Tenants looking for some independent advice

[LuckyLuke]

Hi everyone!

I'm hoping this might be an appropriate forum to seek some independent advice regarding issues we have experienced at the property we are currently renting.

I'll do my best to cut this long story as short as I can!

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In November last year we found ourselves looking for a short term rental while we were in the process of building our new home in Snells Beach.

We were shown through a property by PM#1 that suited our situation and the owners were happy to sign us up for a minimum six months. PM#1 explained there was a minor water leak issue in the downstairs area and a drainlayer was coming to inspect/repair the problem. I told PM#1 I would be setting up my home office downstairs as well as storing property so needed to ensure it would be safe to do so. On our second viewing the owners handyman was on site and told us the drainlayer checked it out and we just needed to keep an eye on a open drain on the side of the house, ensuring it didnt get blocked with leaves when it rained and there would be no problem. That sounded easy enough so we signed up and moved in.

A few months went by without issue, though we were noticing the lawn and gardens at the top/front of the property were often very waterlogged even when there had been no rain. We didnt think too much of it until a night in early Feb which rained heavily, and the next morning I found pools of water in the downstairs area where my office was set up. I checked the drain at the side of the house and it was clear to run free. I raised this with our new PM (PM#2) which kicked off a situation where the owners believe they told the Property Management Company and PM#1 that there were major drainage problems at the property and the downstairs area wasn't supposed to be being used. PM#2 denied any knowledge of this and I was no longer able to contact PM#1, learning he was infact a Business Development Manager for the company and not really a PM. I was told he and the owners we at odds about who said what.

PM#2 asked me to put everything in writing for him to would forward through to the owner for their urgent attention. Tenancy Services suggested we issue a 14 notice to remedy the problem which I also mentioned to PM#2. The owners response was that if we weren't happy we could end our fixed term contact early and move out.... if only it was that easy!

After a couple weeks of silence I was visited by the owners architect who explained there were major drainage issues on the property and the downstairs area should never have been occupied less worry about set up with a home office. They were planning to undertake the drainage works after we vacated however were going to make a start asap.

The drainage works started early April and with it came an email from PM#2 regarding the renewal of our tenancy which was due to expire 15th May. We needed to extend as our new build wasn't going to be ready until late August at best. The owners gave us the option of a $100 rent increase once drainage works had been completed, worded as follows:

1) If the work (to fix drainage leak into rumpus downstairs) can be fixed by 19/5/16, then the increased rent of $610 starts as of 19/5/16; and
2) If the work (to fix drainage leak into rumpus downstairs) cannot be fixed by 19/5/16, then the increased rent of $610 will start immediately when the work (to fix drainage leak into rumpus downstairs) is completed.

Easy to read between the lines what option #3 was.

We were stuck between a rock and a hard place, after much discussion and with our focus on our new build we decided best to suck it up and agreed to the rent increase based on the above, but requesting our new agreement be on a periodic term which was agreed. The external drainage works were completed and we carried on without any issues. Rent was increased to $610/week on 19 May.

After the night of heavy rain on Wednesday this week, I came downstairs to the find the basement flooded much worse than the first time. I had a lot of property spread out on the floor that I am selling before we move which got soaked. Water was coming in through the blockwork right along the bottom of the side of the basement, right where they had just done all the external work.

I contacted PM#2 and told him we had flooded again. I send him photos which he forwarded through to the owner. Last night the owner responded "I have talked to the people who did the drainage, apparently they need to do other water proofing inside, they haven't done that because they need to grind the bricks, it will make a mess. Plus they have a baby, that's why they didn't do it. But they can do it, tenant needs to move their stuff". PM#2 asked if we would like to get the drainage guys back to do the internal work, and if i would like him to request a rent reduction from the owner.

I've asked PM#2 if we can get more information from the drainage guys about the internal repairs as I'm not sure how safe that sounds? Also requested our rent to be reduced at least back to what it was, and for the six weeks we have paid $100 extra to be credited to our next rent payment as the repairs have not been fixed as was agreed. I'm yet to receive a response.

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This really has been an exercise in terrible communication and probably a bit of bad luck that after 13+ years of renting privately from really great landlords on the North Shore, we find ourselves dealing with this while we are building our own home.

If anyone here has any advice on our situation, considering we are hopefully only here for another 2 months or so, that would be most appreciated.

Apologies for the wall of text and thanks in advance!

[artemis]

Might be a long post but it is very clear. My view - issue a 14 day notice to remedy, and request compensation for damage to property and a rent reduction. You could include the sequence of events as above for the record.

If it doesn't happen then apply to the Tenancy Tribunal.

