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Is This Unreasonable?
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The_Morrigan wrote: »Just out of interest - how many people here got caught out during the "big freeze"? Renters and Homeowners alike were caught without heat, water, electricity etc I know I couldn't use my heating system cos the water wasn't getting into the apts.
Did all the renters threaten to leave and not pay rent then?
My family and I were one of those who were 'caught out' during the big freeze. We have our own well and pump, so we have a pump to get the water from the well to the house. However, during the freeze the water pipes froze (despite both being well under ground, as well as covered by us as an extra precaution). However, with temperatures as low as -14 at night (coldest place in the country - yey!! :rolleyes:) the 'extra' precautions didn't work and we were without running water for about 10 days.
Was it an inconvenience? Yes, of course it was. But because it's our own house we had no option of calling a landlord to complain that we had no water. We couldn't demand that they organise somebody to come out and look at it. And even if we did, a plumber couldn't have gotten out to us anyway as the roads were impassible!
So what did we do? Well, with the weather getting progressively colder we had stocked up on some water in buckets, etc. so we used that for cooking, drinking and washing up. And if we needed to heat it we either boiled it in a kettle or on the hob.
10 days waiting for heating to be fixed in the middle of summer, in my opinion, pales in comparison to the above. The tenant had an electric shower which she could use whenever she wanted, while boiling a kettle to do washing up is not really an inconvenience. I know a lot of people who do that out of habit rather than having to turn on an emersion just to wash up. The landlord was doing his best to have the heating fixed. It's not his fault that the part wasn't stocked in Ireland.0 -
Also just noticed in the OP that the bulb "burst". This happened to me in an apartment once. The bulb literally exploded when I turned it on, leaving the metal bayonett in the socket. Now if this is the same here, I totally understand the girl wanting him to deal with it. I did the same. It took a pliers to get the metal bit out. No way in hell was I going near a light socket with a pliers!
I think that's another thing that's quite unreasonable to expect from a landlord. I've rarely felt sorry for landlords but on this thread I really do. You are paying for a home not a 24 hour janitor service. Big jobs are the landlord's responsibility, day to day stuff is yours. I've had exactly that happen with bulbs and I've switched off the power to the house and used a pliers to remove the remainder of the bulb. Pliers (unless they're relics from 40 years ago) have non conducting handles as well so you are doubly protected from the electricity which has been switched off anyway. Electricity isn't some random force to be feared, it's simple physics, if you switch off the power to the house and use non-conducting tools it's completely safe.
It's another thing which is in your own best interests. Whenever I've had a shattered bulb stuck in a light fitting it's taken me no more than 5 minutes to have everything back to normal. How long did it take to get someone else to do it? Wouldn't it have been better if it was fixed in a few minutes than having to wait and then have a stranger come into your home?0 -
I think that's another thing that's quite unreasonable to expect from a landlord. I've rarely felt sorry for landlords but on this thread I really do. You are paying for a home not a 24 hour janitor service. Big jobs are the landlord's responsibility, day to day stuff is yours. I've had exactly that happen with bulbs and I've switched off the power to the house and used a pliers to remove the remainder of the bulb. Pliers (unless they're relics from 40 years ago) have non conducting handles as well so you are doubly protected from the electricity which has been switched off anyway. Electricity isn't some random force to be feared, it's simple physics, if you switch off the power to the house and use non-conducting tools it's completely safe.
It's another thing which is in your own best interests. Whenever I've had a shattered bulb stuck in a light fitting it's taken me no more than 5 minutes to have everything back to normal. How long did it take to get someone else to do it? Wouldn't it have been better if it was fixed in a few minutes than having to wait and then have a stranger come into your home?
Well, I've never had a bulb explode on me before that and it's not happened since. I rang him the following morning, said I was afraid (i'd a nasty electric shock as a kid and I'm scared ****less of all things electric) so i wouldn't touch it. He fixed it while I was at work.
