Is it valid that I have to pay $100 to get someone use a plunger?

[turk]

In Queensland we have lodged the refund of bond form without a tenant signature with the amount filled in saying what we want to keep and what we believe is fair to give to the tenant. We've only had to do this once. Most tenants get their full bond back.

The RTA gets the form signed only by us, writes to the tenant, and if they don't object, we each get what is on the form. If they don't agree, the tenant can take us to the tribunal. We get the form in first so that they have to initiate and pay for the tribunal visit.

In the case of a tenant leaving without giving a forwarding address (which happened in our case), the letter from the RTA asking if they object to how we want the bond to be split up goes to the tenant's last known address, which is the house they have just left without giving a forwarding address .

This is how it worked when we had to apply to have bond handed to us.

Back to the question. We have an IP with a troublesome downstairs loo which has been blocked twice in a year. First time it was sanitary items. Second time it was tree roots, which have been fixed.

They know that if it blocks again and we send a plumber and it is something they have flushed, they will pay the bill. Hasn't happened yet but they have been warned.

Hi Wylie

With the first blockage what did the sanitary items catch on?


How was the tree root problem fixed?

Cheers

Pete

 

[wylie]

Hi Wylie

With the first blockage what did the sanitary items catch on?


How was the tree root problem fixed?

Cheers

Pete

I'm assuming they caught on the tree roots. I know that part of the plumbing was all that was left of the old clay pipes. The rest of the pipes had been replaced by us several years before but this was the other side of the house and the pipes from this downstairs loo were still clay.

I think the plumber used a cutting eel "thingy" to clear the roots, cannot recall whether we replaced the clay or not. It was a little while ago. I know hubby dug up the yard so maybe it was replaced them. Just cannot recall.

I do know that I made it quite clear (politely and very nicely) to the female tenant that sanitary items cannot be flushed, and that this particular downstairs loo needed a full flush every time. Our plumber is not a great lover of the half flush loos that only use 3 litres of water. He says that is not enough to flush even "a tissue".

 

[Peterw]

My understanding of the waste plumbing, is that at ground level, there should be a grate. If the blockage is beyond this point, it is more than likely to be tree roots, or some other disturbance of the pipes, and then the blocked waste water, comes out through the grate. If the blockage is exacerbated by something from the tenant, I don’t believe that the tenant can be held responsible. If the blockage were not there, whatever they put into the system would have passed through.

If the blockage, is on the house side of the grate, you are pretty much guaranteed that the blockage is as a consequence of something foreign being put in the system, or the system not being used the way it is supposed to, and as you don’t live there, the occupant or their invitees are responsible.

 

[Dazz]

If the blockage is exacerbated by something from the tenant, I don’t believe that the tenant can be held responsible.

From reading the legislation, that is my understanding as well.

If the blockage or the system not being used the way it is supposed to, and as you don’t live there, the occupant or their invitees are responsible.

I've never read in any legislation that the occupant is responsible and the Landlord could force the Tenant to pay for something to do with a blocked darin / pipe / plumbing, regardless of what is causing the blockage.

If push came to shove at a Tribunal, I'd predict the Landlord would lose every time. Of course, these things take time, and time is not something that anyone has regarding a blocked loo. The Landlord would have to pay to clear it in every case, it would just be a matter of whether the landlord could be successful in forcing the Tenant to repay the money already expended. Buckleys I reckon if the Tenant even slightly knows the rules, or bothers to read.


....and from wylie...

I do know that I made it quite clear (politely and very nicely) to the female tenant that sanitary items cannot be flushed, and that this particular downstairs loo needed a full flush every time.

But despite your 'notice' or 'warning', if the Tenant decided to not play by your rules, you would still have to cough up the funds to clear any blockage that occurred. You simply have no legislative legs to stand on and cannot possibly enforce your 'house rule'.

The only thing you have against the Tenant is to not renew their Lease when it expires, but even then, they can appeal to the Tribunal to force you to let them stay and you'll then have to go and explain yourself and justify your reasons and then wait and see what the Member decides what to do with your property.

Suffice to say, the Landlord ain't in a strong position when it comes to these matters.

