Urgent! Tenants vacating - Water damaged floor board

[kai41314]

Hi everyone,

My tenants in Victoria just moved out few days ago and during bond inspection, I found unreported water damaged floor board.

I guess there could be three possible reasons:

1. The waterproofing of shower booth needs to be redone.
2. The shower drain leaks
3. The tenants didn't close the shower door when they take a shower (not likely)

I am a bit upset because tenants could have told me earlier so the damage can be not that bad. It was newly renovated. Really need help with the questions below:

1. Do tenants have any legal responsibilities of not telling me? What can I do?

2. How much does it cost to repair?

3. I have Terri Sheer landlord insurance (Victoria). Can I make any claim on this?

Please see attached photos.

Thanks,
Kai

 

[bumblegoodie]

check the pre-ingoing condition report to see if this was damaged before.

have they notify the PM previously?

 

[Xenia IM]

Yes tenants do have legal responsibilities to report all damages.

get a quote for repairs

follow up with a hearing against the tenants to establish total debt owing.
Use that debt for insurance claim.

 

[S.T]

i had trouble spotting the damage to the floor boards? Doesn't look bad at all from the pics.

 

[marg4000]

Looks like a leaking shower tray.

That minor damage looks like it has been there for a while. Can't blame the tenant - it should have been picked up by you or the PM during a regular inspection.
Marg

 

[Ed Barton]

Looks like a shower leak problem.

 

[thatbum]

Yes tenants do have legal responsibilities to report all damages.

get a quote for repairs

follow up with a hearing against the tenants to establish total debt owing.
Use that debt for insurance claim.

Jeez - is your standard advice to just try and pin all damage during a tenancy on the tenants? By starting tribunal proceedings and seeing what sticks?

What if the owner loses? I guess the property manager still gets paid.

 

[handyandy]

I agree that it looks like the shower water proofing has failed.

You can see a slight stain up the wall next to the tiles seems that the water is coming from at least the height of the stain.

Cheers

 

[Macca]

Stain on wall in photo1 looks about 300mm up wall so I would guess a leak within the wall.

I would get a plumber to pressure test the pipes for leaks

 

[Salvatore1]

Photos indicate a cracked membrane in the shower (probable the floor). Your insurance company will not cover you for this issue or repair. There would never of been pools of water and the timber would of stained over time. It should of been picked up by the agent or yourself during inspections. Tenant can't be held responsibly.

 

[Crystalclear]

In Victoria it is the responsibility of the tenant to report issues such as this, but my first question would be why was it not noticed at routine inspections? If you were to try and take this to VCAT you would not gain any compensation as the damage has clearly been caused by a leaking shower, the fact that the tenant did not report it would unfortunately not hold up at VCAT. Terri Scheer insurance may assist you but the onus of fixing the actual leak is on you and the damage would be covered once the leak is fixed. I would guess by experience that the cost of an insurance claim versus the cost of fixing the leak which you will probably have to remove tiles and put new sheeting and waterproofing down, replacing this small part of skirt and cleaning up the wall and painting it would be all one thing.

 

[Lil Skater]

Tenants should have told you, it's their responsibility - but a lot don't notice.

Your PM should've noticed, and also should've given you some advice. Can't pin this on the tenant, you could try - but you would lose.

It's your PM's responsibility to tell all tenants that the onus relies on the to advise of any damages, and to educate the tenants on possible issues. Like this one.

Looks like a leak to me, may be covered under building insurance but that depends on your policy. Get some quotes.

 

[Scott No Mates]

That's not a leak it's faulty workmanship. It is likely that the waterproof membrane is nit installed correctly (current code requires it be installed over the graded bed and sloped to the drain.) The bed is saturated and overflowing the angle on thw edge of the tiling.