Bear in mind that you may be given notice for an end date that doesn't suit you, but once the 14 day letter is issued, termination notice will be deemed retaliatory.

There is IMO a good chance you will get what you want, without going to the TT, as long as you make it clear what that is.

[LuckyLuke]

Hi Artemis

Thanks for your reply.

Major issue is the owner has been incredibly difficult to deal with, for both us and PM#2. We requested a reduction in rent after the first flood which was denied It doesn't help PM#1 has walked away from the undisclosed drainage issues and no one at the Property Management Company has taken any responsibility for it. I think they are just holding out until we leave and hoping it will all be history.

As another example, this house has the original 60/70s kitchen. The kitchen taps were old and fragile and soon enough they were leaking. We tried replacing the washers ourselves (at our cost, washers are cheap enough!) as to not 'rock the boat', but one of the taps was well and truly stuffed and needed a replacing. We informed PM#2, who told the owner. She had her 'handyman' come around (he's the owners run around man) to check the taps did need replacing. He contacted their plumber and told him what work needed to be done. The plumber did what he was told, however within 24 hours the taps were leaking again, worse than before. We contacted PM#2 again to let him know the plumber would have to come back. The owner responded asking PM#2 to give us 21 days notice to move out! Fortunately this was just after we signed the extension of our lease on periodic term so PM#2 told her he couldn't do that as 90 days notice was now required. The plumber came back two days later while we waited with water streaming from the taps. He told us the handman told him to only replace part of the taps that wasn't actually the problem, and he fixed them properly the second time.

We've had various other small issues, including the owner refusing to have someone come to fix the toilet to the floor properly, until it started leaking. That plumber had to come back twice because he didnt do the job properly the first time and was quite aggressive on his return, insinuiating that we had not followed his instructions to not use the toilet for at least 8 hours, when we didnt touch it for well over 12. He ruined one of our $60 bath sheets cleaning up his silicone and mess and put a nice big scratch up the owners toilet wall.

On another occasion just before the first flood, the owner and her handyman showed up to the property unannounced late one afternoon to 'check out the gardens'. They seemed to pay a lot more attention to where all the drainage works ended up happening than any of the gardens.

It's just been a litany of headaches here, where the owner doesn't seem to want to know about anything concerning maintenance, etc. This is coming from a previous landlord who couldn't get to his investment property fast enough to ensure everything was in good order and everyone was happy which has always been my experience.

[Bobsyouruncle]

Just to play devils advocate here I think you have been quite naive. Once the place was known to be leaky you should have had nothing on the floor downstairs when you knew you could have an issue. Your situation is unfortunate but it could be costly to remedy.

TT is the best place they are biased in your favour.

I owned a rental property with exactly this issue and it took us 2 years and multiple attempts before we finally fixed the water ingress so it is a headache all round.

[LuckyLuke]

Hi Bobsyouruncle

Thanks for your reply.

After the first flood i did get rid of all the property I had in the room, which included quite a lot of large wood furniture (entertainment unit, coffee table, 2x large bookshelves, desk, large bar table and chair set). My office desk and chair remained and anything else was safely elevated off the ground. The water from this flood was entering through one corner of the room, so I lined that with a few old towels as a temporary measure and kept an eye on them.

After the drainage works work done, the water from the second flood entered the room from that first corner, as well as right the way along the bottom of the block wall which was waterproofed on the outside and now quite heavily through the opposite corner of the room where the drainlayers have ended their drain pipe in to a small sump/tank in the ground.

This new entry point was where I had all my property laid out and I totally agree it was a mistake to have anything at all on the ground. Most of the property is fine, however a set of good quality studio monitor speakers absored some water through the base and aren't looking so flash, a couple of floor matts are going in the bin. I had spread it all out to photograph for listing on trademe but end of the day it's all just stuff so I'm not overly worried about it.

I'm more frustrated that the owner has been taking the extra $100/week from us knowing very well there were internal works still required to finish the job, and they never bothered to communicate that with PM#2 or us. Guess they forgot about their condition for our rent renewal:

2) If the work (to fix drainage leak into rumpus downstairs) cannot be fixed by 19/5/16, then the increased rent of $610 will start immediately when the work (to fix drainage leak into rumpus downstairs) is completed.

Shocking communication on all levels.

[Viking]

Tenant is entitled to the space they have paid for. Landlord is required to supply house in good condition.

[ivanp]

"I have talked to the people who did the drainage, apparently they need to do other water proofing inside

Waterproofing a wall from inside to protect from water that comes from outside will not work, and the people suggesting that are incompetent. Hydrostatic pressure of water seeping through the wall will destroy any layers of waterproofing applied from inside.

