Tenant asking landlord for compensation

E201

Dear all,
My new tenant is asking that I compensate her. I have pasted her email below for you to read:


Email Starts: As you are aware I have highlighted a few things that initially concerned me about the property. These initial concerns have taken a back seat these last 2 months as I have been trying tackle independently the new issues that arise almost every week with the property.

As I told you in the beginning I am seldom at the property meaning I can be a lot more laid back with certain things however, the increasing amount of maintenance I am having to do to maintain the flat its becoming unfair and not the tenants responsibility.

1. I have to buy every 3 weeks air freshener to put by my front door to try and combat the smell of cannabis. You informed me / assured me that you and the other landlords where trying to rectify the situation with the occupant of flat 1. After living here for 2 months I have observed many things in terms of this. flat 1 has many “visitors” that come at all hours of the night who slam the gate attached to my wall constantly waking me up. I can not open my windows due to the smell. Please explain to me why nothing has been put in place to combat the illegal activity that is very clearly operating out of this building.

2. The Hob that I have provided photos to you of. The thick layer of rust that is on top of each ring every time I use the hob the rust burns and fills my kitchen and flat with a vile smell and black smoke.

3. 3 times I have spent hours cleaning the drains along the side of the property due to the fact that they are so filthy that the smell comes back into the flat every time I run a tap. Iv spent money on drain unblocker /sink cleaner /rinse to no avail.

4. The mould in the bathroom still remains. I gave you a quote of £75 to have a tradesmen from my company come and re grout and reseal the bath as the mould gets worse every week and I spend hours cleaning it to try and maintain it. You said you would have a look at quotes... I assume you had no luck.

5. The washing machine. I appreciate that it is a larger cost. And cannot happen at the drop of a hat. I made you aware of the washing machine issue on 12th of July. You ordered a washing machine which since I have found out could have been next day delivered. To arrive on the 26th. 14 days later. The cost of next day delivery was £25.00. A cost I would have covered myself if I had been asked - as in 3 weeks I had no washing machine I had to travel to do washing and use the laundrette. How ever you made a decision that impacted my standard of living. Which has now turned into a complete mess with the flooding of the bathroom and the delay of the delivery leaving me with no washing facility for 4 weeks. I am now running a dehumidifier at my own cost to try and dry out the bathroom to avoid more mould forming. A dehumidifier that holds 12 litres of water that I have now emptied twice.

6. There is not signal for a TV in this flat. The wires are so old and broken they are unusable I paid £45 to get an indoor aerial.

I keep the flat immaculate and I hope you would agree uphold my side of our tenancy agreement and more by doing as much as I am able to improve and upkeep the flat.

I cannot personally keep trying to manage these issues. The standard of the environment of this property is sub par. As a landlord you have to facilitate a standard of living in the property.

Due to this I am requesting that we come to an agreement of reimbursing and compensating me for the trouble, the time and the issues I have had to deal with. While I understand not all this is directly a fault of your own doing it is not mine either and therefore I think it is fair and acceptable to request this. (Email finishes here).

Does this sound reasonable to you? I’m a new landlord so wondered what my next step should be. I don’t believe the flat is sub par.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate your thoughts.

G_M

Have you visited the property, discussed the tenant's concerns, and attempted to fix the issues?

1) is a matter for the police - not the landlord.

2) is the hob rusty?If yes, replace it.If no, inform T it is not rusty.

3) sounds like a drain problem needs investigating. There should not be a smell. Either there is a blockage you need to have cleared, or a structural issue eg no proper U-bend to stop smells backing up. Have you investigated or ignored?


4) have you investigated the cause? Is the bathroom properly ventilated? Does the T open the windows/use the extractor fan when bathing? Does the T dry washing in the bathroom (causing humidity and damp)?

Does the grout /sealant need replacing? Yes or no? Have you looked?

5) as I understand it, the T requested a new washing machine yes? And you provided one. Sorted! T should be grateful. (no idea why this caused a flood in the bathroom....)