• The Landlord is never there when it happens.
• The Landlord cannot possibly find out exactly (what / when / why) was put down there.
• The Landlord is up against a pile of quite private goings on.
• The Landlord is often up against unknown drainage systems, especially if they have just bought the property or it is 50 / 60 / 70 years old.
• The Landlord has absolutely no legislative back up.

The only task of the Landlord is to pay to have it fixed.

What do the PMs like to remind us "Don't worry, it's tax deductable."


Plumbing issues in the real business world when investing in investment grade property are handled like this by the Landlord ;

(d) The Tenant is to promptly repair, maintain and keep in proper working order and free from blockage plumbing fittings, drains, water pipes, sewerage pipes, toilets and sinks, to the full extent to which they are situated in or under the Leased Premises and provided services or Facilities to the Leased Premises;

You never even get a phone call. You just blissfully keep playing golf.

 

[jaycee]

From reading the legislation, that is my understanding as well.





I've never read in any legislation that the occupant is responsible and the Landlord could force the Tenant to pay for something to do with a blocked darin / pipe / plumbing, regardless of what is causing the blockage.

If push came to shove at a Tribunal, I'd predict the Landlord would lose every time. Of course, these things take time, and time is not something that anyone has regarding a blocked loo. The Landlord would have to pay to clear it in every case, it would just be a matter of whether the landlord could be successful in forcing the Tenant to repay the money already expended. Buckleys I reckon if the Tenant even slightly knows the rules, or bothers to read.


....and from wylie...



But despite your 'notice' or 'warning', if the Tenant decided to not play by your rules, you would still have to cough up the funds to clear any blockage that occurred. You simply have no legislative legs to stand on and cannot possibly enforce your 'house rule'.

The only thing you have against the Tenant is to not renew their Lease when it expires, but even then, they can appeal to the Tribunal to force you to let them stay and you'll then have to go and explain yourself and justify your reasons and then wait and see what the Member decides what to do with your property.

Suffice to say, the Landlord ain't in a strong position when it comes to these matters.

• The Landlord is never there when it happens.
• The Landlord cannot possibly find out exactly (what / when / why) was put down there.
• The Landlord is up against a pile of quite private goings on.
• The Landlord is often up against unknown drainage systems, especially if they have just bought the property or it is 50 / 60 / 70 years old.
• The Landlord has absolutely no legislative back up.

The only task of the Landlord is to pay to have it fixed.

What do the PMs like to remind us "Don't worry, it's tax deductable."


Plumbing issues in the real business world when investing in investment grade property are handled like this by the Landlord ;

​

You never even get a phone call. You just blissfully keep playing golf.

Agree but I expect you to get some backlash, how dare you tell us that my **** farting around pretending I'm achieving more than I actually am and hoping it will all fall into place cause of some old wive's tale about the consistent doubling of resi property values every so often, is not real business

 

[Dazz]

Agree but I expect you to get some backlash

I love backlash. I live for backlash. I eat backlash for breakfast. Backlash me baby.

 

[jaycee]

I love backlash. I live for backlash. I eat backlash for breakfast. Backlash me baby.

kudos........

 

[wylie]

....and from wylie...



But despite your 'notice' or 'warning', if the Tenant decided to not play by your rules, you would still have to cough up the funds to clear any blockage that occurred. You simply have no legislative legs to stand on and cannot possibly enforce your 'house rule'.

The only thing you have against the Tenant is to not renew their Lease when it expires, but even then, they can appeal to the Tribunal to force you to let them stay and you'll then have to go and explain yourself and justify your reasons and then wait and see what the Member decides what to do with your property.

Let's be realistic Dazz. If the loo blocks up and I ask the tenant to pay because the plumber finds things she has been asked not to flush - and if she refuses to pay after saying she will - is it the end of the world?

Will I take her to tribunal over a $120 bill? No

Will I refuse to renew her lease? No

 

[Dazz]

Let's be realistic Dazz.

Will I take her to tribunal over a $120 bill? No

I agree with you wylie. The Landlord will pay every time. You and I seem to be in agreeance on this. It's as real as you get.

Poor ol' Yvonne, the OP who asked the question, is obviously still struggling with the concept....

Give her a few more years and she too, with a good working knowledge of the law and how it relates to her chosen investment vehicle, will slowly come around to the concept that paying up is her only option.

