Cornice has come away from ceiling

I am LL of the property. I feel that tenant should pay for it to be repaired.

whose responsiblity is it? Mine or theirs? Have told MA (managing agent) to get it repaired but said the tenant should have to pay for it. Was i wrong in saying this?

To my way of thinking if the tenant was leaving they would have to pay for any damages, so why should they not have to pay whilst they are tenants. they've also put hole in kitchen wall. I think they should have to pay for that to be repaired too. Am I wrong?

In last 6 weeks have had to replace oven that was less than 3yrs old because dorr was broken & not fixable, get air con fixed, and have HW heater repaired. MA reckons they're good tenants because they pay rent on time. I think otherwise.

Just recently instructed MA to notify tenants that rent will be increased & MA told me I shouldn't because they've had to put up with so much re: broken/not working appliances.

Starting to think that MA is NOT looking after my interests. Should I be thinking about getting another MA?

Kerry said:

I am LL of the property. I feel that tenant should pay for it to be repaired.

whose responsiblity is it? Mine or theirs? Have told MA (managing agent) to get it repaired but said the tenant should have to pay for it. Was i wrong in saying this?

To my way of thinking if the tenant was leaving they would have to pay for any damages, so why should they not have to pay whilst they are tenants. they've also put hole in kitchen wall. I think they should have to pay for that to be repaired too. Am I wrong?

In last 6 weeks have had to replace oven that was less than 3yrs old because dorr was broken & not fixable, get air con fixed, and have HW heater repaired. MA reckons they're good tenants because they pay rent on time. I think otherwise.

Just recently instructed MA to notify tenants that rent will be increased & MA told me I shouldn't because they've had to put up with so much re: broken/not working appliances.

Starting to think that MA is NOT looking after my interests. Should I be thinking about getting another MA?

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Did they damage the cornice? If it's an old terrace you'd expect the cornice to start coming off due to age. That is your responsibility courtesy of the residential tenancies act. As for the hole in the kitchen wall - if that was caused by them then that is something they have to pay for. But good luck in getting them to pay while they have a lease in place....

Thanks Aaron C. Appreciate you taking time to respond

The house is about 35 yrs old ..... yes, I believe that they caused the damage. None of the other cornices have fallen off. I have owned property since 1998. Was tenanted for 4 years until I had to live there because of divorce. Lived there for 7yrs myself. Has been tenanted since Sept 2009. Have had no end of problems with tenants. 1st 2 had to given notice for non-payment of rent. Luckily they left easily & i did get rent that was in arrears BUT it was hassle.
These tenants have been in the place for over 12mths, on periodic lease since June. Then in July I get all those requests for maintenance re: broken/working appliances.

Have asked agent 3 times if I could be there when they did an inspection but agent has gone ahead it without notifying me. "its not their ploicy to have LL present whe they do inspections" Like WTF ..... its MY property and I have every right to inspect it. Agent keeps annoying me with their "policies" which contradict what I believe are my legal rights as a LL.
Hence why I've aske here, to get some idea what is right!

How does a tenant damage a cornice? As for air con, heater etc, how does a tenant break/contribute to their faults?

If they have put a hole in the wall, then they should fix. if they refuse, you should get your MA to arrange a suitable traddie to fix and charge the tenant.

And yes, you can go along to the inspection.

Yes, you should be able to go along to an inspection. You mentioned that the house was 35 years old, it sounds as though (very unfortunately) all of these things decided to go at the same time. It does happen as these things all have a life span (especially the HWS).

The hole in the wall, have your PM breach the tenants and give them 14 days to repair (or your state equivilant) if the tenants don't repair it then as someone else said have your PM arrange trades and then invoice the tenant because if they put a hole in the wall then they have to repair it.

As for the cornice, I see this happen a lot. Sometimes only one section will start to pull away and it is not due to anything a tenant has done. Recently we had a property which the tenant had vacated early, did the final inspection with the owner and all was fine. less than a week later I was back there with the landlord looking at a few things they wanted to do before the new tenant took possession and a part of the cornice had started to pull away. I would recommend checking your gutters too - sometimes this is a result of dampness because the gutters are overly full and causing water to pool in that general area.

In short I'm afraid from the information you've given that you can charge the tenants for the hole in the wall but not the cornice. It really is a terrible co-incidence that all these things have given up at the same time but hopefully this will be the end to it!