6) was a TV signalagreed in the tenancy agreement?If yes, you need toprovide a suitable aerial. If not, it is up to the T. The T appears to have sorted this.

tacpot12

It doesn't sound like you have been looking after your tenant very well. I think I would try to sort out all the problems she has raised, so that there is no need for any ongoing compensation.

The mold issue is not going to be solved by regrouting the bath. The bathroom needs a humidity-controlled extractor fan. The fan needs to be a quiet as possible.

The symptoms from the hob doesn't sound like rust. Rust doesn't smell or smoke when it gets hot. Clean the hob of whatever gunk is on it. Check the tenants pans for gunk as well - if they are not clean when the hob has been cleaned, they will just gunk it up again.

If you fix all the problems, then a small amount of compensation, say £50 would be reasonable, but fix the problems first before agreeing to any compensation.

When something fails, like a washing machine, imagine how long you (or your wife) would put up with the failure, and treat the tenant like you would treat yourself or wife.

lookstraightahead

Yes I think it's reasonable. Sounds like an awful way to be living. Your tenant is your customer.

E201

Sincerely appreciate the reply and your suggestions- will follow up with the tenant and get things sorted out.

Best regards,

-taff

the police are responsible for number 1. It is not up to you to.police someone's activity. No compensation.

The washing machine, did you agree to provide one in the avreement? If you didn't, no compensation.
The bathroom, why did it flood? Does it have an extractor fan? If the flood is the fault of the tenant, no comoensation.
Drains, have you had someone look at them? Get someone to have a look. No compensation.
The hob. Is it rusty? If yes,, change it. No compensation.
Is there a tv aerial? If there is and it's rubbish, get it sorted out. No compensation.


However, if you want to keep this tenant, and the issues are issues, not the product of an overly fussy person, offer them something. If you don't want to and are happy to find another one, don't bother.

None of these are massive issues but altogether they may be pushing them over the edge... Do some investigation and then decide.

saajan_12

E201 wrote: »

Dear all,
My new tenant is asking that I compensate her. I have pasted her email below for you to read:


Email Starts: As you are aware I have highlighted a few things that initially concerned me about the property. These initial concerns have taken a back seat these last 2 months as I have been trying tackle independently the new issues that arise almost every week with the property.

As I told you in the beginning I am seldom at the property meaning I can be a lot more laid back with certain things however, the increasing amount of maintenance I am having to do to maintain the flat its becoming unfair and not the tenants responsibility.

1. I have to buy every 3 weeks air freshener to put by my front door to try and combat the smell of cannabis. - airfresh isn't unreasonable maintenance for a Tenant. You informed me / assured me that you and the other landlords where trying to rectify the situation with the occupant of flat 1. After living here for 2 months I have observed many things in terms of this. flat 1 has many “visitors” that come at all hours of the night who slam the gate attached to my wall constantly waking me up. I can not open my windows due to the smell. Please explain to me why nothing has been put in place to combat the illegal activity that is very clearly operating out of this building. - the neighbours are not LL's responsibility. Clearly inform the tenant that you are not making any commitments here, this is something they need to deal with through the police for illegal activity or the council if its just noise.

2. The Hob that I have provided photos to you of. The thick layer of rust that is on top of each ring every time I use the hob the rust burns and fills my kitchen and flat with a vile smell and black smoke. - is the hob rusted and causing a dangerous smoke through normal use? Was it in the same condition when Tenant viewed and agreed to take on the property? If it can't be used safely to heat food then you need to replace regardless of the condition when they viewed though.

3. 3 times I have spent hours cleaning the drains along the side of the property due to the fact that they are so filthy that the smell comes back into the flat every time I run a tap. Iv spent money on drain unblocker /sink cleaner /rinse to no avail. - internal drains are the Tenant's responsibility, but external drains are LL's. You need to get a tradesperson to clean / unblock / check the cause.

