fussy tennants

SuzieSue

ognum wrote: »

I would always supply a carbon monoxide detector I think it is fool hardy not to.

Agreed even if only for purely selfish reasons - if your tenant dies of CO poisoning you will have to spend time and money finding another one.

ognum

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

LOL!

Back to the towel heater replacement comment I made earlier ... don't even consider of taking up the bathroom floor while these tenants are there.

Their first thought will almost certainly be compensation for the temporary loss of bathroom access while the workman is in.
Don't even go there, there's a whole load of ill will waiting to happen and it's just not worth it for a towel rail.

I agree, suggest they get one of those clip on things for radiators if they need warm towels!!!

outofmoney

Apart from the CO detector, whilst thee may appear small points to you, please try to remember this is currently their home. You may have been happy to live with a cupboard not closing properly or a missing cap of the tap but these things will make the place look a little shoddy. If they are paying the rent why shouldn't they be entitled to have a nice looking place?

I am sure you would complain if you walked into a hotel room and found the towel rail not working and bits missing or ill fitting. Surely you would be requesting a discount or change of room.

G_M

There are several issues here and they need to be considered seperately.

1) Establishing the base condition of the property. This is so that at the end of the tenancy, when potentially the landlord will make deductions for damage from the tenant's deposit, the condition at the end can be compared with the base condition.

Normally this is done via the inventory (hence all the Qs about what your inventory says), but if there is no inventory, or it is inadequate, or worse still, inaccurate, the tenants may well wish to get on record that various things are broken so that they don't get accused/charged later. This is something any sensible tenant would do, in writing.

2) Repairing obligations. Although malcolmffc said earlier these things were not a LL's statutory obligations to repair:
a) they might be contractual obligations - either express (I can't see the tenancy agreement from here!) or implied (were the tenants given the impression the towel rail would work?)
b) Even if not obligations, keeping tenants happy is wise, though you do of course have to draw the line somewhere.

Like artful I agree you need to be more involved, and more aware. Join a LLs Association, read good books, go on a course - generally learn more about your business.

The fact that you don't even seem to know what the inventory of your property says is worrying!

Also the relationship you have with the agent seems worrying. Does the agent have clear instructions about what repairs they are authorised to arrange on your behalf (at your cost)? Do they know when/if to refer to you before spending your money? What is the extent of their management contract?

edit: did the agents say anything about how the lock was broken? If not, why not??? And did you ask? If not, why not???? What did the locksmith say? If nothing, why was he not asked by the agent?

bigmock

G_M wrote: »

There are several issues here and they need to be considered seperately.

1) Establishing the base condition of the property. This is so that at the end of the tenancy, when potentially the landlord will make deductions for damage from the tenant's deposit, the condition at the end can be compared with the base condition.

Normally this is done via the inventory (hence all the Qs about what your inventory says), but if there is no inventory, or it is inadequate, or worse still, inaccurate, the tenants may well wish to get on record that various things are broken so that they don't get accused/charged later. This is something any sensible tenant would do, in writing.

2) Repairing obligations. Although malcolmffc said earlier these things were not a LL's statutory obligations to repair:
a) they might be contractual obligations - either express (I can't see the tenancy agreement from here!) or implied (were the tenants given the impression the towel rail would work?)
b) Even if not obligations, keeping tenants happy is wise, though you do of course have to draw the line somewhere.

Like artful I agree you need to be more involved, and more aware. Join a LLs Association, read good books, go on a course - generally learn more about your business.

The fact that you don't even seem to know what the inventory of your property says is worrying!

Also the relationship you have with the agent seems worrying. Does the agent have clear instructions about what repairs they are authorised to arrange on your behalf (at your cost)? Do they know when/if to refer to you before spending your money? What is the extent of their management contract?

edit: did the agents say anything about how the lock was broken? If not, why not??? And did you ask? If not, why not???? What did the locksmith say? If nothing, why was he not asked by the agent?

hello the inventory is at my boyfriends house so i do not have it with me at the moment, and i called the agents today and apparently the fault was with the door and not the tenants fault. still though any normal person would not expect if something goes missing that there landlord has managed to break in while they are there and steal their belongings i mean that is just ridiculous

Kynthia

bigmock wrote: »

hello the inventory is at my boyfriends house so i do not have it with me at the moment, and i called the agents today and apparently the fault was with the door and not the tenants fault. still though any normal person would not expect if something goes missing that there landlord has managed to break in while they are there and steal their belongings i mean that is just ridiculous

I've agreed with alot of what you've posted, however I dissagree wtih you here. If you come home and find stuff missing when you hadn't let anyone in and there was no evidence of a breakin, wouldn't you consider the stranger who almost certainly has keys? The difference is that I probably wouldn't have said anything to a landlord about my suspicions unless there was something else to reinforce them.

G_M

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

It would be a pretty stupid landlord who would steal from his own tenants.

The former tenants, however ....

??? How could it be the former tenants?

Naturally the landlord changes the locks between tenancies as a matter of course.

Ulfar

Plus believe it or not some landlords are dodgy in the extreme.

If the doors are the plastic double glazing type there is a problem with standard euro cylinders look up "lock bumping".

lighting_up_the_chalice

I think you may be misrepresenting your tenants slightly. Apart from the petty list you have noted on here, you admit that there were other issues that even you, as a LL, felt should be addressed. If you give a person the opportunity to complain, you shouldn't really be too surprised if they raise every possible issue. Far better to have got those obvious issues dealt with. The labeling on taps is, obviously, a very minor issue, but the 5 you haven't mentioned clearly weren't, as you have acted upon them.

I suspect that your tenants are raising every issue as an act of self defence against a less than perfect LL. Like buying a car because it has AC then, when driving it home, discovering that the AC isn't working. I'm pretty sure you would be expecting suitable reparation under those circs and, having been stiffed once, checking every detail of the car that didn't match the advert.

These aren't fussy tenants, they are responsible tenants looking after a property which is their home. Rejoice that you have found such a rare breed of tenant and ensure that you keep them for as long as possible.

allthingsmustpass

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

That's the point I'm always making to new landlords.

Many tenants expect hotel service on rental money.

Many landlords expect hotel money for zero service.

You're in business, act like it and treat your customers like customers. They aren't there to hand over free money or to dig you out of your debt hole, they are paying customers and as such rightly demand a service in line with the amount they are paying.

Too many landlords see renting out a property as a passive income source and don't even consider it to be a business. Wrong. You are in business and you have customers to please. Pull your collective fingers out or earn some money in a field in which you are actually capable.