In regards to the rent increase, are similar properties in the area leasing at a slightly higher rate? if so then increase it and put them on another lease to keep them there with the rent increase. If they pay their rent on time now then they should continue to pay their rent on time when it is $10 per week more . Your PM has said not to due to appliances not working - how long did it take to get these things repaired? If it was all done in a timely fashion then I can't see how this should impact on increasing the rent.

The only way I could think of that a tenant caused cornices to come away is if they had hooks in the cornices and something heavy hanging off them, which I have seen done but would be really bizarre. I did it in the last house as the cornices were wooden and the walls were solid plaster so I had some dangly ornaments on them for the kids.

Cornices just fall off on their own, its actually one of the things in the housing improvement act in SA, you can have your rent reduced for gaps around the cornices. Go figure.

For a start, it is hard to see how you can blame a tenant for damage to a cornice. A more likely explanation is that slight movement in the building has brought that section loose.

You employ a PM to look after your interests, not to pursue their own adenda. If your PM "won't allow" you to inspect your own property then this is outrageous and a change in PM is called for.
Marg

Our house is less than 30 years old - and the cornice in the bathroom just decided to fall off Wish I'd read Sez's post when I saw the gap appear in one corner and I was thinking - "strange, there's gap there". A month later - crasho!



Can't see how you'd pin it on the tenants.


The Y-man

I think you should manage it yourself.

Last time I checked, an agent works for the owner and should not be dictating to a client if they can inspect their own property or not!! I'd be seriously considering what they may be hiding and change agents asap...

An owner of a property which I recently took over, said that they had changed because the agent had refused to allow the owner to have a set of keys - to their own property?!

The house was extensivley renovated in 2009, just before we put it up for rent. Everything was sound then. New kitchen, bathroom, hot water & air con. Painted fully inside & out.

"Your PM has said not to due to appliances not working - how long did it take to get these things repaired? If it was all done in a timely fashion then I can't see how this should impact on increasing the rent.[/QUOTE]

It took the agent 5 weeks to organise the repair of the oven. I gave them instructions to do the repair & I thought it had been. Didn't know it hadn't been until we got a call from agent to say tenant was threatening to go to tribunal. We then rang tenants ourselves & found out agent had told them that I'd refused to have to fix the oven. That was blantant lie on part of agent. That's just one of the reason's why i think I should try to find another agent.

sorry didn't make it clear that cornice is across the front of a built in robe. As I said the house was in excellent condition before that started their tenancy. The agent sent us a photo of the cornice a few weks back & it was just a small crack. Now it has completely come way from the wall. I've actually renovate a few houses now which involved the removal of cornice ..... it is NOT any easy thing to get off, That's why I think the tenant has helped it on its way.

Yesterday got an email from agent. tenant is now asking for the house to be painted through out because they don't like the colour of the walls.

Yesterday got an email from agent. tenant is now asking for the house to be painted through out because they don't like the colour of the walls.

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Yeah, tell them to move.

It took the agent 5 weeks to organise the repair of the oven. I gave them instructions to do the repair & I thought it had been. Didn't know it hadn't been until we got a call from agent to say tenant was threatening to go to tribunal. We then rang tenants ourselves & found out agent had told them that I'd refused to have to fix the oven. That was blantant lie on part of agent. That's just one of the reason's why i think I should try to find another agent.

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Yep, time to say goodbye to your horrible agent. That is just not on!

Sounds like a pretty useless pm. Move on.

With the cornice, as its on a wardrobe which presumably has doors opening and closing and subsequent vibrations it is possible the cornice just came loose after years of doors being opened and closed. A tribunal would be iffy on if they would hold any liability for the tenant unless you can show deliberate misuse.

The tenants reported it when it was just a crack.

I recently moved into a rental house built early 90s. Since moving in I have had the toilet door handle break (one screw sheared off) another door handle has become jammy. The oven door handle also fell off (plastic joiner fatigued and snapped).

Does this mean I am a rough tenant who breaks everything he touches? No I have not had any handles break in my other homes before. Rather, the items above just wore out after 20 years of being opened and closed continually.

Definitely get rid of your agent, and get the tenants to fix the whole in the kitchen wall. Sounds like you'll have to wear repairs to the cornice though.

If your agent is telling blatent lies like that then it is time to replace your PM with someone who will tell your tenants to repair their damage and if they don't like the colour of the walls then tough!! May be time to hike up the rent and let these tenants move on if you're not 100% happy with them. I do still feel you would have to wear the costs of the cornice as they did report it when it was a crack only.

If the house was fully renovated in 2009 were any of your new appliances still under warranty or JUST expired (which is too often the way)?