tenants want compensation...as if

[quintets]

The tenants informed us of a shower leak and we discovered the leak was in the shower hob, as well as the wall tiles which were bowing out from the wall. After a silicone patch didn't work. We decided to refurbish the whole bathroom. Except for the bath, which we managed to reuse, everything is new. We got replaced the shower stall with a shower bath and moved the vanity to open up the space. We also added a heated towel rack and 3-in-1 light/heat/fan. It looks really nice.

The water closet, a separate room, was not renovated at all.

Granted, from the first report to the finished bathroom, it took 7 months. We had to repeat the quotes because the PM stuffed up the first set. And we needed to wait for a tax refund to come in. In the end, the work took exactly what the contractor said; he finished in 8 days.

Now the tenants are asking consideration for compensation for lack of a shower and washing up facilities.

Aside from the gall, are there any legal reasons why I should compensate?

I've got half a mind to raise the rent.

Jireh

 

[Bandita]

Hi Jireh,

Were the tenants on a month to month basis, or a yearly lease? When does the lease expire?

I could understand them wanting some sort of compensation depending on how long they couldn't use the facilities - was it only the 8 days they couldn't use the shower/washing facilities? Did they have to stay somewhere else during that time because of needing a shower? If their complaint was a leaky shower, and rather than fix just that you decided to renovate - that's not exactly their problem. Tenants still have to be able to use the facilities they are paying for - and the renovations also meant they had to allow the renovators in their home, which isn't always a pleasant experience.

Are they good tenants who you want to keep? That would play a huge factor in what we would do.

Cheers,
Jen

 

[skater]

We had to replace a kitchen because of leaking plumbing. Tenants tried the "we want compensation" game with us. I said fine, you can have free rent for the time you were without a kitchen, but the rent will increase $10pw now that you have better facilities ie new kitchen. They decided compensation wasn't in order.

 

[pulse]

Jireh, Tenants pay for a house with running water, a kitchen, a toilet, a shower, all to enjoy with peace and quiet. Therefore they do deserve compensation. As Skater said if the bathroom is improved and the rent stays the same that is compensation enough. You could explain this to them.

Don't get angry at them, just put yourself in their position. Offer them a carton of beer and $50 cash with a smile. Then increase the rent in a few months and smile again, this time genuinely.

Cheers
Pulse

 

[The Y-man]

I am generally quite generous with compensation - a week's worth of rent here and there:

1. does not hit my bottom line too much in the big picture (considering vacanacies can be a lot longer than that with some of our IP's)

2. the rental yield on our IP's are pretty low anyway

3. all of our IP's are for capital growth, and again, in the big, long term picture, it is not a big thing.


Cheers,

The Y-man

 

[simonjulie]

1.Ask them What would make them happy?
2.Compromise/negotiate and find a solution.
3.THEN, get rid of them.
Simon
Step three is only if they really P*&^ you off.

 

[quintets]

Hi Jireh,
Are they good tenants who you want to keep? That would play a huge factor in what we would do.

Actually, no they're not good tenants. They're currently under a performance order for rent. They're keeping up with it, but I know it's the young guy in the couple who's asking for compensation. He's got a chip on his shoulder and has been known to "spend the rent money". I'd prefer they weren't there. The PM is a bit of a soft touch on these two because she's good friends with the mother of the young girl on the lease. The PM keeps telling me the girl is the responsible one as if it's supposed to make me feel better. I want to get rid of the PM as well.

Jireh, Tenants pay for a house with running water, a kitchen, a toilet, a shower, all to enjoy with peace and quiet. Therefore they do deserve compensation. As Skater said if the bathroom is improved and the rent stays the same that is compensation enough. You could explain this to them.

Don't get angry at them, just put yourself in their position. Offer them a carton of beer and $50 cash with a smile. Then increase the rent in a few months and smile again, this time genuinely.

Cheers
Pulse

I'd rather get rid of them, quite frankly. But that's not going to be easy.

We had to replace a kitchen because of leaking plumbing. Tenants tried the "we want compensation" game with us. I said fine, you can have free rent for the time you were without a kitchen, but the rent will increase $10pw now that you have better facilities ie new kitchen. They decided compensation wasn't in order.

Hmmm...it's fair for them to ask for compensation. It's fair for us to increase the rent with a new bathroom significantly better than what they had before. I think that's probably the best approach...once they've caught up on their rent. We'd probably look vindictive if we did it while they're still trying to catch up. However, when we took them to the tribunal, there was no "hardship" claim in their case...I'll have to double check with the PM. But if they so much as miss payment by a second, they're going on TICA.

Jireh

 

[Bandita]

Hi Jireh,

I saved my cheeky response for if you didn't like the tenants Like Skater said, i you don't want them to stay on, tell them you'll give them compensation (I would say maybe 40-50% of the weeks rent, or payment of the water bill?), but then (if they're on a month-month lease) the rent increases to $XXX; or (if on a year lease) then when their lease expires, it increases to $XXX immediately (hopefully not too far off??). Or, of course they can choose their compensation to be that you don't increase the rent .

Cheers,
Jen

 

[quintets]

Hi Jireh,

I saved my cheeky response for if you didn't like the tenants Like Skater said, i you don't want them to stay on, tell them you'll give them compensation (I would say maybe 40-50% of the weeks rent, or payment of the water bill?), but then (if they're on a month-month lease) the rent increases to $XXX;

JenD, I think we need a special emoticon for "cheeky".

