Brits: I know exactly how you felt. My nerves were a mess. They have calmed down a bit now with a new pm. I had a gut feeling when the real estate agent told me she had prospective tenants with a 'great' reference. I don't particularly trust 'great' references and I thought 'If they are so great, why are they moving houses?'. Now I know. I do understand that defence personnel get moved around a lot, but these moves were within Canberra. I should have asked the questions I was thinking in my head, such as, 'Why have they lived in these houses and moved each time?' I know from experience that good tenants tend to stay put in houses (and I don't raise the rent when I have a good tenant). A red flag also appeared when the tenant was telling his bamboo-laying tradesman about how idiotic DHA was and how DHA was trying to put them into a house that wasn't good enough for them. The day after the tradesman complained to me about the tenant and his penny-pinching ways. I will not go into details here. I got an inkling of what I was dealing with, but when they moved in is when they went into WWIII attack mode. The house (although I have receipts for more than $1000 spent on cleaning) 'was not in a reasonable state of cleanliness'; the garage 'smelled like a dog kennel'; there was' dog poo all over the backyard' (I had personally picked up every bit the day before they moved in and thrown it in a plastic bag into the bin); the backyard 'had not been mown' (I have receipts for $1,700 for landscaping and mowing the back and front yard just before they moved in). The comments were really nasty, supercilious and judgemental. They even commented that the 'oven is clean, so it obviously hadn't been used' by the owner. The comments hurt. Kathryn: the agreement had gone through the real estate agent, so I am assuming it was written down on the file notes.
Really difficult tenants--any advice?
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Yep my crazies had an "excellent" reference too. I read it and checked it out myself but there was only one reference and for people in their 40's that was odd because they'd only stayed there a year and the "real estate agent" I spoke to backing up her letter was indeed 1000 miles away and probably just wanting to get rid of these halfwits. What do you trust if references are a load bulls%#t and far away property managers are prepared to lie? Only one thing you can trust and that's your gut feeling. Even if I used a property manager I will always want to meet my tenants. If you speak to them long enough they always drop a clue if they are going to be trouble - one that a 20 year old PM just may not pick up.
I know this is not really helping you with the situation you're in at the moment however you could try doing what my son and I did. These kind of tenants are basically bullies and we all know that bullies are as weak as p#ss. If an authority whether real or imagined starts leaning on them they often run for their life.
So sorry you are going through this. They give tenants a bad name and landlords who are actually doing the community a favour by providing housing feel like giving up. But don't give up. I learned from my experience and think I know the whole of the RTA by heart now. Now that's got to be a good thing! Hee hee
I know this is not really helping you with the situation you're in at the moment however you could try doing what my son and I did. These kind of tenants are basically bullies and we all know that bullies are as weak as p#ss. If an authority whether real or imagined starts leaning on them they often run for their life.
So sorry you are going through this. They give tenants a bad name and landlords who are actually doing the community a favour by providing housing feel like giving up. But don't give up. I learned from my experience and think I know the whole of the RTA by heart now. Now that's got to be a good thing! Hee hee
Brit: my nerves are not strong enough to face these tenants.
I have written them a pointed and officious letter via the first pm telling them exactly what I think and what their responsibilities (and mine) are--things I think the first pm should have advised them. I hope it has given them a rude wake up call. I think it's better if I stay out of it now and leave it to my new PM. I personally think they are money-grubbing, mean-spirited little nobodies who want everything for nothing. They are probably living beyond their means and trying to find any excuse not to pay their dues. They were extremely charming upon first impression. Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover.
I have written them a pointed and officious letter via the first pm telling them exactly what I think and what their responsibilities (and mine) are--things I think the first pm should have advised them. I hope it has given them a rude wake up call. I think it's better if I stay out of it now and leave it to my new PM. I personally think they are money-grubbing, mean-spirited little nobodies who want everything for nothing. They are probably living beyond their means and trying to find any excuse not to pay their dues. They were extremely charming upon first impression. Goes to show you can't judge a book by its cover.Property Girl,
I can only imagine how stressful this is for you. Good on you for getting a new and hopefully tougher PM. Another avenue you could use is to contact his superiors at Defence as soon as he is in arrears. You may be surprised at how helpful they are with remedying the situation. Often these 'types' behave badly at work also so you may find his superiors would be most interested to hear if he is in arrears. I know this has left a bad taste with regard to 'uniforms' but like every area in life there are always bad eggs. The bad eggs of course give everyone else a bad name so his superiors may help you 'weed' him right out of your property or make him pull his head in. They would give him twice the headache he has given you no doubt. Call it giving karma a helping hand!
I can only imagine how stressful this is for you. Good on you for getting a new and hopefully tougher PM. Another avenue you could use is to contact his superiors at Defence as soon as he is in arrears. You may be surprised at how helpful they are with remedying the situation. Often these 'types' behave badly at work also so you may find his superiors would be most interested to hear if he is in arrears. I know this has left a bad taste with regard to 'uniforms' but like every area in life there are always bad eggs. The bad eggs of course give everyone else a bad name so his superiors may help you 'weed' him right out of your property or make him pull his head in. They would give him twice the headache he has given you no doubt. Call it giving karma a helping hand!
Thanks Magnet. I would ring his superiors, but he has now resigned from Defence. I rang DHA, who advised that he left in April. DHA no longer subsidises his rent. He has started up a business. My new PM suspects that, perhaps, the tenant, knowing that the Canberra rental market is soft, wants to get out of the lease to move somewhere cheaper.
maybe it will be less stress for you if you let them move out. A win win situation...
Snoopy, I am now leaving it in the hands of the new pm. I would be happy to see him go.
