Hi All, Got a tenant in my granny on a 1 year lease. She's hinted that she is leaving soon, been here 4 months. Has ptsd and a whole host of psychological issues. - Failed to pay rent (1 week so far) - Claims rent is not due and will not be paid. - Denied my 3 monthly inspection with excuses that she has to be there when its done and that she won't be at the time I suggested (at the last minute). I had given her 7 days notice on email n text. I went in regardless and she was there, threw a tantrum and was very disruptive and making wild claims that I'm intimidating and invading her privacy bla bla rubbish. Obstructed and interfered with my brief inspection. -Claims I need her permission to enter and telling me to get out of my own property lol -Claims property is not safe and not tenable and theres issues from the beginning, I told her what are they and why didn't you bring it up early on. Why are you here if theres issues. - Deliberately left all lights on inside and outside and gone somewhere the last couple days. Electricity is metered and paid on top of rent, I doubt she will pay as shes leaving. Basically a problem person (even the neighbours dont like her) that I need to evict asap. I did tell her I will give her a termination notice. I'm waiting for the 14 day rent non payment to lapse, so I can issue her a notice to leave. What are my options, can I do it earlier? Also do I have to give her 14 day notice or can be less on these grounds? Can I cut off her power? During the beginning of the notice period do I apply to the NCAT Tribunal for an eviction order or hearing etc? What is the process please? Many thanks Ron
Sounds like you need a property manager Ron, current Covid regulations mean you likely won't be able to terminate without proven breach.. Cutting off the power (being an essential service) will have you in trouble. How did you find the tenant ? Or end up approving such a person in the first place ? Did you have an entry report from the tenant ? I don't really like my tenants either !
She's right, unless the appropriate notice has been given and only for defined reasons e.g. maintenance, routine inspection, suspicion of abandonment and others. You cannot simply enter whenever you like for any reason you choose, even with notice. For all intents and purposes, it's her house (figuratively speaking) during the tenancy, except for specific and limiting circumstances. No. Sounds like you have a whole host of problems here. Did you and the tenant both complete an ECR and keep signed copies for your records? Did you take a bond lodge it with the OFT? Have you been completing a PCR when doing routine inspections? Have you been keeping and providing her with a rental legder in accordance with the legislation? If the answer is no to these things and it ends up in the tribunal, they will hammer you for non-compliance. Tribunals tend to favour the tenant at the best of times anyway. It's a horrible situation to be in and I do empathise, however when this has happened to me I just get the updates from my property manager as to the steps they are taking in accordance with the legislation in that state to get the rent, protect the property and evict the tenant, and then I go about my day knowing I am also protected by good landlord insurance as a backup to my professional PM too. Too many people try to self manage to save a few bucks and it ends up costing a whole lot more when a tenant goes bad. As I've said a million times on these forums, no tenant is a problem tenant until they become a problem tenant....and when this happens it's time for all those PM fees to come back to value. I can't imagine being a granny flat in Sydney that the rent is much more than $350 a week? What's that...$25 a week (and tax deductible)? Worth every penny for a situation like this. Your issue now will be getting a PM to take over the problems for only $25 a week. The PM business model works essentially on the 80/20 rule. Dealing with problem tenants is a loss making exercise from a resourcing PoV but is made up for by the 80% of the time things are going well and is funded proactively or retrospectively from the agency PoV. My advice would be to search around for a good PM who is willing to guide you through this process (or to whom you can pay to deal with it properly) and then keep them engaged and never look back. If you're baulking at the cost of PMs fees, which is simply a cost of doing business and a form of insurance IMO, then you need to rethink your cash flow strategy. All the best! - Andrew
@Ron, it's time for a PM. Watch and learn rather than putting yourself at risk. Eviction Process [NSW] Centrelink Tenants [NSW] Tenant Checks/Blacklist [NSW]
Title should be changed to nightmare landlord. Get yourself a property manager before you get yourself in to trouble. I'm surprised you haven't been taken to NCAT let alone breached...