Yeah...I don't like the tenants. The guy in particular, is a bit immature. The girl is the responsible one. When he takes over the rent, payments go missing for a long time. The girl is like clockwork. The PM seems to be keen on "protecting" them as if it's a personal thing for her. She knows the girl's mother. It became evident by what happened at the rental tribunal, the PM is actively working against our stated desire to get them out.

Anyway, they're on month-to-month right now. I'm going to tell them I don't mind compensating them if they don't mind paying more rent right away for the luxury bathroom they get to use now. If they don't take the compensation, I'll raise rent in the new year anyway.

The truly tricky bit is we probably want to sell this property in the next 6-12 months. But that's next year's problem.

Jireh

 

[Pushka]

We rented for a few months a couple of years ago when we were between homes. We paid for a two toilet home (basically family with teenagers). The toilet plugged up a couple of months into the contract and we were without it for a month; further, i had to be home for 4 days while tiling and plumbing repairs were made to the bathroom (we had sewerage spilling into the only shower!) home again for 2 repairs as a result of white ant damage, (one involved a window that could have shattered at any time); home again for oven repairs, home again for replacement of the fire alarm system when the roof leaked and caused the alarm to shriek for 20 hours straight! Did our landlord apologise for the invconvenience - nope; did she say sorry about missing time from work to be available for repairs - nope! All she did was complain because I had called an emergency plumber when the sewerage flooded into the shower and she did not return my calls for 24 hours!

And she wonders why I was happy to finish my lease!

 

[crest133]

Hi Jireh
I suggest you don't complicate the issues.
For each issue - isolate it, and individually finalise each one.
Finalise any compensation due to the tenants for being without water or kitchen washup or whatever, and do it in writing with their signature signing off on the mutually agreed amount. That ends that problem.
Then, maintain and protect your right to raise the rent in view of property improvements. Better not to compromise your rights to raise the rent.
Tenants can create confusion, cloud issues, argue what's due, blurr the lines and as you know Tribunals favour tenants. So keep it all separate and clear, otherwise you can end up in a Tribunal bargaining this for that.
Divide and conquer one square of the game board at a time while watching the whole board.
cheers
crest133

 

[quintets]

Hi Jireh
I suggest you don't complicate the issues.
For each issue - isolate it, and individually finalise each one.
Finalise any compensation due to the tenants for being without water or kitchen washup or whatever, and do it in writing with their signature signing off on the mutually agreed amount. That ends that problem.
Then, maintain and protect your right to raise the rent in view of property improvements. Better not to compromise your rights to raise the rent.
Tenants can create confusion, cloud issues, argue what's due, blurr the lines and as you know Tribunals favour tenants. So keep it all separate and clear, otherwise you can end up in a Tribunal bargaining this for that.
Divide and conquer one square of the game board at a time while watching the whole board.
cheers
crest133

Crest133,

Hmmm...thanks for the analysis. Trying to look at it rationally, there are three issues need to properly understood. This is the first time I've been in a situation like this, so please bear with me.

1. Compensation for the loss of use of bathroom (washroom and bath, not toilet)
2. Rent rise due to inflation, interest rates, cost of new bathroom
3. Outstanding performance order for non-payment of rent which is in force until end of the year. (this is the tricky bit)

Should I just offer some "reasonable" compensation and NOT mention the rent rise? The important thing is to ensure they accept the offer and sign off on it. That takes care of issue (1). Then when to (2) depends on how things are going with (3).

Does this make sense?

Jireh

 

[tssk]

Have to say, I've never recieved compensation from the landlord when something has gone wrong. Why would I? I'm out a bit, he's out a lot more.

Although my patience is wearing thin, the shower head on our shower died and we've had no joy asking for a replacement.

Replaced it ourself however this time I'm prepared for the same news we got last time. When the place sells it will be classed as one of the landlords fixtures.

Sigh.

 

[ggumpshots]

A very serious issue you are not addressing is the PM.
You should go with your gut feeling and find a good PM before another problem arises..........dont put this off.

I agree that not being able to wash deserves compenasation but since you have had troubles in the past I wonder what would happen if you did nothing. Maybe they would leave in anger. maybe they would kick a few walls in. Maybe they would forget about compensation.
As crest33 says .........great post btw........
see exactly what they want .
you can say no , then always change your mind and offer something if necessary.
What kind of lease are they on?
I always try to keep the tenants happy as I hope /expect they will look after the property. I havent had the misfortune to have really bad tenants.
I wonder how my views mightchange in the real world if that happened

 

[quintets]

she's gone!

The PM doesn't know it, but she's been in the exit lounge for some time. We haven't axed her yet because since she found this dodgy tenant and seemed more than willing to go to the tribunal, we decided to ride this out until near the end of the performance order.

During the tribunal, the tenant offered to catch up by doubing the payments (ie. $200 rent plus $200 catchup). We gave very explicit instructions to the PM beforehand that we want them out, but at the tribunal, she actually suggested a smaller amount because they might not be able to make that big a payment. If they missed a payment, all we would have to do is call a sherrif. If we had taken the $200 payments, there's a good chance we'd be rid of the tenant. She is actively working against us, not to mention a whole host of other sins. In general, the past two tenants have each gone to tribunal. She picks 'em, she fixes 'em. She's never charged us for the tribunal appearances, probably to keep us happy. Doesn't matter.

She's also telling the tenant how to ask for compensation, even though they were late and are still in the process of catching up. She's sent me a draft of the compensation letter from us, and left out the amount I had suggested because she thought "it wasn't what they were expecting". I'll just wait until they catchup before responding.

I kinda feel like the PM is on the lease now all of a sudden. I can't trust her to work on my behalf.

Jireh

 

[ggumpshots]

My stomach is churning when I read this additional information.
Your PM seems very unprofessional