I've no fear of most things and I'll fix nearly anything myself but for me, metal and electricity are a no go area. You can tell me till you're blue in the face that it's safe but I still don't trust it. I change light bulbs and fuses and I can change a plug but thats about my limit.
Thing is, you're saying you feel sorry for my landlord. Why? He's not getting a raw deal.
I'm looked after his property meticulously for him, paying a large chunk of money into his account every month? He's happy enough to deal with my phobia of electrics in return.
I have high standards but it works both ways. I expect a lot but I give a lot in return.
He's a good landlord but only because I'm a good tenant.
On the note of the well freezing and what y'all did, you'll have a house that you own in 20/30 years. Thats why you deal with that.
I won't. Therefore my perk is not having to deal with repairs.0 -
Having had a very quick glance over this thread again, I really feel tenants expect far too much from landlords. It's as if they expect them to be at their beck and call 24/7 for the slightest thing that goes wrong.
I lived in a place for five years, and the only time we contacted the landlord was 1) when the fridge broke 2) when the washing machine broke (both were replaced within 48 hours of the phone call) 3) when Bord Gais wanted to move the meter and dig up the garden to do so 4) when the eircom wanted to trip a tree that was near the phone lines, and 5) to ask if we could change the locks when an unpleasant tenant refused to return keys when they moved out (after getting the landlord's permission we actually did it ourselves that night because we weren't comfortable with somebody who moved out having access to the house).
We changed all the bulbs, even in the outside light which was very difficult to reach and then open. We knew how to flip the trip switch if we wanted to remove burst bulbs from socket. If the sink got blocked, we used a plunger to unblock it, and, when that failed, we opened the pipe on the outside wall and unblocked it there. We repaired the lawnmower when the wheel fell out. We bought a new washing line when the one in the garden snapped. We tidied the garage so we could fit more stuff in there. I wouldn't have dreamt of asking the landlord to do any of the above. Moreover, it would have been a lot more inconvenient for me if they did it - I'd have had to arrange a time, been there while they were there, etc. 5 - 10 minutes and I had any of the above done. No real hassle and not much inconvenience.
I think when people were more affluent they became much more demanding and much less capable of actually doing things for themselves. There was an attitude that everything was disposable, and if something broke they didn't try to repair it themselves; they either got somebody to do it for them or they just simply replaced it. It's as if people were unwilling to take responsibility for anything and the responsibility was passed on to somebody else.
My housemates were the prime example. One or two of the hooks which held up the curtains broke. Instead of getting an extra hook or two from the box of them under the stairs, they demanded that the landlord buy them a new set of curtains. The other, after setting off the smoke alarm cooking, knocked it off the ceiling in a bid to get it to stop beeping, told the landlord that it wasn't working properly and that they should buy a new one. I tested it, and then stuck it back, and it worked fine. And these housemates were 22 and 31 respectively. It's not as if they were youngsters who'd moved out of home for the first time.
It must be remembered that not every landlord is out to screw over their tenants. Yes, of course there are bad landlords out there, but unfortunately it is these who have gotten all landlords a bad name. There are also good tenants out there, who can actually do things for themselves and don't complain to their landlords about every little thing or expect them to do even the most basic things in the house/apartment they're renting, and there are those who don't seem to realise that they are now adults, no longer living at home, but yet refuse to grow up and take some responsibility for the house in which they're living. There is a happy medium between a responsible tenant who knows the difference between repairing something minor and knowing when to call in the landlord: it's finding the balance that people seem to have problems with.0 -
On the note of the well freezing and what y'all did, you'll have a house that you own in 20/30 years. Thats why you deal with that.
I won't. Therefore my perk is not having to deal with repairs.
Actually, no, I won't. It's my parents' house, not mine. I'm renting, but got snowed in at home for a month and had no option but to put up with it. I couldn't exactly have blamed my parents for the weather or demanded that they fix the pipes there and then. Or even make the weather improve.