4. The mould in the bathroom still remains. I gave you a quote of £75 to have a tradesmen from my company come and re grout and reseal the bath as the mould gets worse every week and I spend hours cleaning it to try and maintain it. You said you would have a look at quotes... I assume you had no luck. - where is the mould coming from? is there a pipe leaking / external leak / property issue that's causing it or is the tenant not ventilating etc?

5. The washing machine. I appreciate that it is a larger cost. And cannot happen at the drop of a hat. I made you aware of the washing machine issue on 12th of July. You ordered a washing machine which since I have found out could have been next day delivered. To arrive on the 26th. 14 days later. The cost of next day delivery was £25.00. A cost I would have covered myself if I had been asked - as in 3 weeks I had no washing machine I had to travel to do washing and use the laundrette. - were you responsible for the washing machine? IF you agreed to replace out of goodwill, then nothing further here.
How ever you made a decision that impacted my standard of living. Which has now turned into a complete mess with the flooding of the bathroom and the delay of the delivery leaving me with no washing facility for 4 weeks. I am now running a dehumidifier at my own cost to try and dry out the bathroom to avoid more mould forming. A dehumidifier that holds 12 litres of water that I have now emptied twice. - what is the cause of the leak in the bathroom and what does this have to do with washing machine?

6. There is not signal for a TV in this flat. The wires are so old and broken they are unusable I paid £45 to get an indoor aerial. - was there any commitment to a working TV aerial either in the tenancy agreement or verbally? If yes, then you should compensate the cost YOU would have paid to fix (unless you gave permission the Tenant should have given you a chance to fix, so if Tenant overpaid that's on them). If nothing was mentioned or visible about working TV connection, then this was the Tenant's choice to improve, nothing further needed from you.

I keep the flat immaculate and I hope you would agree uphold my side of our tenancy agreement and more by doing as much as I am able to improve and upkeep the flat. - immaculate / improving is their choice, for their own living situation - no benefit to you. Upholding the agreement is their responsibility - no prizes there.

I cannot personally keep trying to manage these issues. The standard of the environment of this property is sub par. As a landlord you have to facilitate a standard of living in the property.

Due to this I am requesting that we come to an agreement of reimbursing and compensating me for the trouble, the time and the issues I have had to deal with. While I understand not all this is directly a fault of your own doing it is not mine either and therefore I think it is fair and acceptable to request this. (Email finishes here).

Does this sound reasonable to you? I’m a new landlord so wondered what my next step should be. I don’t believe the flat is sub par.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate your thoughts.

You need to establish whether some of these issues are in fact there and what caused them. If they are issues with the property, you would need to investigate and possibly fix in a reasonable timeframe, in particular:
- hob rust causing dangerous smoke preventing normal, safe use?
- outdoor drains blocked?
- mould and bathroom leak due to inherent property issues?

The rest sound like tenant issues or have been resolved, so I would calmly point this out.

Comms69

E201 wrote: »

Dear all,
My new tenant is asking that I compensate her. I have pasted her email below for you to read:


Email Starts: As you are aware I have highlighted a few things that initially concerned me about the property. These initial concerns have taken a back seat these last 2 months as I have been trying tackle independently the new issues that arise almost every week with the property.

As I told you in the beginning I am seldom at the property meaning I can be a lot more laid back with certain things however, the increasing amount of maintenance I am having to do to maintain the flat its becoming unfair and not the tenants responsibility.

1. I have to buy every 3 weeks air freshener to put by my front door to try and combat the smell of cannabis. You informed me / assured me that you and the other landlords where trying to rectify the situation with the occupant of flat 1. After living here for 2 months I have observed many things in terms of this. flat 1 has many “visitors” that come at all hours of the night who slam the gate attached to my wall constantly waking me up. I can not open my windows due to the smell. Please explain to me why nothing has been put in place to combat the illegal activity that is very clearly operating out of this building. - not your problem. Tell her to call the police if a crime is happening.