These threads only ever start on Somersoft when newish residential Landlords don't know the Law and mistakenly believe that Tenants are somehow responsible and must pay for things to be fixed whilst they live there.

We've seen literally hundreds of these threads come and go in our time here wylie. The newish Landlords always end up scratching their heads, paying up and wondering just what the hell they have bought into. Words like "fair" and "not right" always pop up.

Eventually they all gravitate to the rulebook for the game they chose to play without looking up the rules first and discover to their horror that it ain't "fair" and "not right".....but anyway, that's the game they chose to play.

They go away and lick their wounds, and then the next newb Landlord comes on and says "Hi, I've got this Tenant who....." and the merry-go-round starts all over again.

 

[wylie]

I agree with you wylie. The Landlord will pay every time. You and I seem to be in agreeance on this. It's as real as you get.

Whilst ultimately I may end up paying the next bill if the plumber finds sanitary items flushed, I would ask the tenant to pay the bill. She has agreed that she will do so after I paid the last two times. One of those visits our lovely plumber didn't charge us anyway.

Of course, if she doesn't pay, I'll just pay the plumber.

We have similar "agreements" and clauses in our leases that should the air-conditioning require a call out, and should it be simply because they have not cleaned the filter, they will pay the account.

All these little clauses may not be enforceable, but I'm happy to give it a try. If they pay, great. If not, then I pay.

I still like playing in the ressy sandpit though .

 

[jeff@energetik.]

Hi fellow IP owners

I was contacted by the agent of my ip in Sydney (I live in Melbourne) that the toilet doesn't flush well,the waste was rising when they flush the toilet and then slowly draining away which could indicate a pipe blockage so suggested to get a plumber to determine the cause of it.

Then the agent got back to me after two emails and told me the the plumbers was able to clear the blockage by using a plunger which unfortunately doesn't allow him to determine the cause of the blockage.

Anyone had similar experience? Am I in a solid ground to request the tenant pays them instead?
I feel weird that I have to pay 100 dollars to get a plumber in just to use a bloody plunger n could nt tell me the cause.

Or should I just accept it?

As owner of the property I believe it is your responsibility to pay and fix the problem. As for the plumber, you got off lightly with just $100.00. A standard service call could set you back around $110 - $150.00 You must realise that the plumber has a business to run and even though it only took him a few minutes it probably took an hour out of his day. It is common for plumbers to do a quick fix (or attempt to) and then provide a quote to correct the cause of the problem.

 

[Rob Williams]

They go away and lick their wounds, and then the next newb Landlord comes on and says "Hi, I've got this Tenant who....." and the merry-go-round starts all over again.

Gee, I've been away from Somersoft for at least a year, now. Good to see nothing's changed

 

[wylie]

Gee, I've been away from Somersoft for at least a year, now. Good to see nothing's changed

Well... for some of us .

Where have you been and what have you been doing?

 

[Rob Williams]

Well... for some of us .

Where have you been and what have you been doing?

Moved to Melbourne in Agugust to be with my fiance, who I met through this forum a little over a year ago.
Getting married in November.
Had to quit HP after a decade, but it was time to move on, anyway.
Hoping to get back into property, now that I've settled into the new relationship and job.

 

[wylie]

Moved to Melbourne in Agugust to be with my fiance, who I met through this forum a little over a year ago.
Getting married in November.
Had to quit HP after a decade, but it was time to move on, anyway.
Hoping to get back into property, now that I've settled into the new relationship and job.

Well... who is your fiancee (user name)

Congratulations to you both. Another SS wedding

 

[Rob Williams]

Well... who is your fiancee (user name)

Congratulations to you both. Another SS wedding

Biggles

 

[wylie]

Well, congratulations to Ms Biggles and yourself .

 

[Dazz]

Thank the Lord for that Rob !!

For a moment there, I thought you and Rixter had taken it to a whole different level.

Good to see you back mate.

 

[Rob Williams]

Thank the Lord for that Rob !!

For a moment there, I thought you and Rixter had taken it to a whole different level.

Good to see you back mate.

Thanks, Dazz.
I guess I missed your repartee more than expected to. Couldn't last another day without a peek.

 

[BMan]

i have to say dazz every post of yours i read inspires me into CIP
the only thing stopping me from going forward is lack of knowledge and funds
hopefully i can have the knowledge when i have the funds