Tenant arranging repairs

Had a recent issue with one of my tenants, and wouldn't mind hearing different perspectives on how I handled it.

The issue is that tenants called out an electrician on a Sunday evening after a "bang" noise and smoke from the meter box and loss of power.

They called the PM who was at a theatre watching a movie and the PM called them back 2 hours later. By then, the tenant arranged for a random electrician to come out and restore the power. The electrican charged the tenant $780 for one hour's work replacing a fuse holder in the three phase circuit and minor repair of wiring behind the holder. Tenant pays the electrician and then sends the bill to the PM demanding immediate payment.

The PM then sends me the invoice asking me if it is ok to pay the tenants out of my account. So I asked the PM why should I have to pay the bill when we had every right to carry out the repairs within 24 hours, being an essential service or why when the tenant did not call the nominated out of hours electrician as provided in their lease agreement?

I then sent the invoice to the RE nominated electrician for their opinion on the cost. Without saying as much, the RE electrician inferred that the tenants were ripped off as it would have costed $150 to replace the fuse holder, sundries and one hour of work plus an additional $250 if they were called out of hours.

So we explained the requirements of WA tenancy laws and the lease agreement to the tenant. However, I offered to compensate the tenant half of their cost, ie $390. The tenant has objected and is threatening to take it to the magistrates court. So through the PM we told them to go ahead, but once we receive the court filing the $390 offer is rescinded and we'll go by the decision of the magistrate.

What do you think? Would you have handled this differently?

 

I think your position is pretty fair and sound overall. Perhaps one thing I would try now is to pick up the phone and speak to the tenant directly - who knows, it might diffuse the situation.

Remember, even when you're in the right, there can be ways to get a win-win rather than a win-lose outcome.

What if the issue is how the PM is communicating to the tenants?

 

I rarely do it, but in this instance I find myself siding with the tenant. So there is an electrical fault with smoke and loss of power on a Sunday evening. The tenant called the PM who could not be reached. How would they know that there was not about to be a fire in the electrical wiring? What would you have them do? Go to bed in the dark, hope no fire starts, get up in the morning to a fridge and freezer with soon to be spoiled food? Not eat breakfast and go to work?

If it were a burst water pipe inside, also an urgent repair, would you want them to call a plumber immediately or let water continue to flood the house while waiting for a returned call from the PM?

The only thing the tenants could be blamed for, is not calling the nominated electrician on their lease agreement. In the real world, who can find their lease agreement in the dark, and with smoke from an electrical fire in the air?

I think you'd lose this case in front of a magistrate. It's tax deductible, so you are not too much out of pocket. Just suck it up is my advice and explain to them the recommended list of tradies for the future.

 

Just couldn't help yourself?

 

I'm not familiar with WA specifically but out of interest the standard Residential Tenancy Agreement Form 1aa doesn't have a place to list nominated repairers, nor does it refer to nominated repairers in the standard terms. In QLD for example they are listed in the standard lease and the terms as the first point of contact for emergency repairs.

They may be put in special terms by the agent? Just want to make sure you aren't pursuing it on the basis of something that isn't enforceable.

If it had just been loss of power that is one thing but hard to blame them - whether or not their actions where technically correct in terms of the agreement - getting someone immediately if they have a smoking meter box!!

- Luke

 

How much would all of that add up to?

 

Thanks for the comments.

Legally I am on solid ground, so I don't believe the magistrate could find in favour in the tenant in this instance unless the magistrate chooses not to follow the law - unlikely. There are rights and obligations for both parties.

Under WA tenancy law I am under no obligation to compensate the tenants but I have chosen to pay what it would have cost me if they followed the lease agreement, or at least wait until the PM returned their text message rather than arranging repairs an hour after texting.

Propertunity, bare in mind that this was not a major fault - it was one hour labour to replace a fuse holder. I mean where do you draw a line, if a tenant believes a fault can have catastrophic circumstances does that entitle them to arrange emergency repairs without advice from the PM? And this tenant has a history of exaggerating faults and each time I have attended to them promptly.

 

In my humble opinion.....

