Injured tenant, not leaving

[JT87]

I recently received news of one of my tenants tripping over the water meter, and badly injuring himself. Which just so happened to be shortly after they received news that their lease would not be renewed.

I've spoken to property managers and they have said that there is no legal requirements of a water meter to be safe.

Can I in any way be held responsible for this?

Do investors have issues with tenant injuries?

I always do my best to maintain a safe property for tenants but there is always the possibility of something happening.

They are now using the injury as a excuse to not pack up and leave
Lease ends in 2 days, and I have already extended this two weeks in an attempt to keep the peace, they have showed absolutely no sign of packing up and have not made any rental applications.

I have now requested a doctors certificate as the property managers and I think the hole situation is staged to exceed the lease, either way the matter will most likely be resolved in tribunal where I am sure the injury will be coming up.

Any advice on how to handle this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Terry_w]

Can I in any way be held responsible for this?

Yes, the owner could be held liable. Doesn't necessarily mean it will happen.

 

[spludgey]

Yes, the owner could be held liable. Doesn't necessarily mean it will happen.

I know you're a lawyer (and I'm not), but I doubt it. If it's in Sydney, then the meter belongs to Sydney Water.
I'm assuming that the same is the case elsewhere.

So the plumber would have put it in on the water authority's behalf.

The tenant could sue the water authority, but I can't see this going anywhere.

 

[Terry_w]

I know you're a lawyer (and I'm not), but I doubt it. If it's in Sydney, then the meter belongs to Sydney Water.
I'm assuming that the same is the case elsewhere.

So the plumber would have put it in on the water authority's behalf.

The tenant could sue the water authority, but I can't see this going anywhere.

I don't practice in this area of law, but you may be right - to a certain extent. There is a requirement that the landlord make the property safe for tenants and visitors, if there is something dangerous it should be fixed or the danger minimised as much as possible. This is why you see signs everywhere when cleaners are cleaning and lifts are getting fixed etc.

 

[cadence]

Do you have landlord insurance? If so, suggest you notify insurer. There is usually cover for third party liability claims.
Hope it goes away for you.

 

[JT87]

Thanks for the input.
Yes I have landlord insurance I will contact them.

 

[sydprop]

I recently received news of one of my tenants tripping over the water meter, and badly injuring himself. Which just so happened to be shortly after they received news that their lease would not be renewed.

Do you mean that you terminated their lease? I'm not sure what you mean by "would not be renewed" given leases (ok, in NSW) go periodic after the fixed period.

 

[Xenia IM]

Treat as a normal tenant who does not vacate after lease end date - get a bailiff.

The injury is a seperate issue.

A water meter sticking up above ground is normal. A landlord cannot be expected to wrap a house in cotton wool so that no one injures themselves on normal things.

 

[chilliblue]

Make certain that your PM has correctly issued notices and correspondences in a timely manner and always in writing and then the two items are treated separately.

Agree with continuing the termination as per normal.

 

[S.T]

Make certain that your PM has correctly issued notices and correspondences in a timely manner and always in writing and then the two items are treated separately.

Agree with continuing the termination as per normal.

This!!!

Make sure all proper processes are in place to have the tenant vacate on agreed date. Service notices correctly, have them enforced etc.

Then deal with the injury claim (if it ever formally arises).

You must get on with running your business of leasing your property.

 

[kathryn d]

Treat as a normal tenant who does not vacate after lease end date - get a bailiff.

The injury is a seperate issue.

.

Yes...

On occassion this has happened to us.We say no to extra time. We treat it as any other lease, when the tenant refuses to vacate.

 

[JT87]

Do you mean that you terminated their lease? I'm not sure what you mean by "would not be renewed" given leases (ok, in NSW) go periodic after the fixed period.

When 6 weeks out of end of lease date, I notified the tenants that they
were to vacate at the end of lease date. This was 2 weeks more than the required 30 days as I wanted to give them extra time to pack up the mess.

Treat as a normal tenant who does not vacate after lease end date - get a bailiff.

The injury is a seperate issue.

Thanks for your advice-
Property managers have advised that we will apply to NCAT (tribunal) for vacant possession on the day after vacate date.

There has been no indication of us being held responsible for the injury as of yet, I was just unsure if we could be at risk down the track should the situation become difficult.

A water meter sticking up above ground is normal. A landlord cannot be expected to wrap a house in cotton wool so that no one injures themselves on normal things.

Haha well put, my thoughts exactly, we have all heard some horror stories.

Hopefully everything works out, the place is a junkyard at the moment
(I literally think he is running a junk yard)
I will continue the termination process by the book and I have plenty of photos of the property pre-lease and kept all relevant emails and letters.
Neighbours are all willing to help where possible.

 

[wylie]

How do you know he didn't fall over some of his own junk and is blaming something that he isn't able to be blamed for leaving out, i.e.. the water meter?

 

[thatbum]

How do you know he didn't fall over some of his own junk and is blaming something that he isn't able to be blamed for leaving out, i.e.. the water meter?

It doesn't matter unless you can prove otherwise.

 

[chilliblue]

I forgot to mention that the PM should advise the tenant to contact Sydney Water directly about their injury as that is not a landlord issue.

The link is:

http://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/accounts-billing/managing-your-account/claims-for-damages/index.htm