Had it happened in the house in which I was renting at the time, I'd probably have done the same. The landlord can't control the weather, therefore if the pipes froze in the house they couldn't have done anything about it. Likewise if the heating or ESB went. I'm not going to hold my landlord responsible for the weather.
However, I have also had the heating system break in the house in which I was renting. I contacted the landlord and they had somebody come out and look at it the next day. It turned out that a new boiler needed to be installed, and the landlord arranged for that to be done. It was finished three days later. Was it an inconvenience? Yes, of course. It was the middle of December and the house was cold. However, extra clothes, and fingerless gloves proved invaluable, as did the huge amoung of candles we lit in the living room (they actually helped heat the room, believe it or not!). Was I going to blame the landlord? No. They had somebody come out and look at the boiler within 24 hours of my phone call, and they went about having the boiler replaced ASAP. They couldn't have done any more. However, if they had not arranged for it to be examined or replaced, then I would have had a genuine cause for grievance. But they did, so I was happy. Simple.0 -
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She probably would have put up with the delay getting the heating fixed but for the fact of the missing lock and her discomfort with same followed by his "meh" attitude.
"araagh, you'll be grand, sure so what if someone walks in while you're having a shower, what harm".
He didn't say any such thing and he didn't imply it either.Again, the real issue appeared to arise with regard to his cavalier attitude about the lock. The straw that broke the camels back if you will.
Also just noticed in the OP that the bulb "burst". This happened to me in an apartment once. The bulb literally exploded when I turned it on, leaving the metal bayonett in the socket. Now if this is the same here, I totally understand the girl wanting him to deal with it. I did the same. It took a pliers to get the metal bit out. No way in hell was I going near a light socket with a pliers!
Once again you need to understand the difference between a LL and a 24hr on-call building superintendant (or janitor). The LL is not responsible for changing your light bulbs even when the pointy bits might hurt your pinkies. Consult the yellow pages and let your fingers do the walkin...0 -
We changed all the bulbs, even in the outside light which was very difficult to reach and then open. We knew how to flip the trip switch if we wanted to remove burst bulbs from socket. If the sink got blocked, we used a plunger to unblock it, and, when that failed, we opened the pipe on the outside wall and unblocked it there. We repaired the lawnmower when the wheel fell out. We bought a new washing line when the one in the garden snapped. We tidied the garage so we could fit more stuff in there. I wouldn't have dreamt of asking the landlord to do any of the above. Moreover, it would have been a lot more inconvenient for me if they did it - I'd have had to arrange a time, been there while they were there, etc. 5 - 10 minutes and I had any of the above done. No real hassle and not much inconvenience.
I do all those things too. Fixed toilets, unblocked drains, changed bulbs, assembled furniture etc etc....I don't do the garden but thats the landlords choice because he doesn't provide a shed or lawnmower.
I'm not over the top about requests. If there's a metal object stuck in an electrical fitting I won't touch it. Thats my only neurosis. And he might have complained the ONE time it happened (I've been renting in various spots for 10 years and it was one time) but overall he'd rather have me and my fear of electricity than not have me.
I'd never expect anyone to be available 24/7. But if something drastic happens then I would call in the evening or weekend. Short of the house bursting into flames or a leak I wouldn't call anyone late at night.
I think when rents went sky high through the roof and landlords were demanding extortionate amounts because they could, then people got more demanding. I'd quite happily move into a place and take full responsibility for maintenance issues if the rent was right.I think when people were more affluent they became much more demanding and much less capable of actually doing things for themselves.It's as if people were unwilling to take responsibility for anything and the responsibility was passed on to somebody else.