Hi Team, hope everyone is getting ready for weekend. Stay with me while I try to set the scene and provide background. I'll try to be brief. IP purchased in regional NSW in 2013, no big issues and fast forward to 2019 and massive rain in the area, as a result moisture/mould in property due to the location etc. After inspection and suggestions made by tradie, we put 2 sub floor fans with timer and also steam clean prop, put new window blinds and curtains. Pm explained new tenants about sub floor fans, imp of ventilation etc. No issues since then, inspection report every 3 months flying colours. Everone was happy (best tenants) Another new tenant were selected in Feb 2021 as previous tenants moved on due to jobs. No issues i initially, massive rain in March April in the area, tenants reported issues with front door and we replaced it. Tenants reported other few things and we actioned it straight away. April 2021 e.g shower head replacement etc. and Property inspection report was fine too. Winter started in May 2021 and didnt hear anything from tenants/PM. In Aug lease was gonna get renew so based on our discussion in July when PM spoke to tenants, they said before rent increase, mould issue needs to be fixed. We were shocked to see the email as this didn't come before all of the sudden at rent increase!!! Spoke to PM rep and she said main boss will advise on the next steps re get Steamatic to do work or get a new report etc. . Sametime, Covid19 lockdown started in South Coast and PM couldn't get in touch straight away and after few days we reached out to find next steps. She informes that tenants have bought prop and will be moving out and if we can give extension. A list of actions was prepared including aporoval to stay longer as per the settlement and main action item is:- "Need to also confirm with current Tenants if they have any Mould related urgent requests/ issues as full property access is required to conduct comprehensive inspection.” We received reply from PM that tenant confirmed that it is ok for us (landlord) to wait until they vacate to undertake investigations. Received email from PM 2 days ago and outgoing tenants reporting how Mould have stained wooden bed, their clothes, shirts, shoes, and health issues, respiratory problem for toddler and how they have run out of leave managing all this mould issue and $300 humdiyer etc We want everyone and their kids to stay healthy but the way they have sent email really shocked us. We as a landlord wants to protect our asset and also do the right thing. When they reported to fix the door, shower head , we fixed it straight away but NO ONE reported mould issue that they believe creating issues for their toddler and spoiling clothes??? I do know in winter, some people do not open windows and with heater inside n cold outside could be the contributing factor to this but no one said anything untill rent review!! Then when we asked them if any urgent mould related concerns/issues and they said it ok to wait and fix when they vacate. All experienced PMs here, please flag if as a landlord we haven't done any thing ? I prepaired long email and attached tenant requests and our approvals+ last 3 inspection reports to set the timeline and provide details to our PM as it is really upsetting seeing someone is trying to aim in a way to get compensastion - This is our interpreatation. Hope soneone can shed some light, if they have encountered this/similar issue before?
Yes @Scott No Mates , PM confirmed that those are running in every inspection and Tenants also confirmed. Subfloor fans ate actually a line item in the lease along with other one page document The tenant’s responsibility for mould explaining the steps to avoid getting mould....
Sounds like you have bigger issue's than just the tenant. What has changed to amplify the moisture issue, leaking water pipe, tree's/shading, blocked storm water pipe, failed guttering, cracked sewer line, major excavations at neighboring property ??? Had a property that every winter the back yard would get soggy/boggy and actually flood at times, we just figured it was the slope of the land and the house slab acting like a dam, last winter it got that bad I offered to clean out the elderly neighbors overflowing pergola gutters, when there I went to use the hose and could hear flowing water in the pipes, plumber found the leak in the back yard the next day, it'd been leaking for many years, her water bill had been steadily increasing for years and halved since the leak was fixed.
Hi @Stoffo, According to the tradesperson that cooridor is notorious for this kinda issue after heavy rains as water keep flowing underneath the prop due to slop. As per my discussion with Inspection guy, he suggested to put drainage/agpipe and connect it to storm water and also redo the ensuite due to waterptoof membrance thing(it doesnt give mould but needs to be fixed)- yet to get a written report. We will make sure for fix the identified problem but my concerns are the way outgoing tenants have mentioned the damage to their prop and they didn't even report it.
Mould is a PITA...... One day it doesn't exist, the next day you can find a few spots, on day 3-4 it can be covering everything ! Items affected if removed and cleaned at the first signs shouldn't be damaged, items left for a long time may not be recoverable (but this shouldn't be your fault or require compensation).
Having rented a place with mould, i know that it can sneak up on you. For example, clothes and leather shoes in wardrobes might seem OK, until you pull them out and they have mildew. It’s not always the tenants fault! Similarly the front side of furniture might seem OK - bot the bit against a wall might be mildewed.
Thank you @Stoffo , I am hoping the PM's here can throw some light and give their view based on the info I have shared!
You need to get a professional report (or two) which establishes the cause of the mould- is there an environmental cause or are the tenants failing to properly ventilate the house.