Waterproofing needs to be applied from outside! Proper solution is to dig outside around all the walls, clean the walls and apply waterproofing, and make proper drainage (french drain).

[LuckyLuke]

Hi ivanp

The drainlayers dig a trench all the way along the side of the house up to the blockwork, from the top garden/fence where they picked up from the above neighbours drainage, all the way down the side to the bottom corner of the building. They replaced what was mostly an open concrete channel, running in to an old concrete pipe. They also fixed some black waterproofing material to the outside along all the blockwork and filled it all back in with earth.

Doesn't seem to have helped... actually seems to be worse than before.

We bought a load of towels from the warehouse to run along the base of the walls in the meantime.

Still no response from owner.

[Learning]

Have you issued your PM with a 14 day notice to rectify and request for rent refund yet?

[LuckyLuke]

Hi Learning

The owners handyman has been here to inspect and is getting their architect who managed the drainage job to contact me to discuss the internal works, so waiting to hear from him.

As ivanp has said, what they want to do inside sounds a bit mickey mouse. Regardless, not sure you'd want to be occupying a property with that sort of internal work is happening, with an internal entry staircase and an 18 month old living upstairs? Need to discuss that with the architect/drainlayers/whoever but I'd probably prefer to deal with wet towels for a couple of months.

We have requested a rent reduction and the $600 we overpaid on the condition the works were completed to be credited to our next rent payment. On that we are yet to get a response.

I think I'm going to need more towels.

[sidinz]

I think you also need to request a rent reduction for the loss of the downstairs, backdated to the first flood. Whatever was meant to be used/not used is immaterial, the fact is that you signed a contract to rent the premises and if no mention was made of the bottom part being unusable, that area formed part of the contract. When it became subsequently unusable due to the flooding, you became due some compensation and I'm sure that's how the tenancy tribunal would look at it.

What the landlord intended for the set rent to cover doesn't matter at all if you weren't aware of it. The landlord won't be happy, but that's something they'd have to take up with their PM company.

[Meehole]

I would refuse entry to the architect and would not allow the inside of the blocks to be waterproofed while I lived there. Someone is pulling someones leg saying that will fix it.
Hang in there, your house must be nearly ready? Put some pressure on the Project Manager to get it finished and signed off pronto.
You have a bond refund form to sign and I would refuse to sign it, let them take you to the TT and then you can claim for damage to your stuff amongst other things.

[LuckyLuke]

Hi sidinz and Meehole

Thanks for your replies, both are really helpful.

We are getting our ducks in a row for our application to TT while we await response from the LL on our request for rent reduction and credit of the $600 overpaid to date on condition of drainange works completed.

Ever the optimists, we hoped to avoid needing to take TT action however paying the increased rent while the owner knew the drainage works were incomplete has been the proverbial straw the broke the camel's back.

I'm certainly not keen on having any internal concrete grinding undertaken while we are occupying the property.

If all goes to plan, we are hoping our new build will be ready to move in to some time in August. Prewire, plumbing and drainage are being done this week.

Funny you mention bond... we we never presented with a pre-inspection report of the condition of the property when we moved in. I am a bit concerned that all things considered, we might have more trouble when it comes time to deal with the bond. Given the original tired state of the majority of the property, I wouldn't be surprised if the owners tried to pull us up for anything they could find when we leave. I know the place is very tired so we shouldn't be overly concerned but its certainly in the back of mind.

[Meehole]

Perhaps you could do your own property inspection report (a form can be downloaded from Tenancy Services website). Note every mark and stain and email a copy to your property manager, get proactive.
Next complete a rent summary and show where you have overpaid $100 as an overpayment. You will need this when you go to your TT hearing.
Under no circumstances allow anyone access to do any "major" repair work while you are living there.
The correct process to waterproof the blocks outside is to paint the black waterproofing (flintcote) over the exterior blocks, put polystyrene against the flintcote (stops the scoria scratching the waterproofing off) then put in scoria, then backfill. If the contractor just put flintcote type product on and then backfilled with earth then he has stuffed up.

[sidinz]

As you contracted to rent the entire property, the TT will also take a dim view of the fact that your rent was put up once the lower part was 'repaired.' I understand that you felt pressured to accept as you needed to extend your tenancy and were afraid that you would be on the street once your fixed-term tenancy expired if you did not. Make that clear to the adjudicator. The landlord was very naughty to charge you $100 per week more for space that you were already entitled to. It's too big a jump in rent after such a short time to be claimed as a normal rent review.