so i got a bill for a blocked drain...who pays?

[Newbieatlife]

pretty pissed off actually...

Had a bunch of frantic missed calls and messages from my PM this morning telling me "a lot of water" was leaking underneath the kitchen sink into the cupboards...

I thought it was pretty serious so did not object to a plumber going out...anyway spoke to the plumber after getting the invoice and he told me it was simply a blocked drain in the S-pipe and he took out a plunger to clear it and all was good!

Last time I checked I didn't rent my property to children so it would be safe to assume the tenant would have taken at least the simple measure of getting a plunger themselvesto fix it???? or maybe even prevent it from being blocked in the first place?!?!?


Anyway, I am pretty certain the tenant should be paying for this...or am I wrong?

 

[Scott No Mates]

Its one of the joys of being a landlord. Not much you can do about it unless you can show it was malicious or that they had failed to bring it to the agent's attention.

 

[Brady]

I have already paid a plumber for 2 unrelated blocked drains on IP I bought in March. Unfortunately thems the breaks when being a landlord

 

[jim1964]

Most tenants i have had consider its not their property,and its the owners responsibility.The joys of it all.I did draw the line when the PM got a call to get the electrician to replace some light bulbs.

 

[Jtkumnick]

Most tenants i have had consider its not their property,and its the owners responsibility.The joys of it all.I did draw the line when the PM got a call to get the electrician to replace some light bulbs.

ouch. its a rental property not a hotel for god sake!

 

[Ausprop]

think of the bigger picture - you soak up all the tax write offs whilst benefiting from someone else paying off your mortgage and huge capital appreciation. everytime your tenant sends you a stupid bill say "thanks you just made me $500"

 

[DaveM]

If its something attributable to tenant actions eg congealed fat in the S trap, female hygeine products in the toilet, cat litter in the toilet (have had that one) then the tenant should pay. Otherwise its your cost.

 

[NedKelly]

................ and huge capital appreciation................

Er, where have you been for the last 5 years? Mars?

 

[Scott No Mates]

Er, where have you been for the last 5 years? Mars?

Which day Ned?

 

[Merino]

Unless you can prove the tenant did it oout of negligence or malice damage its your cost.

 

[HD_ACE]

I went through this with a blocked shower. I ended up paying for it despite my pm saying before i signed them up that this kind of thing would be at tennants cost. But since it could be build up from previous tennants i had to pay.

But now my understanding is if it happens again they would be charged as its all from them.

Cheers

 

[fisherman]

It is perfectly reasonable and time honoured that tenants are responsible for blocked drains on a day-to-day basis, which includes hair and soap scum in the vanity and shower drains, faeces and toilet paper overload or non-acceptable items in the toilet, and grease and food down the sink.

Equally a tenant should be and is responsible for cleaning the filter in a washing machine or dish washer.

Landlords are responsible for infrastructure plumbing, eg tree roots, busted pipes.

If owners are to be nickle and dimed to death with additional responsibilities which were always the role of tenants, lets not have PMs helping tenants in the process. Unless tenants would like to pay PMs that is.

There really has to be better representation for owners with government. It is ridiculous to expect that an electrician must be called to replace a light bulb for example.

 

[fisherman]

I went through this with a blocked shower. I ended up paying for it despite my pm saying before i signed them up that this kind of thing would be at tennants cost. But since it could be build up from previous tennants i had to pay.

But now my understanding is if it happens again they would be charged as its all from them.

Cheers

Where is the logic and reasonableness in that? Were the drains working when they took possession?

 

[HD_ACE]

Where is the logic and reasonableness in that? Were the drains working when they took possession?

Yes they were working . Was blocked from hair etc a few weeks after they moved in. There argument was most if it if not all was from previous tennants. So what can you do except pay the plumber.

Cheers

 

[BayView]

If owners are to be nickle and dimed to death with additional responsibilities which were always the role of tenants, lets not have PMs helping tenants in the process. Unless tenants would like to pay PMs that is.

Yep; they'll kill their golden goose at some point.

If there is little CG, and if the Gubb were to step in and abolish NG for some reason;

Rents would zoom, and/or there would be none available as the LL's leave the building.

 

[Newbieatlife]

It is perfectly reasonable and time honoured that tenants are responsible for blocked drains on a day-to-day basis, which includes hair and soap scum in the vanity and shower drains, faeces and toilet paper overload or non-acceptable items in the toilet, and grease and food down the sink.

Equally a tenant should be and is responsible for cleaning the filter in a washing machine or dish washer.

Landlords are responsible for infrastructure plumbing, eg tree roots, busted pipes.

If owners are to be nickle and dimed to death with additional responsibilities which were always the role of tenants, lets not have PMs helping tenants in the process. Unless tenants would like to pay PMs that is.

There really has to be better representation for owners with government. It is ridiculous to expect that an electrician must be called to replace a light bulb for example.

would it be legal to have tenants agree in writing to the points you've made?

 

[marg4000]

It is your responsibility unless you can prove the tenant deliberately caused the damage.

Over years icky stuff builds up on the insides of pipes, so sometimes an old pipe will clog whereas a brand new pipe will not.
Marg

 

[Newbieatlife]

I can't 'prove' the tenants did it but it is a brand new plumbing less than 9 months old so I'd imagine normal usage would not build up so quickly unless it was not properly cared for

 

[fisherman]

It is your responsibility unless you can prove the tenant deliberately caused the damage.

Over years icky stuff builds up on the insides of pipes, so sometimes an old pipe will clog whereas a brand new pipe will not.
Marg

See here,
http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/Renting/During-a-tenancy/Maintenance-and-repairs/Drains-and-gutters
Something wrong with posting link, please copy and paste into your browser if it doesn't work,
http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/Renting/During-a-tenancy/Maintenance-and-repairs/Drains-and-gutters

It is coyly worded, but there remains the historical and fair division of responsibilities.

Importantly it doesn't say that the tenant's responsibility is restricted to deliberate damage. Where does it say it must be malicious?

Blockage hasn't anything to do with age unless there is root or pipe crushing.

Hair usually blocks vanity and shower drains and simply removing the straining grate and removing the hair from it is what is required. A plunger can be used too. Hair cannot be classified as a structural fault. If that is being done it is grossly unfair to owners and the exorbitant costs of maintenance would be affecting the rents of tenants. So they also have a vested interest in conducting normal run of the mill house occupier maintenance).

Kitchen sinks are invariably blocked through doing the wrong thing - tipping oil and fat down the sink. This does not require removal of anything, just block one plug hole (2 bowl sink) and work the plunger on the other.

Toilets - too much paper, or wrong paper, or wrong other things down it.

Roof guttering and drains - leaves.

If the RTAs and tribunals are ruling otherwise owners should be making very strong representations to ministers.

 

[Scott No Mates]

I can't 'prove' the tenants did it but it is a brand new plumbing less than 9 months old so I'd imagine normal usage would not build up so quickly unless it was not properly cared for

Unless you have run a camera down the pipe to confirm that there were no mortar dags, rough edges, other catch points etc which may have contributed to the blockage you'rehard pressed to prove it.