2. The Hob that I have provided photos to you of. The thick layer of rust that is on top of each ring every time I use the hob the rust burns and fills my kitchen and flat with a vile smell and black smoke. - £5 says it's not rust. It just needs cleaning

3. 3 times I have spent hours cleaning the drains along the side of the property due to the fact that they are so filthy that the smell comes back into the flat every time I run a tap. Iv spent money on drain unblocker /sink cleaner /rinse to no avail. - Not sure what this refers to?

4. The mould in the bathroom still remains. I gave you a quote of £75 to have a tradesmen from my company come and re grout and reseal the bath as the mould gets worse every week and I spend hours cleaning it to try and maintain it. You said you would have a look at quotes... I assume you had no luck. - tell her to air the property out

5. The washing machine. I appreciate that it is a larger cost. And cannot happen at the drop of a hat. I made you aware of the washing machine issue on 12th of July. You ordered a washing machine which since I have found out could have been next day delivered. To arrive on the 26th. 14 days later. The cost of next day delivery was £25.00. A cost I would have covered myself if I had been asked - as in 3 weeks I had no washing machine I had to travel to do washing and use the laundrette. - tell her to buy her own. How ever you made a decision that impacted my standard of living. Which has now turned into a complete mess with the flooding of the bathroom and the delay of the delivery leaving me with no washing facility for 4 weeks. I am now running a dehumidifier at my own cost to try and dry out the bathroom to avoid more mould forming. A dehumidifier that holds 12 litres of water that I have now emptied twice.

6. There is not signal for a TV in this flat. The wires are so old and broken they are unusable I paid £45 to get an indoor aerial. - good for her

I keep the flat immaculate and I hope you would agree uphold my side of our tenancy agreement and more by doing as much as I am able to improve and upkeep the flat.

I cannot personally keep trying to manage these issues. The standard of the environment of this property is sub par. As a landlord you have to facilitate a standard of living in the property. - Yes you do, but those standards are minimal

Due to this I am requesting that we come to an agreement of reimbursing and compensating me for the trouble, the time and the issues I have had to deal with. While I understand not all this is directly a fault of your own doing it is not mine either and therefore I think it is fair and acceptable to request this. (Email finishes here). - "No."

Does this sound reasonable to you? I’m a new landlord so wondered what my next step should be. I don’t believe the flat is sub par.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate your thoughts.

Tell her she's free to leave when the fixed term ends.

steampowered

I think there is no excuse for the situation with the washing machine, mould and drains to be honest. Those are all things which should have been sorted within a week.

No doubt the property was rented with white goods in place, so you have to provide a washing machine. 3 weeks is an unacceptable delay. I think you are in breach of contract here and that you are legally liable to compensate the tenant for the extra costs she incurred at the laundrette.

If you have not done anything about the mould, despite the tenant going above-and-beyond to get a quote herself - making life easy for you - you should compensate for that too.

Get someone out to look at the drains this week, why has this not been sorted.

I have more sympathy with you as the landlord on the cannabis and TV signal, as those issues are not so easy to resolve.

It sounds like you need to pull your socks up here or risk litigation. It sounds like you are currently in breach of contract.

cattie

If the hob is as bad as tenant claims then the smoke alarm (which I'm assuming is in situ) would go off when it was used.

From what you say she sounds like quite a demanding tenant, I've rented flats in the past & never would of thought of blaming landlord for a bad television signal.

You did your best to try to get the washing machine replaced within 2 weeks. As somebody who lives alone, having to go 4 weeks with no machine inside the home wouldn't have the same impact as say a family with kids. It's an inconvenience yes, but by her own admission, other factors lead to the delay in the washing machine being connected.

If the bathroom has a window, then tenant needs to ensure window is opened whenever hot water is being used in there. If no window then a decent extractor fan is needed.

Who manages the property? I assume you don't use a letting agency, so it might be an idea to get details of a local jack of all trades who could carry out minor repairs such as replacing the sealant around bath. Sealant not dried off after use does tend to develop black/mould spots so inform tenant of this once it has been replaced.

If she is so unhappy with the flat & you as landlord why hasn't she chosen to find another flat instead?