What to do now?

B

ballontree

I had a side fence replaced in an IP, and unknowing to me, the tenants told the fencing contractors not to take away the wood (old fence) as they wanted it.

I went to the property and found out they had pile the rubbish wood against the garage and use the wood for their campfire in the backyard.

The wood are painted, but not treated.


I asked the fencing contractors to take the rubbish away and I was told that they would only take it away if it's put at the front; as they had offered to take it away previously but the tenants said they wanted to keep it and claimed that the tenants put it to the back of the property.

Asked the tenants to put the wood to the front for them to be taken away, but it was ignored.
 
...is do nothing an option?

Is the problem that it is unsightly? Because otherwise I would have just left the tenants to do whatever they want unless they are damaging the property or not keeping the place reasonably clean.
 
With untreated wood piling up, it would attract termites? And of coz when the bonfire goes out of control, it would burn the house down?

btw, is it legal to start a campfire in the backyard in Victoria? Esp summer is coming, and with NSW bushfires?


Damaging the property
- old fence piling and leaning against garage and existing fence

Reasonably clean
- lots of old fencing (height of 2m) at the back
- so weed grows around it, and lawn are not mown around it.
 
ballontree said:
With untreated wood piling up, it would attract termites? And of coz when the bonfire goes out of control, it would burn the house down?

btw, is it legal to start a campfire in the backyard in Victoria? Esp summer is coming, and with NSW bushfires?


Damaging the property
- old fence piling and leaning against garage and existing fence

Reasonably clean
- lots of old fencing (height of 2m) at the back
- so weed grows around it, and lawn are not mown around it.
Click to expand...

....I don't really know what to say.

Do you seriously consider the above to be damaging the property, and not keeping the property reasonably clean? Keeping in mind this is a property that is currently being lived in.
 
thatbum said:
....I don't really know what to say.
Click to expand...

Sounds reasonable coming from a "do nothing" attitude towards tenants who flaunt rules and regulations.

Have the timber taken away, issue the tenant a warning regarding fires in the backyard and remind them to not interfere with your instructions to trades.

Do something, not nothing.
 
The Fence said:
Sounds reasonable coming from a "do nothing" attitude towards tenants who flaunt rules and regulations.

Have the timber taken away, issue the tenant a warning regarding fires in the backyard and remind them to not interfere with your instructions to trades.

Do something, not nothing.
Click to expand...

More like a reasonable stance coming from someone who actually knows the rules and regulations, and is selective in enforcing them because he knows that being a landlord is as much about managing the relationship rather than being paranoid over every single possible thing that *might* happen to the property.

Sheesh.
 
Yeah, but the fencing guys don't want to go to the back to remove the rubbish

Haven't paid for the replitacement of the fence though

So I need to engage the tenants cooperation or else I would need to hire another third party to remove it
 
If you have not paid the contractor then simply advise them that you will not make the payment until the agreed works are complete.

Have the PM issue the tenants with a notice that the items are to be removed and any item that is withheld from the contractor will be deemed to be the tenants property and will need to be disposed of at the time of vacating at their cost.
 
I think it really comes down to who engaged the fence contractor to do the works. If it was yourself or the agent then the contractor should only take instructions from yourself or your agent.

Given that you haven't paid, I would be expressing the above to the contractor and require them to get the timber from the rear yard.

We always instruct our contractors to only take instructions from our staff and not tenants, thus avoiding issues such as these.
 
Breach the tenant for not maintaining the property to standard. Make them either tidy up the timber pile or remove it.

If the timber still has nails in it then its a safety issue as well, and you can breach them on that.

Other option is next time the tenant goes on holidays put a 24 hour maintenance entry notice in their letterbox and send around a handyman to pick the timber up and take it away.
 
I'd be figuring out who the contractor works for. If he has been asked to do the job by the agent or yourself he shouldn't be taking instructions from the tenant. As such, his mistake and he can pick it up from the back yard if that's where it is.

If your agent organised it I'd be asking if it was a relative of the PM :) - pretty poor service!!
 
No, leave it there, let the tenants play with it and then when one of the kids or indeed adults steps on a nail, falls over and breaks leg then gets staff infection, some smart tenants advocate will step in and have you taken to the cleaners mighty big time, all the while showing everyone what can be done to nasty landlords.

The above would not be my advice, it's simply a scenario in this day and age highly possible.

Best clean it up, and get rid of it, if that is what you paid for.

Unbelievable.:rolleyes:
 
ballontree said:
Thanks "TheFence".
I'm just very surprised by "thatbum" remarks; no idea where he/she is coming from.
Click to expand...

Really? No idea?

So far all I've heard is that your tenants have made a specific request to keep some wood that you otherwise would be throwing away... and your concern is that the lawn might not grow evenly and/or *might* damage the fence?

I've talked in other threads about the importance of managing a landlord/tenant relationship, and it actually blows my mind that no one else seems to see that this *just might be* a situation where you could just let the tenant go on with what they want - and it doesn't even cost you anything.
 
I think a lot of having investment properties is covering yourself or the *just might be* situations, all it takes is one opportunistic tenant to injure themselves and although they may not get any thing out of it they can still take you to court for injuries. In this day and age it can pay to be more cautious :).

I would be more concerned with the potential for injury. It is ballontree's property and a lot of landlords feel they have most of their rights stripped right down due to the residential tenancy act without being able to do what they want / need at their own property because of the tenants rights. When the landlord is able to exercise their own rights and want to why should we stop them? :).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C
Insurance during IP reno
Replies
1
Views
1K
Hosko
H
P
Tree removal caused damage.
Replies
4
Views
1K
chilliblue
C
Wirra436
Breake of Lease- Repossession
Replies
4
Views
1K
S.T
S
E
(Another) Rant about property managers
2
Replies
30
Views
4K
Chooke
C
Y
what does a body corporate really do?
Replies
3
Views
1K
yadeh
Y
Back
Top