Er, thats how the dynamic works...landlord takes rent in return for accomodation. Accomodation doesn't include fixing heating systems etc. The responsibility IS on the landlord.My housemates were the prime example. One or two of the hooks which held up the curtains broke. Instead of getting an extra hook or two from the box of them under the stairs, they demanded that the landlord buy them a new set of curtains. The other, after setting off the smoke alarm cooking, knocked it off the ceiling in a bid to get it to stop beeping, told the landlord that it wasn't working properly and that they should buy a new one. I tested it, and then stuck it back, and it worked fine. And these housemates were 22 and 31 respectively. It's not as if they were youngsters who'd moved out of home for the first time.
Thats not what the OP was talking about. She wasn't looking for curtain hooks. She was looking for her heating, electricity and privacy.
Which she is PAYING for.......
It's not like landlords let tenants live their out of the goodness of their hearts.It must be remembered that not every landlord is out to screw over their tenants. Yes, of course there are bad landlords out there, but unfortunately it is these who have gotten all landlords a bad name. There are also good tenants out there, who can actually do things for themselves and don't complain to their landlords about every little thing or expect them to do even the most basic things in the house/apartment they're renting, and there are those who don't seem to realise that they are now adults, no longer living at home, but yet refuse to grow up and take some responsibility for the house in which they're living. There is a happy medium between a responsible tenant who knows the difference between repairing something minor and knowing when to call in the landlord: it's finding the balance that people seem to have problems with.
Everyone draws that line in a different spot though. I have a fear of electrics but that doesn't mean I amn't a grown up who hasn't taken responsibility for herself.0 -
No but he did tell her he wasn't about to do anything about it for 2 weeks.Osgoodisgood wrote: »He didn't say any such thing and he didn't imply it either.Once again you need to understand the difference between a LL and a 24hr on-call building superintendant (or janitor). The LL is not responsible for changing your light bulbs even when the pointy bits might hurt your pinkies. Consult the yellow pages and let your fingers do the walkin...
Patronising much :rolleyes:
I change my own lighbulbs. I just don't dig charred metal out of electrical sockets. If he doesn't want my money every month, I'll go elsewhere. Lots of vacant houses where the landlord would be quite happy to take a person who pays the rent on time every month, has references, non smoker, no pets, rarely bothers the landlord and looks after the property and will sign a long lease........ Funnily enough, he had no problem coming over. Seeing as it was the first time in a year I had bothered him.0 -
You seem to have missed my above point(s) completely - just so as you know, none of them were directed towards you personally as a tenant. They stem from my experiences as a tenant when sharing with other people. Oh, and the statement re. the curtains and smoke was just to highlight the unreasonable demands that some tenants make.
Oh, and the tenant wasn't without electricity, just a main light in one room - according to the OP there were side lights which were still working.0 -
I'm also with the landlord on this. I can't believe what I'm reading here, people thinking it's OK to ring landlords because of a burst bulb or a trip switch or complaining because they have to boil a kettle to wash up for a few days. Sure, yes, one of the perks of renting is that you don't have to sort everything out yourself, but as another poster has said, landlords are not your personal janitor service! I had to contact my landlord twice this year, to fix the timer on the heater (after going online and downloading instructions and making sure I wasn't doing something wrong) and to replace the fridge because it was worn out and needed to be defrosted once a week. Both times I was told it would unfortunately be a few weeks because he was on holidays (he had a second home in Spain). I turned on the heater 20 mins before my showers and defrosted the fridge when it got really bad. Really not much hassle at all. I didn't even consider ringing him for anything else. The toilet got blocked several times, the kitchen sink got clogged once, a couple of lightbulbs burst, I just sorted it out. I do agree with OP, that a lot of people don't seem capable of living alone. Landlords should NOT be responsible for every last little thing and refund rent for the most minor inconveniences. Calling a landlord should be a last resort, when something big needs sorting out. I don't know where people get the idea that paying rent entitles them never to have to fix anything.
