Tenant organised their own repairs

[mooki24]

Hi all

The power at one of my rental properties went out recently and instead of calling the Property Manager, the tenant organised their own repairs.

They are now asking for reimbursement of $300 for the electrician to replace a couple of fuses, which seems a bit high.

I will pay the invoice however I just wanted to find out what my rights are if the tenant were to do this again. Can I refuse payment?

Thanks

 

[marg4000]

Rental tenancy laws allow for tenants to authorise repairs in certain circumstances for essential services, which would include power.

Most PMs give tenants a list of preferred emergency repairers to call on if necessary.

Perhaps your PM could clarify with the tenant the process to follow in a future emergency, preferably in writing.

Marg

 

[vaughan]

Hi all

The power at one of my rental properties went out recently and instead of calling the Property Manager, the tenant organised their own repairs.

They are now asking for reimbursement of $300 for the electrician to replace a couple of fuses, which seems a bit high.

I will pay the invoice however I just wanted to find out what my rights are if the tenant were to do this again. Can I refuse payment?

Thanks

Get the electrician to replace a fuses with circuit breakers. Then the next time the circuit breakers trip, the tenant can flip them back themselves.

 

[fisherman]

Rental tenancy laws allow for tenants to authorise repairs in certain circumstances for essential services, which would include power.

Most PMs give tenants a list of preferred emergency repairers to call on if necessary.

Perhaps your PM could clarify with the tenant the process to follow in a future emergency, preferably in writing.

Marg

Refer to the OP that says,

<The power at one of my rental properties went out recently and instead of calling the Property Manager, the tenant organised their own repairs>

Your advice is not correct for Queensland. The owner or PM must be contacted. See here:

http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/Renting/During-a-tenancy/Maintenance-and-repairs/Emergency-repairs

In Victoria I understand that the tenant also has a duty to contact the PM or owner who has time to effect the repair.

 

[mooki24]

Refer to the OP that says,

In Victoria I understand that the tenant also has a duty to contact the PM or owner who has time to effect the repair.

Yes I thought that was the case too. And considering most Property Management companies have emergency or out of hours repair numbers, I don't see why the tenant should need to organise their own repairs. My tenant doesn't seem to care about the correct process which potentially costs me more $$.

 

[Luv2Travel]

For urgent repairs, the tenant is supposed to firstly contact the landlord/property manager. If they can't get in touch with them, they can arrange their own repairs, however they should be contacting the nominated contacts first, if there are any. Most property managers will give tenants a list of people of who to contact in these emergency situations. If they can't get in contact with the landlord/property manager, and there are no nominated contacts, then they can arrange for their own repairs.

Depends on what your situation is. Was it after hours so the property manager couldn't be contacted (which might also explain the high bill), and do they have a list of nominated contacts?

 

[S.T]

Tenant should of contacted the PM first, here is the legislation for Victoria.

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/hous...dards-repairs-and-entry-rights/urgent-repairs

 

[fisherman]

Yes I thought that was the case too. And considering most Property Management companies have emergency or out of hours repair numbers, I don't see why the tenant should need to organise their own repairs. My tenant doesn't seem to care about the correct process which potentially costs me more $$.

How did you get the bill?

You need to get the facts from the PM. At the same time ring the electrician to find out why the fuses went. The power circuit should have earth leakage, so was it lights and why? Are you sure it wasn't simply that the earth leakage tripped, but the sparky was told something to get him to attend pronto?

Apart from that, blown fuses while an essential repair do not necessitate a tradesman on site immediately. There is time to effect a repair. There is some discomfort but reason has to apply.

It is not like an emergency call-out of the electricity or gas supplier in the event of a dropped power line or ruptured gas pipe.

 

[mooki24]

How did you get the bill?

You need to get the facts from the PM. At the same time ring the electrician to find out why the fuses went. The power circuit should have earth leakage, so was it lights and why? Are you sure it wasn't simply that the earth leakage tripped, but the sparky was told something to get him to attend pronto?

Apart from that, blown fuses while an essential repair do not necessitate a tradesman on site immediately. There is time to effect a repair. There is some discomfort but reason has to apply.

It is not like an emergency call-out of the electricity or gas supplier in the event of a dropped power line or ruptured gas pipe.

