Departing tenant unconcerned about holes in walls.

**arniew** · 09-01-2013, 09:15 PM

I did an inspection after the tenants vacated my property before Christmas.

I was surprised to notice holes in the two bedroom walls and scribbling and rips on the wallpaper.

Surprised because none of the PMs over the years of the tenancy had reported any damage to me
and surprised because I always had a very good rapport with the lady, who works locally and has always been very pleasant.

Granted that the wallpaper was several years old, but was of very good quality and done by a professional and very thorough tradesman.
It would have had a lot of life left in it, but I had to spend thousands of dollars on redecorating because I could not have new tenants
living in rundown conditions.

I told the PM that I was disappointed with the state of the property. Also, although the house was tidy, I had to spend a couple of hours
cleaning ingrained dirt and grime on the paintwork. I mentioned that the tenants did not deserve to retain their $300 bond.

I have received an email from the PM. She told me that the tenant told her that I had said that it didn't matter about the damage
as I was going to be redecorating, anyway. The PM asked why I told her one thing and the tenant another. In fact the tenant
misrepresented me. The only reason I was redecorating was to cover up all the damage the family had made, otherwise I would have been
happy for the tenants to move in without any work having to be done.

The PM finished the email with the following:

She has agreed to the large hole being fixed and her paying for it, but I can't see how we can take all her bond if they did not have the chance to
repair the damage.

Am I being precious? She didn't have enough time? She was the one who decided when to vacate, not me.

Is it acceptable for a PM and a tenant to believe that it is ok just to walk out without being concerned about such damage?

If I had been the tenant I would have ensured the house was left in the state I found it and would have made every effort to
repair any damage I had caused.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thankyou.

**flyernzl** · 10-01-2013, 10:13 AM

Who did the final pre-departure property inspection?
That sort of damage should have been identified, discussed and the estimated costs deducted from the bond at that time.

If your PM did that inspection (or did not do one even if they should have) I'd fire them and get a new PM.

The cleaning, unfortunately, is par for the course. Nothing you can do about that. Two or four hours cleaning by or at the cost of the Landlord after departure is expected by the system.

**Nice** · 10-01-2013, 02:45 PM

Yes, I'm with Flyer !! Why would the PM accept the word of a tenant when spending your money ?? Find one with some intestinal fortitude that is able to represent you as you pay them to do !

And suggest they might like to make up the differences in costs between what they are prepared to claim back, and what you are going to spend. It won't work, but will give them a nasty fright, particularly if you have multiple properties with them !

**drelly** · 10-01-2013, 03:32 PM

I don't put wallpaper in rentals... too easily ruined.

**skid** · 11-01-2013, 10:40 AM

But make sure you've got good records of paint colors for each place

**arniew** · 13-01-2013, 05:27 PM

Thankyou for the replies.

I arranged to meet the PM at the house a few days before the tenants departed. I met the tradesman there a day or two later and really was gutted, as it looked so rundown when all the furniture had gone.

The Pm was unfortunately (for me and for her) in hospital, so could not do the inspection, but someone else from the agency did it on her behalf and also took some photos, though that would seem to have been a waste of time.