Now, I do understand people not wanting to be blamed for wasting money by calling out repair men and that landlords often insist on evaluating the problem themselves (to cut down on people like OP's tenant ringing tradesmen to flick a switch) but a lot of it is just common sense. I do think it's a bit like crying wolf - if you ring over every lightbulb, the landlord is not going to take you as seriously when something actually does happen. The only thing I'd agree with is the bathroom door lock issue, as that's a safety concern (albeit a small one, as it's unlikely anyone will be in the house anyway). A 25 year old woman should not be incapable of flicking a trip switch.0 -
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You seem to have missed my above point(s) completely - just so as you know, none of them were directed towards you personally as a tenant. They stem from my experiences as a tenant when sharing with other people. Oh, and the statement re. the curtains and smoke was just to highlight the unreasonable demands that some tenants make.
Oh, and the tenant wasn't without electricity, just a main light in one room - according to the OP there were side lights which were still working.
You're missing mine. OPs tenant wasn't out of line re: the heating or the lock on the bathroom.
She may have been over reacting about the lights but sounds like she was more clueless that over the top, even judging by what the electrician said.
But if his attitude that complaining about lack of heating and privacy is "moaning" and that it's reasonable to expect someone to wait 2 weeks for a lock on a shared bathroom just because he doesn't feel it's a priority, then he's the one who has high expectations of his tenants.
One thing about being a tenant is you can't change anything in the property, no painting, no hooks in walls and no new locks on doors.
Had she toddled off to the DIY shop and put a new lock on the door and deducted it from the rent, he'd have given out i'd imagine.0 -
No central heating. An immersion heater; night storage heaters we never used because of the cost.
The LL arrived to tell me to put the storage heaters on; I said no as we could not afford to run them. He brought in a superser.
We needed coal and gas desperately; he refused to help and so did others; so fiinally we drove icily down ourselves to fetch supplies and had to be pushed the last mile.
This was really an emergency situation.
this is the kind of rediculous expectations tennants have that drives me round the bend.
You had heating via storage heaters but you chose not to use them. So you had heating but you wanted to be cheap. Why do you think thats the landlords reposonsibility to help you get coal or gas as an alterantive heating source ?
The mind boggles. Thats just rediculous expectations to have of a landlord. Fair enough if you had no heating but thats not the case. :rolleyes:
Having no heat because your cheap is not an emergency.0 -
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The_Morrigan wrote: »Oh that made me laugh out loud in the middle of the office - I'm getting some funny looks now!!
Thats the friday feeling.
Im so excited and I just cant hide it. Im about to lose control and i think i like it.:D 0 -
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The_Morrigan wrote: »something like that - and I'm overtired I've been in the office since 8am and I really really wanna go home!!
I'm leaving the office in a few minutes. Just as soon as my tenants plump up the cushions in the chair they carry me home in. Aha, they're nearly ready, I can hear them practising their "Here comes the King" chant.0 -
[QUOTE=ash23;67936563Also just noticed in the OP that the bulb "burst". This happened to me in an apartment once. The bulb literally exploded when I turned it on, leaving the metal bayonett in the socket. Now if this is the same here, I totally understand the girl wanting him to deal with it. I did the same. It took a pliers to get the metal bit out. No way in hell was I going near a light socket with a pliers![/QUOTE]
asha little tip here when you are only left with the stump of the bulbyou switch the power in the fuse box get a good strong carrot break carrot in two shove it up into broken stump, while holding the bulb holderand press up and twist anticlockwisethe stump will come out with you takes half a minuit to doput in new bulband hey prest ocosts nothing but a minuit of your time.0 -
this is the kind of rediculous expectations tennants have that drives me round the bend.
You had heating via storage heaters but you chose not to use them. So you had heating but you wanted to be cheap. Why do you think thats the landlords reposonsibility to help you get coal or gas as an alterantive heating source ?
The mind boggles. Thats just rediculous expectations to have of a landlord. Fair enough if you had no heating but thats not the case. :rolleyes:
Having no heat because your cheap is not an emergency.
Why twist things like this? When the only income is a small pension? You cannot run up bills you know you cannot pay - period. It is not a question of being??cheap??
