Pool maintenance / chemicals Q's

J

Julian.

Hi,

just after some advice which I can't find on google.

I have a rental property in Perth with a pool, I pay for the monthly maintenance and they are supposed to pay for chemicals.

The tenant is now complaining about a palm tree dropping seeds into the pool and raising phosphate levels which means she has to pay more for chemicals which she thinks is unfair and wants me to pay to get the seed pods cut off.

What are my rights with this as the landlord ??

I don't think I should pay for this, they use the pool they can pay for the chemicals ( I think that they should also pay for the maintenance). Also my opinion is if they were cleaning the pool (scooping the seeds out)this wouldn't be a problem and there is also a pool blanket so the seeds should get into the pool to start with.

Can I refuse to pay for the seed pods to get cut down ?? I don't care if they do it though at there expense.


Cheers
Julian
 
Ask the property manager to show you the lease term which states that the tenant is responsible for scooping debris out of the pool. If it ain't there, the agency's procedure for dealing with properties with pools is lacking.
 
Julian. said:
Can I refuse to pay for the seed pods to get cut down ?? I don't care if they do it though at there expense.
Click to expand...

We have a couple of properties with palms that have seed pods too. Recently, at 1 x IP, one tree was dropping orange seeds near the driveway (not a pool) and the tenant slipped over and had a fall. We thought it cheaper to have a tree company come and do what they call a "clean out" to remove fruit and pods, than to have a law-suit.

Bear in mind, if a tenant has to get on a ladder to do something, then it always comes back to be a LL's responsibility on a resi property.

Remove the pods and keep the tenant paying for the pool would be my advice.
 
Unless you are prepared to get rid of the seed pods on regular basis I would get rid of the tree. The problem will only get bigger as the tree grows.

Your responsibility (unless the tenant planted the tree?).
Marg
 
Increase the rent, take over pool maintenance costs (have this covered in rent increase) and remove the tree. A longer term solution. :)
 
Propertunity said:
We have a couple of properties with palms that have seed pods too. Recently, at 1 x IP, one tree was dropping orange seeds near the driveway (not a pool) and the tenant slipped over and had a fall. We thought it cheaper to have a tree company come and do what they call a "clean out" to remove fruit and pods, than to have a law-suit.

Bear in mind, if a tenant has to get on a ladder to do something, then it always comes back to be a LL's responsibility on a resi property.

Remove the pods and keep the tenant paying for the pool would be my advice.
Click to expand...



Surely this would come back to common sense , if the tenant swept them up they wouldn't slip on them.
 
Julian. said:
Surely this would come back to common sense , if the tenant swept them up they wouldn't slip on them.
Click to expand...

You'd think so, wouldn't you?

But 2 things:
1. The palm fruit drops over a period of several weeks. They can get cleaned up this morning and be back by tonight, when the tenant gets home from work.
2. Common sense has nothing to do with it. :rolleyes:
 
Propertunity said:
We have a couple of properties with palms that have seed pods too. Recently, at 1 x IP, one tree was dropping orange seeds near the driveway (not a pool) and the tenant slipped over and had a fall. We thought it cheaper to have a tree company come and do what they call a "clean out" to remove fruit and pods, than to have a law-suit.

Bear in mind, if a tenant has to get on a ladder to do something, then it always comes back to be a LL's responsibility on a resi property.

Remove the pods and keep the tenant paying for the pool would be my advice.
Click to expand...

I think this is probably fair enough too. Though, at what stage do you stop "clearing the way" of anything that could be a risk.

Seed falling into a pool is different to a slip hazard on a driveway. But I guess removing the tree totally is reasonable. I just would be hearing "alarm bells" with this being the start of a slippery slope.

We've had this type of tenant before, one little thing after another, a real "do it for me" mentality. Thank goodness they are gone.
 
