Hello, I have a couple of questions. Sorry if I make any typos etc...I am so dizzy after having Covid. Anyway first problem is that we have a leaking air-conditioner. Once we were told about it we gave same day approval for it to be repaired/replaced. This was in March and the Property Manger asked the tenants to stop using it. They refused and continued to just collect the water at the base of the wall. There is another air con in the main living area, this faulty one is in the bedroom. Now the tenants are Covid isolating and the property manger said she is putting all of our work orders off until May. Apparently mould is starting. I am concerned that by the time someone goes out to fix it if they continue to use it there is going to be structural damage if there isn't already. The tenants lease is up in June but they have four kids, they don't want to live in our house anymore but want to live there until they find somewhere else. I don't want to send them onto the streets, but be have been told me should evict them as they are not looking after the house. I rang our Landlord Insurance and they won't cover any damage, I doubt that building insurance will cover it either. Any suggestions or just suck it up until they leave and outlay our money to have it fixed. Problem 2: This problem has been going on for 5 years. There is an electricity pole in our yard that is an old wooden one. It has a crack in it and although it is braced it really needs to be fixed. We have over the years been onto numerous electricians/SA Power Networks/Ombudsmen. The property managers will take it on and then keep trying to give the problem back to us when they fail. The most recent being handing it back over to us and saying that it is not their responsibility. In between all of this we ourselves are still trying to get quotes and talking to electricians etc. I went to my property managers, manager and asked when does it come down to it not being safe for the tenants and asking them to move out. The property managers said there is a housing shortage and we don't want that happening, he can sort it out (but since we passed back to us). The problem being the house is in a rural town and the electricians don't want to take it on when there are easier jobs they can do. My questions are: 1. Are the property managers supposed to deal with this sort of thing. 2. Should the property managers ensure the safety of the tenants? We live 2.5 hours away so surely if they thought the problem was unsafe they would tell us they need to terminate the lease. 3.Do we evict the tenants (as it has been suggested we should as they are not looking after the house) for their own safety. On the other hand the pole is not really that likely to come down and we would be throwing them out on the street. Do we let them extend their lease which finished in June? is it three months notice you need to give them? We have got onto yet another electrician and it sounds promising apart from him being in isolation. Fingers crossed he can fix the situation for us.
For item 1, some tenants just don't give a **** and will not work with you. I feel your pain. This is serious advice even if it comes across as not. I would schedule a visit to look at the air-con so you can measure and get the size and other requirement for a new one. While you are there I would power the unit off, and remove the fuse/circuit breakers so it can not be used. It's a safety issue after all - water and electrically do not mix and mould is a health hazard. You are looking after the health and safety of your tenants. I doubt there would be any structural issues from this, but the mould should be cut out and removed - not just cleaned. I would also ask your PM to issue a breach as they have admitted to causing the mould and damage.
I hope your PM has reminded the tenants they are liable for any damage caused by them continuing to use the leaking air conditioner while waiting for the repairs
Do not say that you will be taking all of the bond to remedy the damage at this stage!!! The tenants will likely do more damage in other parts of the house just to spite you before they leave. After they leave your property, then use the bond money for remediation activities.
Since the pole is outside, the sparky should have very little (if any) interaction with the tenants. This would also be considered an emergency repair. Maybe arrange both a sparky AND a handyman to be there at the same time! Sparky takes care of the wires, and handyman takes care of fixing or erecting a new pole. Also note that sparky do not normally touch wiring before it enters the house/fuse-box.
A few of my thoughts ( I'm not a lawyer so not legal advice) Document every telephone conversation . ( if your'e feeling crap keep a paper and pen next to the phone to document ) Do you have landlord insurance? Let the tenants know they have a' duty of care' towards the repairs, and must 'mitigate any loss' Let the tenants know that your insurance may well sue them for damages, so this may cost them even more. If they want to move, they will need a reference and if they willingly caused damage they may well find it harder to rent elsewhere. Carrot and Stick... I hope this helps
I know this is a tiny part of the bigger problem but are you saying they are Covid positive? They only need to isolate for 7 days, that does not take us to May. If they are isolating to avoid Covid, there are many ways in which works/inspections can be completed without chance of infection.
Problem 1. Happens all the time, blows me away how many tenants use AC's that are leaking and just have a bucket/towel collecting water, I think they just assume it will fix itself over time. Problem 2. Not sure about SA exactly, but sound like you have a 'property pole' (your responsibility)as apposed to one out in the street (network operator responsibility). The fact its been 5 years tells me its not exactly urgent. Its a bit of a specialized job, you need a borer lifter truck and a team of electricians to remove the pole and replace, random sparkies from the phone book won't help, look for Electrical/ Civil companies who do road works projects or independent contractors to the local network operators. Talk to them in regards to timeframe/cost/generators/traffic control.
