Who pays, tenant or landlord?

D

danel

Hi Somersofters, I rent a house to a tenant thru an agent. During some windy weather the tenant left the front door open. The wooden door has a small glass headlight panel at the top of the door, its size about 50cm by 30cm. The door slammed, smashing the panel! The agent says that i am liable, the landlord. The bill to come out, temporarily hord it then replace glass with just a basic one was $506!!
I wanted to confirm who should be the one to pay? Thank you!
 
I'm not sure who is liable, but if you need to pay it, you can claim thru buildings insurance.

When my son and his friend broke the window at the friends house, which was rented, the mother of the friend organised to get the window replaced.

But leaving the door open is a bit different to throwing a cricket ball thru a window! I dont know that you could say the brken glass was the tenants fault.
 
danel said:
I wanted to confirm who should be the one to pay?
Click to expand...

See section 56.3 (f) sub-section (iii) of the NSW RTA (1990 version) for clarification.

It clearly states that, and I quote ;

"if a wind stronger than a sparrow's f@rt blows any apperture fixture - be it door or window or other - and causes damage, the Tenant shall not be held liable, and shall serve notice on the Landlord to immediately rectify. If notice is not served, the Landlord is still liable."

Sub-section (iv) goes on to say ;

"if after notification, the Landlord does not promptly, within 2 business days, rectify the damage, the Tenant shall be entitled to free rent until such time as the damage is rectified. Furthermore, the Tenant may sue the Landlord for compensation due to loss of amenity, but not exceeding $ 10,000 for any one incident except by leave of the court."


Basically Danel - and this is most unusual, the Landlord has to cough for it.
 
Dazz, very eloquent. We collect from the tenant. Not sure where the property is, however, here, you break it, you fix it.
 
JamesGG said:
Not in NSW...
Click to expand...

may I ask why not?

rta said:
51 Use of premises by tenant

(1) A tenant must not do any of the following:
(a) use the residential premises, or cause or permit the premises to be used, for any illegal purpose,
(b) cause or permit a nuisance,
(c) interfere, or cause or permit any interference, with the reasonable peace, comfort or privacy of any neighbour of the tenant,
(d) intentionally or negligently cause or permit any damage to the residential premises,
(e) cause or permit a number of persons to reside in the residential premises that exceeds any number specified in the residential tenancy agreement.
(2) A tenant must do the following:
(a) keep the residential premises in a reasonable state of cleanliness, having regard to the condition of the premises at the commencement of the tenancy,
(b) notify the landlord of any damage to the residential premises as soon as practicable after becoming aware of the damage.
Click to expand...

I ask you to look at "1.d"
The tenant left the door open,during a windy spell, causing the damage.
 
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i'm quite suprised by this. I would have thought that its negligent on the part of the Tenant and as such they should replace it. I know i would have.
 
bradcon said:
i'm quite suprised by this. I would have thought that its negligent on the part of the Tenant and as such they should replace it. I know i would have.
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In a perfect world, Kathryn would be right. The tenant would pay. If we were renting, we would have fixed it. But hey, that's us.

It is not a perfect world, however, and I believe that you would have difficulty in getting the funds from the tenant. You can try, but count it as a bonus if they pay. This may come down to your PM too. If they are good (and persuasive) they might suggest that the tenant pay it off at a small amount each week to sweeten the deal, but many take the path of least resistance and will just side with the tenant.
 
danel said:
Hi Somersofters, I rent a house to a tenant thru an agent. During some windy weather the tenant left the front door open. The wooden door has a small glass headlight panel at the top of the door, its size about 50cm by 30cm. The door slammed, smashing the panel! The agent says that i am liable, the landlord. The bill to come out, temporarily hord it then replace glass with just a basic one was $506!!
I wanted to confirm who should be the one to pay? Thank you!
Click to expand...

Get the PM to get another quote or 2 as $506 is ridiculous when a glacier only need to come out, measure up, cut the glass and fit in the door.

But then again its Bondi - eastern Subs and you are getting over the top CG there:rolleyes:

As far as securing the space where the glass would normally be a bit of ply inside and out screwed together normally suffices to secure any broken glass panel right up to shop fronts. So again no need for the door to actually be removed.

Cheers
 
Informed the pm that it is ridiculous considering the same co replaced a huge piece in a retail shop for us last year same money, around $500. They are reviewing the bill.
 
i agree the price was too high - i had a mid sized window replaced last year and only cost me $250 for them to come out, cut on site and replace. i guess it depends also whether it's a putty insert window or rubber - putty being more work to get the glass in and out and tidied up.

as for who is responsible ... living on the nsw mid coast i know that one minute the weather can be stinking hot and still - and the next second a change can whip thru at gale force and we're frantically running around the house trying to close everything.
 
skater said:
In a perfect world, Kathryn would be right. The tenant would pay. If we were renting, we would have fixed it. But hey, that's us.

It is not a perfect world, however, and I believe that you would have difficulty in getting the funds from the tenant. You can try, but count it as a bonus if they pay. This may come down to your PM too. If they are good (and persuasive) they might suggest that the tenant pay it off at a small amount each week to sweeten the deal, but many take the path of least resistance and will just side with the tenant.
Click to expand...

I do tend to live in a perfect world :) Unless I am told no, I go for it.
Have them prove otherwise in court.
We had a tenant break another tenant's window the day they were moving in.They had a bungee cord securing the main door open in the apt building. When they were finished, they let the cord go and it snapped back and broke the large loungeroom window. We paid for the window, and the tenant paid it back over a couple of months. Otherwise we would have kept it from their bbond.

Should you decide to keep it from their bond, I hope you have a written maintenance report from the PM stating the tenant's admitted it was their fault (they left the door open during windy weather)Being a lawyer he should have known better.

How is this any different than if this tenant vacated the property, and you discovered the glass broken. Would you have kept money to repair it then?
 
PM tells me that the invoice was checked with the glass company, it is meant to be laminated safety glass 3mml!!!!
I asked her " who cares, was it really necessary??
Im waiting on her reply. If its compulsory to have safety glass I have no choice!
 
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