Julian. said:
The tenant is now complaining about a palm tree dropping seeds into the pool and raising phosphate levels which means she has to pay more for chemicals which she thinks is unfair and wants me to pay to get the seed pods cut off.
Click to expand...

I have a pool at my PPOR surrounded by palms that drop their nuts in and around the pool. Never had much problems with phosphate levels in the pool.
 
Ed Barton said:
I have a pool at my PPOR surrounded by palms that drop their nuts in and around the pool. Never had much problems with phosphate levels in the pool.
Click to expand...

Do you clean them out regularly though? I wonder if the tenant doesn't bother with cleaning out the pods (or putting the cover on the pool) very often.

Personally I would feel more comfortable increasing the rent and arranging for all pool maintenance (and chemical purchasing) be done on a regular schedule by a maintenance person... less risk of things not being done correctly that way.
 
Wylie - by the sounds of it you've had this tenat before, they have a real bad 'do it for me' attitude and everything is an emergency, which has been getting progressively worse over the last 18 months.


Ed Barton - yep I used to live in this property with the same pool and same palm tree and never had a problem with phosphate levels when i lived their, cause I kept it clean.


Fokas - I already pay for the monthly 'poolwerx' man to come out and balance the chemicals and check the equipment, but he doesn't vacuum, tenants can do that cause they use it. Poolwerx just charge the chemicals to me(via PM) and the tenant pays when they pay their rent. The tenants are now just whinging that they shouldn't have to pay for them.
 
Julian. said:
Hi,

I have a rental property in Perth with a pool, I pay for the monthly maintenance and they are supposed to pay for chemicals.

Cheers
Julian
Click to expand...


I'd bet the cost of the monthly maintenance wouldn't be cheap? Probably more than you'd get as extra rent for having the pool there? What if you just bluffed the tenants and said you are going to fill it in, or empty it and cover it? If they don't mind, then just do it. But I'd reckon they probably do like having a pool, and would then stop the complaining if they could lose it?


See ya's.
 
topcropper said:
I'd bet the cost of the monthly maintenance wouldn't be cheap? Probably more than you'd get as extra rent for having the pool there? What if you just bluffed the tenants and said you are going to fill it in, or empty it and cover it? If they don't mind, then just do it. But I'd reckon they probably do like having a pool, and would then stop the complaining if they could lose it?


See ya's.
Click to expand...

yeah about $70 a month for a bloke to come out and test the water and add chemicals, what you can do for free at the local pool shop.

If i was still living in perth it wouldn't be a problem I'd just go round once a month and do it myself.

I wish i could just empty it but lease is for the house with a pool, I can't just go and empty it on them.
 
Julian. said:
yeah about $70 a month for a bloke to come out and test the water and add chemicals, what you can do for free at the local pool shop.

If i was still living in perth it wouldn't be a problem I'd just go round once a month and do it myself.

I wish i could just empty it but lease is for the house with a pool, I can't just go and empty it on them.
Click to expand...

What if you offered them a rent reduction in return for the fact that you are filling in the pool? Fill in the pool, wait a little while so it doesn't look like retaliation and then send them a notice to vacate - these guys sound like they look for maintenance.
 
Filling in the pool seems a bit of overkill :eek: (unless you really prefer not to have spool there.)

I would never buy an IP with a pool due to the fact that tenants may not look after it. I also hate the thought that someone could drown in it, but I admit perhaps I'm a bit paranoid about that.

Perhaps if this is an easy house to rent, tell them you won't be doing anything. It is how the rented it, and if they wish to move at the end of their lease, that is up to them.

That will help them work out whether scooping up some nuts regularly is worth doing. If not, then they can find another house with a pool and no nuts.
 
Ed Barton said:
I have a pool at my PPOR surrounded by palms that drop their nuts in and around the pool. Never had much problems with phosphate levels in the pool.
Click to expand...

We had a house with a pool with several palm trees dropping seeds. I kept the pool in good condition. After the first summer we got the palms removed. I used less chemical the following summer
 
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