Who is going to pay the ESB bill when it goes sky high? storage heaters are the most ineffective and costly heating there is.
And in three feet of snow?
We were all urged to be good neighbours in that harsh winter.
We who have so little to live on pay as we go.
The LL came to the door asking if he could get me anything... Yes I said, coal and gas... I had plenty of food etc.
But with a gas cooker?
You need to face some realities in life. You really do.0 -
The_Morrigan wrote: »Oh that made me laugh out loud in the middle of the office - I'm getting some funny looks now!!
Do you know how many old and disabled died of cold in the winter, too afraid to turn heating on because they knew they would not be able to pay the bill?
And you laugh?
Says it all of landlords doesn't it? To be a good landlord you also need to be a decent human being.
Over and out. Have a good weekend0 -
Do you know how many old and disabled died of cold in the winter, too afraid to turn heating on because they knew they would not be able to pay the bill?
And you laugh?
Says it all of landlords doesn't it? To be a good landlord you also need to be a decent human being.
Over and out. Have a good weekend
Yes that's a sad position to be in but how is that in anyway the LL fault? Unless your lease says heat and power is part of your rent it is down to you to pay your ESB/GAS bill not the LL. If your living somewhere where the heating costs are too high due to the type of heating then move. If your losing heat due to bad insulation then yes get a BER report and yell at the LL but if you can't afford to buy fuel/pay heating bills you get on to social welfare and yell at them not the LL. I'm sure everyone wants to be decent "human being" but you have to draw the line somewhere. It's not the LL job to look after tenants beyond what is in the lease.0 -
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Added a few more to ignore....0
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Do you know how many old and disabled died of cold in the winter, too afraid to turn heating on because they knew they would not be able to pay the bill?
And you laugh?
Says it all of landlords doesn't it? To be a good landlord you also need to be a decent human being.
Over and out. Have a good weekend
Yes Graces7 I laughed, because quite frankly the way that it was phrased was funny, and if you can't laugh at life right now you may as well give up.
Take offence if you wish, I know I'm a decent person - and what has being a landlord got to do with it? I'm not a landlord!!0 -
...If your living somewhere where the heating costs are too high due to the type of heating then move....
...i'm sure everyone wants to be decent "human being" but you have to draw the line somewhere. It's not the LL job to look after tenants beyond what is in the lease....
i'd have a lot of sympathy with that view - if the property isn't suitable for you (and i'd suggest any property with electric storage heaters isn't suitable for anyone who doesn't enjoy being cold while burning €50 notes with matches) - but you take it anyway then you're an idiot, and the consequences of being an idiot lie with the idiot.
the landlord is running a business, not a social welfare organisation. you should get what you pay for, but not what you don't pay for...0 -
asha little tip here when you are only left with the stump of the bulbyou switch the power in the fuse box get a good strong carrot break carrot in two shove it up into broken stump, while holding the bulb holderand press up and twist anticlockwisethe stump will come out with you takes half a minuit to doput in new bulband hey prest ocosts nothing but a minuit of your time.
It didn't explode. The glass remained intact. It really was very undramatic. It simply ceased to work. When replaced by a new bulb, the circuit breaker required to be turned upwards to match the other 6 in the fuse box in order for it to work once more.0 -
Having had a very quick glance over this thread again, I really feel tenants expect far too much from landlords. It's as if they expect them to be at their beck and call 24/7 for the slightest thing that goes wrong.
Well, if this flat was rented out for megabucks as a corporate let, perhaps they would get virtually a free concierge service included, but not a rented room in a flat at a very reasonable rate for the area. Landlords do have responsibilities, but they are not required by law to provide a 24 hour instant response service to all of their tenant's basic needs. The central heating was being fixes as quickly as obtaining the part would be allowed (its an Italian boiler since this country doesn't seem to manufacture ones central heating installation engineers want to use). There was no electrical fault, an alternative shower was provided as well as heat, although the tenant did not complain of being cold. All other facilties continued to work, the apartment was wind and watertight, in law the tenant was not entitled to breach the lease and move out on a whim.
