Landlord Advised needed.

Hi,

I bought a house in January 2014 which is a quite worn down and old house. My plan was to continue living with my parents for three years while I saved some more to demolish and rebuild for my young family. A tenant stayed in the property for all of 2014 and 2015 without any concerns then moved out.

We advised the RE agent to look for more tenants for the remaining year (had 10 applications). The tenant selected is now 6 weeks into a 6 month contract and has some lead paint testing done around the house. He would now like us to carry out 10k+ worth of repairs on the property to remove the lead paint and fix these issues.

We have advised the tenant we would prefer if he would move out since clearly this is a health risk for his young child. We did not know there was a concern about lead paint in the house but now that we do we prefer not to allowing people to rent here any longer. The tenant refuses to move and wants the house now fixed up.

Who can I talk too to clarify what i have to do? Besides the RE who has told us not to worry for the past few weeks and then suddenly told us that we will have to do the maintenance.

 

What prompted them to start testing it? Can they actually forward you the results or was it just some friend who did it?

The treatment probably isn't safe with them present either.

 

That's nice of him

If his that concerned you'd think he would have already made plans to get out of there considering any works is gunna cause dust to go everywhere including on their stuff.

 

The tenant decided to check for lead himself using a test kit from here: lead poisoning information from The LEAD Group Incorporated. Obviously the problem is fairly large and the house also has asbestos. We would like to just terminate the contract and demolish the house. Its seems crazy to spend so much on the house when it will be demolished in 6 months. Is there a lawyer we can check this with?

 

Maybe its possible to get the council to more properly check it? If so, and it comes up positive, then the contract might be able to be frustrated (as opposed to terminated).

 

I recon after only a few weeks in the place they've decided they don't like it, tried to think up ways to break lease, wonder if that paint has lead in it...
Not only wants to break lease but also having a crack at scamming costs to relocate etc...

 

Agreed with the rest of your post, but definitely wouldnt put this part in. You're making the work about the cost and demolition rather than about safety then. You can't deny maintenance work on those grounds. You can deny it on the grounds that it'd be unsafe to carry it out while residents are still there as per WestOz post.

Give them the option to frustrate the contract - they cant complain about it then. But before all that, make sure its actually a legit question.

 

Have you discussed with your PM offering them compensation to move out?

Recognising that a move will involve extra expense and inconvenience for your tenants, an offer of termination plus $500 to $1000 for moving expenses may be worth a try. Even if refused, if the $)()$ hits the fan and this ends up at the tribunal, this offer will help you prove you made every effort to assist the tenant.

Of course, you have the option of further testing, but this is just as likely to work against you.
Marg

 

Thankyou everyone for the advice. It makes me feel better just getting some different opinions. Really had me shattered with something so unexpected - was excitedly planning to demolish and checking house designs with my partner and ready to move out from parents place (who have been nice enough to let us save some extra money).

The property is in NSW.

I have asked the REA offer to obviously release the contract but the tenant is not interested. Maybe if I offer the $500 or $1000 moving cost it may help.

 

Send a soil sample to Macquarie Uni. You may be able to advise that the property is uninhabitable and requires demolition.

 

Sounds like you have got yrself a victim tenant throwaway!
Be careful how you deal with them as it sounds they have pretty high expectations.Be careful they don't try take you down.Get them out legaly and carefully asap

 

The other issue I realise is that we sent the rent very cheap - about half the rate of surrounding houses because we figured the house is in bad condition. That is likely why he wants to stay there.

 

What's your thoughts re this @D.T.

Change of opinion or something from PM, seems a bit odd to me, confusing for owner.

Surely there's no legal requirement/expectation/demand for an owner to spend "this kind of coin" ever, owners choice, however if tenant isn't happy with that decision they in-turn have the option to break lease, leave, full bond returned etc, in the end its up to tenant if they stay or go, likewise if they choose to disturb paint or asbestos, therefore risking themselves (like many other old places), but shouldn't be at any cost to owner?

That gives a better picture.
Hey Pal, I'm not spending 10k on a place I'm knocking down after your out in 5mths anyway, no renewal, if your not happy to stay that's fine, go and find another place you'd prefer and we'll terminate the lease.

 

How long is the lease for and what are the clauses for termination ?
QUOTE="Throwaway21532, post: 360005, member: 9149"]Maybe if I offer the $500 or $1000 moving cost it may help.[/QUOTE]
IMO you are setting yourself up to be fleeced.

 

On NSW Leases it says you cant do any work without the Owners consent...
I am wondering if it is allowed to start scraping paint without the owners consent?
I hope this helps.