replace, just restore - ie get a cleaner.
(Any maybe a handyman to patch up walls where walls have been damaged).

 

Claim bond, repaint only if necessary, clean up and move on.

 

Only 3 years out of carpet

 

Just a tip on this - when you get a house painted, leave a little bit behind (in shed or laundry cupboard) to allow for basic touchups to be done.

 

I buy new paint and take a picture of the sticker code and brand/model of paint.
Then email that to myself and the PM

 

Disrepair?

 

This is PM's response:

The cleaner has finished at the property but has not done the carpets as he advised these will probably need to be replaced and it would be a waste of time and money cleaning them before all the work has been done as they would just need to be done again once finished.
The cleaner also advised he had not managed to sugar soap all the walls as the paint that is on the walls is very thin and was just rubbing off as he was trying to clean them so the only option to get these cleaned up is to repaint.

 

Well all the bond is going towards cleaning fee and outstanding water bills. There isn't enough of the bond to pay for walls & carpets - insurance won't cover it either. She quoted 5K for the painting job. Last year she did not spot any mould growth which also cost me 5K as I had to repair urgently. What are my options ? I refuse to pay 5K for wall paint plus new carpets when she wasn't managing the property properly in the first place

 

Yep like Yman said, get what you pay for.

 

Haha okay aside from the quality, what now.. who pays for this? Because the bond is going on water bills & cleaning fee, the insurance wont cover it. Does this fall on me to pay? Shouldn't the PM be keeping any eye on this over time, because none of it was reported in the ongoing inspections, she always said carpets & walls were clean.

 

No tribunal will make an order for an entire house to be painted. The $5000 invoice needs to specify the areas that were affected by the tenant and exactly how - before and after pics.
They want to see patch painting of certain walls not entire walls put onto the tenants.
Then you can get a debt order against the tenant and claim against them through magistrates court or debt collection.

 

If this wording shows up on a cleaning invoice that lands on a tribunal members desk they will not issue an order against the tenant for causing damage to the walls.

This is why experience is so essential in property management.
Most property managers just react to things they do not manage.

 

Your pm is more inexperienced than incompetent. She is just doing what industry training has taught her to do - think inside the box.

 

Wasn't referring to you, just generally.

Personally I avoid carpets, however the guys at HN carpets were showing me something the other day that's apparently new, 20yr warranty, including pets & tenants, $35pm + lay.
Would have to read the fine print for that

 

I have a lot more where there that came from haha hence incompetent imo