As I say, it is not an executive let at a high rental, it is set at a very ordinary price and this does not entitled the tenant to a luxury concierge service. The broken lock (broken by the tenants) was not an immediate concern as the tenant was never actually anything other than alone in the flat at the time she complained about it. And yes, landlords are entitled to holidays too, and non-essential items can wait without being repaired immediately.
I'm sure future such problems could be avoided if I offered a "5 star service" for a premium rent, whereby I guaranteed to fix all problems within say 3 days or a graduated percentage return of rent, and a "2 star service" where I simply guaranteed to fix all problems within a "reasonable time". The 5 star service would cost 20% on top of the rental, the 2 star service nothing. Think it'll catch on?0 -
If he wants "good" tenants then he needs to provide them with a decent place that they will WANT to live in.
It's a renters market at the mo and a tenant can easily think "screw this" and move out.
When you have someone who pays the rent on time, cares about how the property is maintained etc, then you as a landlord should try to keep them happy. Acting disinterested in their issues isn't on imo. She's paying you to provide her with a service.
Also, the reason you're having problems with the lovely apartment and not the student hovels should speak for itself.
The assumptions people make astound me. Actually the "student hovels" aren't in Ireland and are at the luxury end of the market and let to lets just say rather aristocratic tenants. They also have HMO licenses and meet every standard in the book, way over and above anything in Ireland. And I have to say, despite the wealth of the families these students come from, they are invariably polite, well mannered and considerate to deal with. They are also more independent, able to do basic things for themselves, such as change lightbulbs and don't seem to be spoilt brats who demand and expect to be served as if by a servant. Ironic really. You would think that they would be the most demanding of all but they very rarely cause me any problems, and over the years I have had various members of the same families.
"Student hovels" - oh dear.
As regards the smaller apartment, it was my home not that long ago and really is done to a high standard. And I have and will evict any tenant who is rude to me and complains excessively. That is not a good tenant. It runs at a loss anyway and if it makes a bigger loss, its all the more for me to offset against tax, and quite frankly that tenant was going to cost me more each month in various joiners, plumbers and electricians that she demanded unnecessarily each month than she was paying in rent!
However I've had no problem filling the room, with a tenant from overseas this time.0 -
I own and manage 3 properties, 2 are let to students and beyond general untidyness, are easily enough managed. The other is smaller but causes far more difficulty. Its strange. Its a lovely 2 bedroom flat, in one of the best close to the city centre locations. I set the rent cheap for the area - the reason being that tenants never seem to stay very long there.
Latest one was typical - twenty something female, 6 months lease. Everything fine for the first two months, then the moaning starts.
Now you have been very unlucky here. Everyone finds your appartment difficult. They don't stay long. It is typical for them to complain after 2 months. That really is bad luck........ Unless you have considered the alternative. Maybe all your tenants are right and you are wrong?
By the way a blown lightbulb should not set off the trip switch. That is not a sign of a well wired flat. It is a sign there may be a potential problem with the electrics. Also if it was so simple, and you could give her instructions over the phone, why did you call out the electrician. Would it not have been easier to go yourself, reset the switch, show her how to do it and chat with her about her other complaints. A face to face chat may well have sorted your problems for you.
In relation to the evening phonecalls, did you give her a time to call you that would be convienient to both of you?0 -
As a result of all of this, I am considering introducing monthly checks on all my properties.
Good luck getting a decent tenant with that regime.
No tenant will tolerate a monthly check, your apartment but their home!The fuse was flipped up for her in the fuse box by the plumber (whose opinions of her capability I will not repeat), which quite frankly,
Did the plumber even want the job, if he wants to bad mouth the tenant maybe he doesn't want call out jobs.
Is he one of these tradesmen who is so overloaded with work he prices jobs high. I thought times were hard for tradesmen.