At the end of the day I don't think they themselves expected it would cost that much. Unless you're a certified electrician I suppose one wouldn't really know how the situation could transpire.

As a landlord 100% I would be annoyed because you are completely unbeknownst to the situation and then you're suddenly smacked with a $800 bill. In say this though 'it's a risk being a Landlord'. I mean even if you pay half by the time you send your PM to represent you and so on you'll end up paying close to that anyway.

You'll have a tenant who feels nothing but contempt for you. You'll be ****** at your PM and will just overall have a bad taste in your mouth from the whole situation.

Do what you can to placate the situation and avoid court.

 

Sounds like you may have to back down.

Emergency plumbers & sparkies charge an arm and a leg after taking your first born.

The tenant would have been made aware of the charges at the time of the call however it doesn't register as "I have no power or lights" is more important than the cost.

Why do you still have fuses?

 

Are you sure? When you say "legally I am on solid ground" is that your belief or is that from official legal advice you have received? I assure you I'm not trying to be a smart alec and I'm trying to be helpful. I would almost guarantee every PM on here has had a case they thought would be a lay down misère and it hasn't worked out that way.

I believe previously you said you offered to pay half their costs, but then you say what it would have cost you. From the numbers you provided they are not the same amounts. Again, not trying to be difficult, but if this progresses you need to work out which it is and be consistent.

Probably not, but these things are never black and white. There are very general obligations under the act, for example that the tenant not cause or permit damage to the property, intentionally or by being negligent (s.38 (1)(c)). Again I'm not qualified to offer legal advice, but I imagine there is possibly something in that clause that a legal person may use as an argument in the tenants favour?

- Luke

 

Seems to me that the other electrician would have charged about $150 + $80-100 + $250 = $480 - $500

You would have paid around $500 with the authorised electrician yet you only offered the compensate the tenants for $390. Why? Why not the $500 you would have paid.

Personally I think you will loose up to the full amount plus some before a magistrate mainly due to it being dark and not able to find rental lease in the dark.

 

I dont like your chances to be honest, but please do report back as its always interesting to hear which way these things go.

 

Sorry to harp on about this but it is quite an interesting one! Easy enough after the fact to take a particular position based on the outcome, but what if the outcome was different? I'm not trying to be dramatic, but maybe just seeing it from a different perspective.

Let's say on the Monday morning you received a phone call saying the house had burned down. You (or the PM) ask the tenant what happened. They say "we heard a bang, the power went out, and there was smoke coming from the meter box. We tried ringing the PM but they didn't answer so we left a message. We know you have 24hours to action essential repairs so we went to bed."

What would your response be to that (honestly) if you didn't know how it actually turned out? Would you say "very good thank you for following the appropriate terms of the agreement" or would you say "why the hell didn't you ring someone to fix it immediately!?!?"

The answer to that question might help you work out how far you want to take this.

- Luke

 

I will try and placate the situation. I'm usually quite lenient with my tenants, in some cases even sending the handyman around to change light bulbs or set retic timers, but my attitude in this instance could be a bit clouded by this particular tenant's attitude. They have been a pita from the moment they signed the lease.

 

I'm scratching my head working out how you came to that figure. It was $150 if he attended the following morning or $400 if he came out that night. The PM's electricians are highly regarded and their quotes are based on the invoice.

 

Yes I am fairly sure I am on solid ground based on 20 years of IP experience, my reading of the tenancy act, the opinion of the PM's principal and discussions I have had with the govt Fair Trading agency who administer the tenancy act. Of course they could all be wrong.

 

I'd claim it on insurance, and I certainly would not expect the tenants to pay for the excess

 

Is the RE electrician estimating $150 including 1 hour of work plus the $250 out of hours charge? And do the prices include GST?

Have you had a chat to the electrician who did the work to find the reason for the cost?

 

Cl 22 &23 of the WA Residential Agreement covers the situation. In light of the circumstances and reasoning provided by those closer to WA, was the tenant acting in haste or were they mitigating any further risk?

In NSW, there's provision for the tenant to spend up to $1000 in at urgent repair whereas in WA there's a 24/48 hr notification period for urgent repairs.

 

This.
These are the first things I would have done prior to speaking with the tenant..