Have you told your new PM that? If not, make sure he/she knows. And I'd be looking at seeing if you like the bamboo flooring. If they haven't stored the carpet properly, it will likely be mouldy or water damaged, and they might rip out the bamboo, leaving you with nothing.
If it was me I would allow them to leave with no penalty as long as they give two weeks' notice (assuming your new PM thinks she can rent it in that time).
Hi Wylie, Yes, I have told my new pm that I would be happy to see them go as I do not think that they will change their ways. He is meeting with them tomorrow.
No, I don't like the bamboo flooring, as it was second hand when the tenant put it in. He had installed it in his last rental property. He then pulled it up and reused it in my place. The carpet I had was in excellent condition (except for one of the children's bedrooms). I had offered to put new carpet in that room before they moved in, but then they said they wanted their bamboo flooring. I imagine they have stored the carpet in the garage. It needs to be re-layed and cleaned. If it's not, I will take it out of the bond.
No, I don't like the bamboo flooring, as it was second hand when the tenant put it in. He had installed it in his last rental property. He then pulled it up and reused it in my place. The carpet I had was in excellent condition (except for one of the children's bedrooms). I had offered to put new carpet in that room before they moved in, but then they said they wanted their bamboo flooring. I imagine they have stored the carpet in the garage. It needs to be re-layed and cleaned. If it's not, I will take it out of the bond.
Hi Snoopy, yes, I try to treat it as a business. I am a single mother, so I have to. I was not happy with all the initial long list of requests and thought them unreasonable. The pm at the time said that I should give the tenants what they wanted and that they would then hopefully pay their rent and we wouldn't hear from them. However, when it continued I told the pm she had to speak to the tenants and explain to them how it worked. She didn't. I complained to the principal of the re agent, who told me not to spend any more on the property. That's when the s#@t hit the fan. The tenants kept demanding and the pm ignored them. The tenants' threats then increased. Had the pm at the outset explained to the tenants how it worked, perhaps it wouldn't have come to this. IN total I have spent more than $2000 a month since the tenants have been in the ppty.
IN total I have spent more than $2000 a month since the tenants have been in the ppty.
Crikey
. My "princess" tenant asked for quite a number of changes. The first one was the day she moved in. We allowed her early entry and we were still there painting. She kept coming up to me with her whiney voice asking for this and that. One thing was that we replaced the range hood. It was filthy and we hadn't noticed it. For $100 we swapped it for a brand new one. She wanted me to replace the hinges in the kitchen cupboard doors because she had to push a little to make them close... too bad, so sad... NO!She wanted us to treat the ants but not use chemicals? We didn't have to do that at all, but we did it to shut her up. It was our pest man who let slip the "so you are the one they call the princess?" comment which caused me a lot of embarrassment. We laugh about it now, but it was not funny at the time when her husband called me about it.
Most of their requests we just refused, but they continued to ask the same things over and over. Some we did agree to, eg. security grills between back deck and living room on the windows (after a spate of break-ins through accessible windows in the surrounding streets). The things we agreed to pay for were things that were improvements to the house, and would make it more attractive for future tenants. Most of them were things they thought they would "like". Well, buy your own house and change it as you like. They have now bought their own house and good luck to them. We couldn't wait to see the back of them.
I hope at least some of your $2K a month has helped to improve the property so you find a good tenant when you get rid of this lot.
Wylie, lol, I can totally relate. Yes, for the most part, the outlays have been improvements to the property. I had complaints such as 'verandah not swept where two pot plants removed', 'mulch not laid properly', 'glistening on roof'. Two weeks after they had moved in they complained about the cobwebs under the eaves (even though my cleaning receipt states all cobwebs were removed). I had them professionally removed and fumigated. A month ago she complained about silverfish. When I offered to send in the handyman to let off a couple of bombs, she was not happy. She said that that would involve too many chemicals; she wanted the place 'professionally treated'. I reminded her that that would involve even more chemicals. She complained that the curtains were 'filthy', so I had them professionally cleaned. She then had the handyman measure the same curtains to have them replaced (I didn't agree to that one) when he went in to the house for something else. She even complained to me that the street was too busy, lol. It is one of the quietest streets in the area. I agree: if they are so desperate to have everything just to their liking, they should buy their own house and go for it.
The entitlement mentality of some tenants is astonishing.
You need to set boundaries at the beginning.
We had a new tenant move into one of our properties yesterday.
Today I receive an email, stating there seems to be 2 window screens missing, and then proceeds to tell us when she will be home, so we can 'swing by'.
I respond by stating they don't have any screens..and sorry.
She replies..oh,ok..thanks anyways.
All new tenants will 'try you on'
anything that needs repaired, will be
Wants...will be ignored.
We had a new tenant move into one of our properties yesterday.
Today I receive an email, stating there seems to be 2 window screens missing, and then proceeds to tell us when she will be home, so we can 'swing by'.
I respond by stating they don't have any screens..and sorry.
She replies..oh,ok..thanks anyways.
All new tenants will 'try you on'
anything that needs repaired, will be
Wants...will be ignored.
26 weeks to vacate someone who costs you money? Holy
I know. And the problem is that the ACAT would see it as 'retaliatory' if I were to give the 26 weeks notice. I don't know how the laws became so skewed in favour of tenants. As a landlord, I have very few rights.
This old complaint again?
Seriously, if you don't know your rights or don't choose to use them in your best interest - then you don't get to go around complaining how you have "very few rights".
Grumpy. It's not unreasonable to find out legal entitlements/requirements/responsibilities until the need arises. This is the first time in more than 30 years I have found myself in a position where I would like some difficult tenants out. You may have heard this complaint time and again, but it wasn't me who made it. So I will feel free to complain another couple of times because I think I am perfectly entitled to. If you don't want to read it, don't.
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