Is LL liable if he ignores complaints ?

Daughter of mine had friend knocking on the door at 5am ,child in her arms,wearing only nightwear,saying OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE ! seems little one came in to parents room and within a minute, place erupted in flames,burnt to the ground ! Apparently the couple had complained to the LL several times about some dodgy wiring and he had done nothing about it.Would LL be liable to recompense tenants for their loss? No working smoke alarm either !
 
well the rich and greedy landlord needs to go above and beyond to ensure the safety of the tenants. If they want the rent and all the privilidges of being landlord they must give a little back. To mitigate the risk of litigation every landlord should have a health and safet policy that would cover things such as annual electrical inspections. The landlord siimply needs to produce this and their compliance with the policy
 
To mitigate the risk of litigation every landlord should have a health and safety policy that would cover things such as annual electrical inspections. The landlord simply needs to produce this and their compliance with the policy

Don't know whether you are tongue in cheek.

Off course the 'increased' rent will cover this new expense and any other additional expenses:eek:
 
Daughter of mine had friend knocking on the door at 5am ,child in her arms,wearing only nightwear,saying OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE ! seems little one came in to parents room and within a minute, place erupted in flames,burnt to the ground ! Apparently the couple had complained to the LL several times about some dodgy wiring and he had done nothing about it.Would LL be liable to recompense tenants for their loss? No working smoke alarm either !

I believe the tenants have very strong case.

The Act is very "pro-tenant" especially in circumstances like these. It's the owners responsibilities to ensure the place is safe for the tenants.

The "no working smoke alarm" claim is enough to have the landlord begged for mercy, I think!

In Court/VCAT, her testimony taken under oath would be taken seriously by the member.
 
I am in rentals every day and it's funny how tenants always demand safety inspections, to give them "piece of mind". Even funnier how they go cold on it very quickly when told they have to foot the bill for their "piece of mind".

As for working smoke alarms, nearly every rental I walk into, has the smoke alarm hanging open and missing the battery.

Safety at any cost, as long as someone else pays.
 
Safety at any cost, as long as someone else pays.

exactly - the new RCD and smoke alarm legislation in wA is testament to that. the tenants wanty it, the govt panders to those wants, the landlords pay. a familiar scenario.

I am serious tho about a H+S policy. tho I dont have one this thread has got me thinking. this country is increasingly litiguous
 
Daughter of mine had friend knocking on the door at 5am ,child in her arms,wearing only nightwear,saying OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE ! seems little one came in to parents room and within a minute, place erupted in flames,burnt to the ground ! Apparently the couple had complained to the LL several times about some dodgy wiring and he had done nothing about it.Would LL be liable to recompense tenants for their loss? No working smoke alarm either !

If the wiring was a risk, the tenant advised the landlord of the risk and the fire was caused by the fault wiring:


(A) the tenant would have a serious case against the LL
(B) the LL is at serious risk of their insurer not paying the cliam on the building.
 
As for working smoke alarms, nearly every rental I walk into, has the smoke alarm hanging open and missing the battery.

Safety at any cost, as long as someone else pays.

Exactly.
Many of our "bad tenants" have this. All they need to do is notify us and we replace.Here, we are only permitted inspections every 6 months.

Our insurance would never cover a tenant's belongings. That is why they sell Tenant's Insurance. It is a condition of their lease anyways.

Not saying these tenants did anything wrong.
A tenant could be saying they made these complaints after the fact, hoping for an insurance payout.
That's why all complaints should be made in writing, so it leaves a paper trail.
 
"No working smoke alarms" in a rental property is illegal in Queensland and would render the landlord liable to prosecution.

There is a case in Brisbane of a child (or children?) dying in a fire in a rented property without working smoke alarms. There is yet to be an inquest but there have been reports that the landlord may face criminal charges.
Marg
 
marg4000;608758There is a case in Brisbane of a child (or children?) dying in a fire in a rented property without working smoke alarms. There is yet to be an inquest but there have been reports that the landlord may face criminal charges. Marg[/QUOTE said:
so - how would it go if the smoke alarm was working when the tenant moved in, the pm checks it every time she does an inspection yet for some reason it wasn't working at the time of a fire (ie, if the batteries were removed etc)?

it would be unreasonable for a landlord to be held liable for something they had no knowledge of.
 
so - how would it go if the smoke alarm was working when the tenant moved in, the pm checks it every time she does an inspection yet for some reason it wasn't working at the time of a fire (ie, if the batteries were removed etc)?

it would be unreasonable for a landlord to be held liable for something they had no knowledge of.

As a LL, we get a bill every year for professionals to test and replace batteries and the invoice would be proof of compliance.

The testers were organised by the PM.
 
so - how would it go if the smoke alarm was working when the tenant moved in, the pm checks it every time she does an inspection yet for some reason it wasn't working at the time of a fire (ie, if the batteries were removed etc)?

it would be unreasonable for a landlord to be held liable for something they had no knowledge of.
Yes, provided they could demonstrate (logs etc) that they'd met all their obligations, they'd be OK.
 
Should a company such as smokealarmsaustralia.com.au be used to check the alarms etc?
I just received a letter from my PM about the above company.
 
Should a company such as smokealarmsaustralia.com.au be used to check the alarms etc?
I just received a letter from my PM about the above company.

This must be another thing we will be required to be paranoid about.
How about have a box on the lease stating the fire alarm is working. Push the Testor button in front of the tenant and have them sign , it is working.
Doesn't cost a cent.
 
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