Issue with the Tennant

sternjohn662200

Hi all was hoping someone could help us out with an issue we have.


We are renting out our property through a letting agency and we were called to inform us that a kitchen tap was leaking. When this was being fixed the tenant informed the worker that the fitted wardrobe door in the spare room has come off its runners and the framework has come off.

We are renting the house out as unfirnished and the wardrobe was working fine for the 2 years that we were living in the property and from my knowledge of what it looks like - the only way it could come off its runners is through slamming the door or knocking into it with something heavy.

Who is responsible for fixing this as we feel that this was effectively broken by the tennant and it is their responsibility to fix. We understand as landlords it is our job to fix things when they go wrong with leaks etc but this is not wear and tear which has caused this issue.

Thanks for any help.

Nosht

As you are letting it through an Agency surely they will deal with these issues else what do you pay them for? :rolleyes:



Regards,


N.

Lavendyr

Nosht wrote: »

As you are letting it through an Agency surely they will deal with these issues else what do you pay them for? :rolleyes:

An agent can't make decisions on what the landlord will do - that's why they're just the agent, not the principal. :rolleyes:

OP, I think you need to arrange for someone, either yourselves or your agents, to attend the property (giving reasonable written notice, of course) and inspect the damage to the wardrobe. There is no way anyone on here can tell you whether or not the damage was caused by the tenant, and nor should you be making assumptions without inspecting the situation first. Things do break under tenancies that have not broken before (when we first moved into our current tenancy, the oven broke within a week, having been absolutely fine for the landlords previously, and due to no fault of ours).

If the tenants are good in other ways (i.e. paying rent, reporting issues with the house in a timely manner), it may be in your best interests just to replace the wardrobe (assuming it is on the inventory). However if, on attending, you are convinced that the damage was their fault, you could refuse to pay up - you just might end up with some upset tenants as a result. You have to balance the business advantage you gain from not paying up against the risk of upsetting your tenants.

Nosht

Your Agency should have an inventory, even for unfurnished lets, which they can check against any damage & timescale. Ideally this would contain photographs of the rooms &c.



N.

PasturesNew

Doors do come off runners etc etc ... just because stuff worked when you lived there doesn't mean that a tenant's broken it if it's not working now.

You need to get somebody out there to assess it