Find somebody else who is actually interested in what they do and not thinking jobs are too simple and stupid.
I bet you didn't get a discount hereThen she complains that the alternative bathroom with the electric shower she is using isn't suitable because the lock is broken on the door. First I've heard of it, and since the other tenant is away on holiday, I tell her I don't propose to do anything about it until I can get up there to inspect the flat in a couple of weeks time.
You need to be specific with your tenant.
If you say to someone "a couple of weeks" they won't believe you'll do anything.
Say you'll be back from holidays on x date and then you will check it.0 -
feelingstressed wrote: »Good luck getting a decent tenant with that regime.
No tenant will tolerate a monthly check, your apartment but their home!
Did the plumber even want the job, if he wants to bad mouth the tenant maybe he doesn't want call out jobs.
Is he one of these tradesmen who is so overloaded with work he prices jobs high. I thought times were hard for tradesmen.
Find somebody else who is actually interested in what they do and not thinking jobs are too simple and stupid.
I bet you didn't get a discount here
You need to be specific with your tenant.
If you say to someone "a couple of weeks" they won't believe you'll do anything.
Say you'll be back from holidays on x date and then you will check it.
Thanks for the lesson. I did give the tenant a specific date for the heating to be fixed. The date was given by the plumber 10 days in advance because the part had to be ordered and that was the date he was confident in having it in for. There were no supplies of that part in Britain. Personally, if it were my own house, in August, 10 days would not have led me to having a hissy fit and moving out. It might in actual fact have been possible to bring the date forward but a "safe" date was given to the tenant so that she would not think the repair was being left open ended.
I actually paid for the plumber to go round the previous week as she said there was something wrong with it then. There wasn't. She simply didn't know how to switch on the central heating. Despite being shown, by me, in person. Despite being left the manual to follow. Despite being given instructions over the phone. The plumber also flipped up the fuse for her so at the time she moved out there was no interrupted lighting. This she later referred to as an "electrical fault". When the plumber went round again, the overflow valve had been activated and was overflowing down the pipe outside (not faulty) and a sensor had failed. The sensor is the part that had to be ordered. She was given a date 10 days hence from this for the repair and lasted a further 4 days.
It was following this series of events, during which time she was phoning me every second night to complain of the central heating working, then not working, etc that she complained about the lock on the bathroom door. At this point I began to feel she was out of control and acting slightly irrationally. I adopted a tactic of wait and see and delay as I was now unsure whether the complaint was a genuine one or not. As it turned out, she moved out 4 days later to move in with a friend, a move I suspect she had planned all along. I am unsure whether the constant phone calls on her part were a deliberate attempt to make it seem as though I were the one in the wrong.
Can I say once again that there is no problem with the electrics. They are PAT tested every year. The circuit breaker is meant to be activated in these circumstances. Do you all have ancient wiring systems or something? If tenants do not hoover regularly, dust builds up which tends to cause light bulbs to fail.0 -
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Now you have been very unlucky here. Everyone finds your appartment difficult. They don't stay long. It is typical for them to complain after 2 months. That really is bad luck........ Unless you have considered the alternative. Maybe all your tenants are right and you are wrong?
No, I have had some decent tenants. By some strange coincidence, they have all been male. But it is my growing suspicion that this flat, being rather attractive and in an expensive area, attracts a certain breed of tenants which aspires to a certain kind of lifestyle and does not respect leases, and when a space comes up in a friend's flat, they want to move out on a whim without respecting the terms of the lease.
No decent tenant would carry on like she did in the circumstances outlined, and that type of tenant is the reason tenants get asked for more than one month's rent as deposit up front.
Its worth bearing in mind that this tenant does not have a previous landlord's reference to pass on and any future one will be given by the friend from whom she is now renting casually. She let me down continually over her past reference when she moved in until the day of her moving came up, and I let her move in without it, rather than see her on someone's floor. My fault. Always, always insist on independent references and phone the provider to check them.0
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