Hi everyone, I'm after people's perspectives on the following situation.
My mother is self-managing an IP in Townsville, Qld, where she also lives. As most people are probably aware, Townsville has had torrential rain for well over a week and has been largely cut off from the rest of the world, much like Ingham, an hour away. For people who haven't visited or lived in North Queensland or similar places, it is hard to understand the humidity that exists every day even at the best of times.
Because of the recent weather, it is much worse than usual and is causing mould to grow everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Walls, doors, clothes, my mother says her lounge suite is completely covered in mould.
A few days ago, her tenants contacted her and said that as mould was growing in the house, they would like a cleaner to be paid for to clean the house. My mother's initial response was that everyone else in Townsville was in the same situation and that as tenants it was their responsibility to keep the house in a clean condition.
She then rang the RTA to ask them about the situation and they told her that the situation it is the landlord's responsibility. I don't know how detailed my mother was with the details she gave to the RTA but I do wonder if they misunderstood the situation, as I can't see how internal cleaning can be the landlord's responsibility. By my understanding, people in the RTA call centres are all located in Brisbane where humidity is never anything like it is in NQ, and the thought that black mould growing throughout a house is a normal occurrence probably doesn't occur to them.
I wonder if they thought that it was a house-specific problem and that is why they regarded it as a landlord responsibility. In this case, if there was something wrong with the house that caused excessive moisture to build up inside and cause mould to grow, I would expect that the landlord would be responsible for fixing that situation. However, I don't see how the landlord can be held responsible for what the weather alone is causing, when most of North Queensland is in the same situation.
I'm a landlord myself and agree with my mother that when a tenant moves into a property, it is provided in a clean and liveable state and it is the tenant's responsibility to keep it that way. I have also pointed out to my mother that if she does clean the house at her expense she is leaving herself open in the future to all sorts of petty requests.
What do other SS readers think?
My mother is self-managing an IP in Townsville, Qld, where she also lives. As most people are probably aware, Townsville has had torrential rain for well over a week and has been largely cut off from the rest of the world, much like Ingham, an hour away. For people who haven't visited or lived in North Queensland or similar places, it is hard to understand the humidity that exists every day even at the best of times.
Because of the recent weather, it is much worse than usual and is causing mould to grow everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Walls, doors, clothes, my mother says her lounge suite is completely covered in mould.
A few days ago, her tenants contacted her and said that as mould was growing in the house, they would like a cleaner to be paid for to clean the house. My mother's initial response was that everyone else in Townsville was in the same situation and that as tenants it was their responsibility to keep the house in a clean condition.
She then rang the RTA to ask them about the situation and they told her that the situation it is the landlord's responsibility. I don't know how detailed my mother was with the details she gave to the RTA but I do wonder if they misunderstood the situation, as I can't see how internal cleaning can be the landlord's responsibility. By my understanding, people in the RTA call centres are all located in Brisbane where humidity is never anything like it is in NQ, and the thought that black mould growing throughout a house is a normal occurrence probably doesn't occur to them.
I wonder if they thought that it was a house-specific problem and that is why they regarded it as a landlord responsibility. In this case, if there was something wrong with the house that caused excessive moisture to build up inside and cause mould to grow, I would expect that the landlord would be responsible for fixing that situation. However, I don't see how the landlord can be held responsible for what the weather alone is causing, when most of North Queensland is in the same situation.
I'm a landlord myself and agree with my mother that when a tenant moves into a property, it is provided in a clean and liveable state and it is the tenant's responsibility to keep it that way. I have also pointed out to my mother that if she does clean the house at her expense she is leaving herself open in the future to all sorts of petty requests.
What do other SS readers think?