Apparently the fuses, meter and "panel" were melted after many years of damage. $310 all up. The tenant was working on an "important work document" so saw it as an emergency that there was no power. And as far as I can tell, this all happened during business hours on a weekday. So very annoyed that the PM wasn't called.

The tenant then forwarded the bill onto the PM to forward on to me.

 

[mooki24]

For urgent repairs, the tenant is supposed to firstly contact the landlord/property manager. If they can't get in touch with them, they can arrange their own repairs, however they should be contacting the nominated contacts first, if there are any. Most property managers will give tenants a list of people of who to contact in these emergency situations. If they can't get in contact with the landlord/property manager, and there are no nominated contacts, then they can arrange for their own repairs.

Depends on what your situation is. Was it after hours so the property manager couldn't be contacted (which might also explain the high bill), and do they have a list of nominated contacts?

No it was during business hours on a week day and the tenant would have the Property Manager's number.

I just want to know what my rights are. If this happens again can I refuse to pay?

 

[fisherman]

<Apparently the fuses, meter and "panel" were melted after many years of damage>

?
You need to talk with the electrician.

BTW, an "important work document" is not an emergency. But if that was really the damage I'd like to see my electrician on site quickly.

 

[jim1964]

Apparently the fuses, meter and "panel" were melted $310 all up.

Seems a bit odd it was only this amount for the damage described.

 

[wylie]

I'd be checking to see if they didn't follow the rules, whether you need to pay this bill at all.

 

[S.T]

I'd be checking to see if they didn't follow the rules, whether you need to pay this bill at all.

Agree, I wouldn't be paying it.

 

[fisherman]

If the tenant was operating a welder and damaged the wiring after boosting the fuses to suit, it would be unreasonable to pay and I would want to make sure that other damage hasn't occurred. Don't ask why I might give that example (although I only found out later about the tenant rebuilding two 'drifter' cars).

Who knows what happened though until the electrician is quizzed?

I would make sure of what went wrong and why, as best can be determined.

Where legitimate I would pay if reasonable. Remind the tenant of the correct procedure though.

 

[mattysavager]

No it was during business hours on a week day and the tenant would have the Property Manager's number.

This has happened to me before. I forwarded the invoice from XX electrician to my trusted electrician, who told me that the work through him should have only been $100 not $300 and that XX plumber has overcharged.

My owner then pays $100 and the remainder of the bill is an expensive lesson for the tenant - to read the rules and pay attention when signing contracts.

Loss of an essential service is an emergency, but the tenant must follow procedure and contact the agent, otherwise it's their bill. For instance, what if you were an electrician and lived 2 minutes away?

I presume the bill is in the tenant's names, so if you don't pay it, at least the electrician won't be chasing you

Matt

 

[bumskins]

Apparently the fuses, meter and "panel" were melted after many years of damage. $310 all up.

Thats a safety hazard, ofcourse its an emergency.

 

[alplant]

It might be worth a little further investigation as to what actually caused the damage. We had a similar situation, tenant lost power on the weekend when the RE was closed so she called an electrician herself, and eventually the bill was forwarded to us.

When we checked it out with the electrician it turned out the problem was caused by a fuse on the power pole. He mentioned we "might" be entitled to be reimbursed by the power supplier. To our surprise he was right.

 

[Jacaranda]

I would contact the electrician to find out what actually caused the problem and if it was general wear and tear and as a landlord I would pay (it can be claimed as a tax decuction). Also as mentioned check with another electrician if the cost is accuarate.

If the problem was caused by the tenant I would send the bill back to the tenant via the RE and tell them that it is their bill to pay as they didn't follow the process clearly outlined in their lease - especially as it was a week day.

I had a similar problem when a tenant rang to say they didn't have power to half the house but didn't know why - I told her I would get the electrician to call but if it was her fault she had to pay. When the electrician arrived and quizzed her it appears she had almost every appliance she could have running and had triped the switch - So she had to pay the bill, and never did it again.

Good luck

 

[lizzie]

I had a similar situation to Jacaranda where the power switch kept tripping and the tenant wanted to get an electrician out - told the PM to have the tenant turn the power switch back on and plug in her appliances one at a time ... turned out her fridge was faulty.