Yep had one of my tenants recently let me know she thought the water feature was normal and didn't notify me for around 2 months, she was happy to just have a bowl there collecting the water
- Why wasn't the A/C fixed sooner, you should've expected someone out there within a couple of weeks. Is the tenant being difficult, or the Agent slow? - Why is the Agent putting off work orders till MAY? COVID isolation is 7 days, or maybe up to a couple of weeks while it works its way through the household. - Devils Advocate, the tenant reported this issue over a month ago now and no one has been to fix the problem. How would you feel living in a hotbox while you waited months for the agent to get around to sending someone? - Send the notice to leave, there's plenty of notice required specifically so people have time to organise a new home. You're not responsible for them taking their time getting around to moving when they feel like it, ESPECIALLY since they're not taking care of the house. I'm not sure on the notice required, @D.T. can step in and confirm. - Why won't the Landlords insurance cover any damage? (Are you just referring to the gradual mould damage mentioned earlier, or all damage?). - The Property Manager should be dealing with the maintenance on your behalf, but if they can't get their **** together on this item, I suppose you might just need to get stuck into it. I'm sure you'll be able to find someone to do it, even if you have to pay a bit more than you would in a less rural area? Great advice from @James90 on having to find a bigger mob to organise. - YOU, and the Property Manager, are responsible for attending to safety issues in a timely fashion. If you think the electricity pole is really that bad, it falls over and hurts someone, you're in big trouble when they find out you knew about the issue 5 years ago. - If it is genuinely impossible to find someone to replace the pole and it's at risk of imminent collapse, get a professional report stating that. Then you can move onto the process of terminating the tenancy on grounds that the property is unsafe/uninhabitable (not exactly sure on SA terminology). Again, if tenants challenge this and point out you were aware of the issue 5 years ago, you and the Agent better be ready to justify yourselves. For a variety of reasons I really think this option just isn't feasible- are you just going to leave the house empty forever because no one can replace a pole?
Aircon blowing water is usually a simple fix. The tube or pipe that normally drains the condensate is probably blocked. I don't understand how these simple issues become such momentous problems.
Why wasn't the A/C fixed sooner, you should've expected someone out there within a couple of weeks. Is the tenant being difficult, or the Agent slow? It's not the tenants. I just think there is a shortage of trades people in the region. We have not turned down anything the tenants wanted fixed and approve the work orders straight away but then they have an inspection and we get told all these things need fixing that we approved months ago! It must be frustrating for the tenants as well. If it is genuinely impossible to find someone to replace the pole and it's at risk of imminent collapse, get a professional report stating that. Then you can move onto the process of terminating the tenancy on grounds that the property is unsafe/uninhabitable (not exactly sure on SA terminology). Again, if tenants challenge this and point out you were aware of the issue 5 years ago, you and the Agent better be ready to justify yourselves. For a variety of reasons I really think this option just isn't feasible- are you just going to leave the house empty forever because no one can replace a pole? We have been told by the PM that we should evict anyway due to the fact they are not looking after the place. They have failed more than one inspection. We were aware of the pole back when they moved in but it didn't seem too bad and was supposed to be fixed straight away so didn't seem and issue. Being timber over the years we are assuming the timber will be deteriorating more and more and the fact we live 3 hours away we haven't seen it for a few years. SA Power networks looked at it for us a while ago and did not say it was dangerous but they won't help us of course because it is on our property. The trouble has been that we will talk to electricians and it will sound promising and they will come out to look and say they will get back to us with a quote but never do, we ask again, yes will do a quote then nothing. Then we ask the PM to try to get someone to fix it because we can't find anyone, so they will get onto other electricians and same thing happens. Then we try again ourselves and it sounds like it will happen and then never does. I have my fingers crossed this electrician we have contacted will be able to assist, he did sound helpful so just need to wait for him to come out of iso himself. I know this is a tiny part of the bigger problem but are you saying they are Covid positive? They only need to isolate for 7 days, that does not take us to May. If they are isolating to avoid Covid, there are many ways in which works/inspections can be completed without chance of infection. Yes I know, I am free from tomorrow after Covid. I spoke to the PM again today and she agreed to move the orders forward again. In the end we have decided to just not renew the lease, however the PM has told us that she thinks the tenants won't leave and we might have to go to the tribunal. We have given them 11 weeks notice.
Far out. So we had a very promising sounding electrician go and have a look at the pole. Yes no worries he can fix it, says he will send a quote. We have followed him up twice in the last month but still no quote. Tomorrow I am calling at least 5 electricians to see if I can get at least one yo give us a quote. It is doing my head in!
We get to a point sometimes where it's become so bloody difficult to get someone to attend to a particular job that we just call 5, 10, 20 of the trades and ask ALL OF THEM out to site. It's really a last ditch option because I hate to waste their time, but it always works .
