One for the books!

[Michael Croft]

Hi all,

Meet someone awhile back (a property manager) who had a fantastic tenant in one of their properties. Unfortunately the landlord was a bit of an outlet for raw sewage.

Story goes like this; Tenant moves into new property with no garden, lawn or carpets (in the ACT floorboards are damned cold). The tenant offers to establish the garden and lawn, have carpet laid in the bedrooms and generally look after the at his expense. This is done and all is well.

Three years later tenant buys own place and says to owner - I've looked after your place for you, paid rent on time, established the garden, laid carpets and even done minor maintenance for you at no charge; so how about a little money for the carpets and all the plants I've put in and will leave behind?

Owner invites tenant to do the anatomically impossible. Tenant gets pissed off and tells the owner he will leave the property as he found it. Tenant moves out and takes carpet. Tenant buys 4 litres of roundup (plant poison) and poisons EVERYTHING (trees, shrubs, lawn) but doesn't tell anyone!

The property manager tells me the owner was pumping thousands of litres of water onto the lawn and garden only to watch it slowly die; with the tenant driving past regularly to gloat.

What goes around ......................

So be nice to your tenants, and if you can't be nice at least be fair.

regards, Michael Croft

 

[Kevmeister]

I wonder if the agreement was a verbal agreement or something more? Did the tenant get his bond back? Was there a below-market rent period of anything to offset the tenants contribution?

I would laugh, except only the other day one of the ladies I work with was moving to a new unit after about 7 years in her current 1 bedder she was renting. In that time she had repainted the place and replaced the taps at her expense, and the owner was &%&$%# with her because she had thrown out a $20 holland blind in the kitchen and was threatening to retain some of the bond money.

The landlord also expects that she should be able to move another tenant in without having to do anything (eg. even painting). The landlord is self-managing, taken over the property from her husband who died.

I pointed out to the lady I work with how this landlord has had 7 years of continuous tenancy, and for those people who allow 2-4 weeks per year of vacancy this itself equates to 3-6 months of rental income she might not otherwise have had with a shorter-duration tenant.

It just seems some landlords are never happy.

Kevin.

 

[Michael Croft]

Hi Kevin,

It was all verbal and I believe the tenant got a full refund of bond as he left the place as he found it.

Regards, Michael Croft