Missing landlord and the health disco

[Learning]

Health risk house not disco!! Autocorrect

Friends of ours have carelessly lost their LL. Her mobile and landline have been disconnected and no answer at her address. Their house is a major health risk due to damp and mould. The family Dr has advised they move out before winter but with past mistakes this will be very difficult. So the plan is to get the LL to begin to make the repairs promised during the pre-tenancy negations. However she is proving to be hard to contact.

My thought is that they get 3 quotes for the most immediate problem and then reduce their rent payments by $50 a week till she gets in touch or it covers the lowest quote. I guessing the LL will be on their door after the first week.

just between us a very suspect LL. Hasn't lodged the bond in a year and not a single inspection.

[ScottSI]

Ring up dbh for advice.

File at tribunal for not lodging bond etc and damages.

It is illegal to hold back rent under the RTA, you can't make that decision but tribunal can reduce.

Follow the law and you will get much further.

[flyernzl]

Non-payment of rent is an illegal act, no matter what the reason.

There will be an Address for Service for the Landlord written in the Tenancy Agreement.
Download and print off a 14-day Notice form from the Tenancy Services website, fill out the request for the work that is required, and post it to that address (keep a copy).
The Landlord is then deemed under the Act to have received that form 4 days from the day after it was posted.
If there is then no response after 4 + 14 days, file for a Mediation at Tenancy services. Cost for this is only $20.44
At the Mediation (or Tribunal Hearing), the Adjudicator can order the Landlord to carry out the work.

Use the Residential Tenancy Act provisions. They are there for the Tenant as well as the Landlord.

[Learning]

They only took this place because they were out of options. Admittedly their own doing but bad credit and weak rental history has severely limited their prospects. They are trying and slowly crawling their way out of their mess but it all takes time. I've advised them several times to issue 14 day notices for a range of breaches and repairs but the fear of receiving a eviction notice has always stopped them. They know the law is on their side but knowing you're in the right is no comfort when your homeless. Maybe now that one of them has been hospitalised because of the house they might be more willing to stand up from themselves. We'll see.

[artemis]

If they follow the processes, they can apply to the TT to have any 42 or 90 day notice set aside as retaliatory. Which would at least give them some breathing space to look for another place. If they don't do the 14 day / TT thing they almost certainly have no comeback if notice is given.

If the LL can't be contacted the TT could order the tenants to have specified work done and withhold rent to pay for it.

[Wayne]

And chase the bond issue!

[John the builder]

why is the tenancy damp and mouldy?

[Keys]

Because of the Reserve Bank Act.

Surely it's not the tenants fault. Must be something else?

[Perry]

This has come up before, in another thread. The remedy is the same, still.

45 Landlord's responsibilities

(1) The landlord shall—

(d) compensate the tenant for any reasonable expenses incurred by the tenant in
.....repairing the premises where—
.........(i) the state of disrepair has arisen otherwise than as a result of a breach of the
..............tenancy agreement by the tenant and is likely to cause injury to persons or
..............property or is otherwise serious and urgent; and

.........(ii) the tenant has given the landlord notice of the state of disrepair or made
..............a reasonable attempt to do so;

(3) The provisions of subsection (1) shall apply notwithstanding that the tenant has
......notice of the state of the premises at the time at which the tenancy agreement is
......entered into.

[Leftette]

Awesome thread title. Could be the name of a band.

[Learning]

why is the tenancy damp and mouldy?

The the main reason is the house is on a very slight slope and the gutter is missing from half the house. Every time it rains under the house is flooded and it takes weeks to dry out. Put something in the wardrobe and 3 weeks later it's covered in mould. The carpet often feels wet under foot.

On the positive side, seeing his wife in hospital has prompted the husband to start thinking about possibly doing something, maybe. You can lead a idiot to water but it's still illegal to shoot them!

[Learning]

This has come up before, in another thread. The remedy is the same, still.

Thanks Perry. I've forwarded that to the tenant for him to ignore.

[skid]

If it is predominantly an issue of replacing a gutter,that is just so easy I would be tempted to just have it done--probably needs much more though ,being on a slope with ground water etc.

[skid]

Missing Landlord and the Health Disco==This outrageously funny who dunnit has spent 5 weeks on the nations best seller list.
When mild mannered Joe Bullocks realized his landlord was not answering his calls,he knew something was not quite right.
What follows is a zany turn of events that span over 6 continents,an aging hippy van,missing treasure,and a host of unforgettable characters that lead Joe through a maze of life changing experiences before arriving at a climax that could only have occurred as joe stumbles through a maize of reality and pure dope filled fantasy. A real page turner.

[Learning]

A little update... The tenant has made a patch work repair to the guttering and down pipe. With luck in a month or three the swamp under the house will dry out.

He admitted to me that he doesn't even have a copy of the TA or an address for service for the LL. The LL could be dead or living in some remote island for all he knows. They never did any pre-tenancy inspection and the place was a dump when they moved in. The bond they payed was used to repay the bond of the out going tenant who left it looking like a tip.

At the time of moving in it was this place or a cardboard box on the street so no questions were asked. He now feels that as it's been almost a year so it's too late to start complaining. His current theory is that as the LL has broken so many rules, when it is time to move on their bond will be paid in full by the next sucker moving in, as the LL can't afford the likely fines in a TT battle.

The LL has about 6 similar properties and from all accounts can't afford a single cent in maintenance to any of them. Surprisingly I can't find any trace of her in the TT order database.