Urgent advice please! Problem with tenant!

clutton_2

mchale says ""Not if you leave a contact number & explaination, like most things in life, problems only arise through poor communication ""

have you actually read the type of "communication" coming from this tenant ? she clearly is not open to discussion...... hence my advice about deeming this an emergency - a LL IS entitled under law to maintain their property

mchale

clutton wrote: »

have you actually read the type of "communication" coming from this tenant ? she clearly is not open to discussion...... hence my advice about deeming this an emergency - a LL IS entitled under law to maintain their property

Yes,

agreed its a emergency, but the is no need to enter property to isolate problem, with a tenant like this you would just be opening up another can of worms, in my opinion if you entered the property without tenants permission, the 1st thing the tenant would ask is why didn't you switch water off from outside?

clutton_2

not every property has access to an external source.... in some streets, one stop-c0ck covers several properties and i believe that access to these are only allolwed with the water companies permission

neverdespairgirl

mchale wrote: »

Yes,

agreed its a emergency, but the is no need to enter property to isolate problem, with a tenant like this you would just be opening up another can of worms, in my opinion if you entered the property without tenants permission, the 1st thing the tenant would ask is why didn't you switch water off from outside?

Depends on the house. With lots, you can't do it from outside.

kmmr

pimento wrote: »

Why not just give the tenant the plumber's number and tell her to arrange a convenient time herself?

There was someone on this forum not that long ago complaining about how dare the LL expect him to arrange a plumber and let him in, as it was the LL's job! And then made the LL take a day off and come over to let the plumber in, even though the tenant was at home.

Sometimes you just can't win...

clutton_2

i entered a property as an emergency this year for the first time in 11 years. I did so with a witness, and the tenant went ballistic... we sorted one of the emergencies and left...

All that happened afterwards was a few "threatening" emails from her legal executive, claiming i had assaulted her dog and children... all lies..

No big deal...

Had she taken me to court i would have had ample photographic evidence along with an independent witness statement to have convinced a judge my actions were necessary.. in addition to all the history of "un-tenant-like behaviour".

This is why keeping records of tenancies, conversations, visits etc is so crucial.

It is my strongly held view that tenants who refuse access for maintainace on a regular basis are breaching their own legal responsiblity to act in a Tenant like manner.

paul1964_2

far2812 wrote: »

Hi All - need some urgent advice please.

My tenant rang to tell me that there is a leak in the kitchen, I have called a plumber and the only time he can come for me is tomorrow morning at 8.30am.

I called my tenant to ask her if she would be home and if not, if ok with her for me to let myself in!

Stupidly I allowed her 2 dogs in the property and she has left me a really sh**ty message saying that "it is not my problem that there is a leak - and you MUST arrange a time to suit me! I dont want you in my home without me being there as I don't know how the dogs will behave so sort it out"

Firstly I am so sick of the way she speaks to me - I want the plumber in there to sort the leak!

Any advice please?

As this thread appears to have turned into a bit of a tenant-bashing session, I thought you may appreciate an alternate view.....

Your tenant acted correctly in informing you of a leak. In response, you gave the tenant a fixed time for your chosen plumber to attend. Surely you appreciate that your tenant may have commitments that cannot be changed at such short notice. Could you not have been a bit more flexible about this and perhaps found a plumber who could have made a more convenient appointment?

You also seem to have a problem with the tone of your tenant's message. The content of the message appears to be perfectly reasonable - it is her home and she is absolutely right to be concerned about the reaction of her dogs should strangers enter. After all, she may be liable if she permits you to let yourself in and her dog bites the plumber. Perhaps the message is a little terse, but this is understandable as you appear to be acting in a rather inflexible manner.

BitterAndTwisted

You'll notice that the OP phoned and ASKED if they could enter with the plumber the next morning. I don't see anything wrong with that. What I do see something wrong with is the tenant's reaction that the emergency should be dealt with at a time that suits them but they appear not to have given any indication of when that might have been.

Goodwill and being reasonable should be a two-way street

paul1964_2

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

You'll notice that the OP phoned and ASKED if they could enter with the plumber the next morning. I don't see anything wrong with that.

The tenant said no because the time (singular) was inconvenient. I don't see anything wrong with that.

sinbad182

paul1964 wrote: »

The tenant said no because the time (singular) was inconvenient. I don't see anything wrong with that.

"it is not my problem that there is a leak - and you MUST arrange a time to suit me! I dont want you in my home without me being there as I don't know how the dogs will behave so sort it out"

You dont talk like that to anyone, its needlessly rude and hostile. Fair enough if the landlords plumber appointment is not convenient, and you dont want them coming in without you, but to leave a message like that without offering any possible alternate times is just looking for an argument.