Tenant won't vacate, just cost me over 1k

J

jerrybee

There was a 1 day gap between when the old tenant moving out and the new one moving in.

The old tenant has told us at the last minute that they are staying despite confirming it in writing that they are leaving. The new tenant has paid their deposit, bond I think and first week's rent.

I spent over 1k on last minute plane tickets, hotels and a day off work to be here so that I could do some maintenance work before the new tenant arrives.

Is there anything I can do to recoup these costs? I'm so furious...
 
Sorry, I have to ask, why would spend 1k to fly over to your IP to fix things when you only have one day to complete it?

Would it not be cheaper to have paid a local handy man in this circumstance? Or were you flying over anyway? (At which point i doubt you got any room to claim anything from the tenant).
 
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simtr said:
Agree with neK, 1k would give you a lot of handyman!
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Cause I have 3.4 metre ceilings. Every time a light bulb goes out it costs me a tradesman to replace it. The real estate agent said if there's a ladder she'll do it for me. So I've come down to buy a ladder and enough light bulbs to last a decade. It'll save me money in the long run.

The rest are minor touch ups that would take me 1-2 hours max, but more of an indirect benefit. But to do them I need to bloody get in there!!
 
Issue them with an entry notice and you can go and do whatever jobs you were planning to do. It may be hard with all their stuff in the way, but it may help encourage them to pack and move out.

You could chain and padlock the ladder to a fence or something similar so they dont take it with them and leave the key and light bulbs with the PM.

Side note - if your PM hurts her/himself while moving or climbing your ladder, would your insurance cover that?
 
The guy finally left. Didn't even have time to clean since he was given just 45 mins to go. What a mess. Anyway thank god I've seen the last of him!
 
NedKelly said:
Are you flying first class and staying in the penthouse suite?
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I wish:)

$400 for plane tickets, which is still relatively cheap since I booked at the last minute.

$170 for a hotel room...Monday was a public holiday so it was very hard to get a room for any cheaper.

$100 misc expenses (taxis etc).

$300-400 of unbillable hours for taking the morning off as my rate is pretty high. I worked the rest of the day at a local cafe so at least I didn't have to take the whole day off work.

So $1k is actually quite low. If I wasn't able to find a cafe to sit down at to do some work it would have easily eclipsed that.
 
jerrybee said:
I wish:)

$400 for plane tickets, which is still relatively cheap since I booked at the last minute.

$170 for a hotel room...Monday was a public holiday so it was very hard to get a room for any cheaper.

$100 misc expenses (taxis etc).

$300-400 of unbillable hours for taking the morning off as my rate is pretty high. I worked the rest of the day at a local cafe so at least I didn't have to take the whole day off work.

So $1k is actually quite low. If I wasn't able to find a cafe to sit down at to do some work it would have easily eclipsed that.
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hang on, youre including the opportunity cost of your billable hours in there?? there is no way you can claim that. youre the one who chose to fly to another city just to change lightbulbs and do 2 hours of maintenance, i dont think it is fair to be trying to claim that.
 
jerrybee said:
Cause I have 3.4 metre ceilings. Every time a light bulb goes out it costs me a tradesman to replace it. The real estate agent said if there's a ladder she'll do it for me. So I've come down to buy a ladder and enough light bulbs to last a decade. It'll save me money in the long run.

The rest are minor touch ups that would take me 1-2 hours max, but more of an indirect benefit. But to do them I need to bloody get in there!!
Click to expand...

Ummm your PM can go spend your money at Bunnings for you and bill you if all you needed to do was get a ladder and lights.
I still don't get why you physically had to be there.
 
Hey guys, I could have sold a client a new IT system today and made $40k profit but instead I had to go to my IP and clean up some spilled milk. Can I take the $40k out of my tenants bond?
 
By you attending the property before an exit condition inspection and report can be done, may make it difficult to claim items from the bond. We must advise the tenant of any issues from the inspection, and give them the opportunity to go back to fix. It we don't and it ends up in the Tribunal we usually lose. We allow a little time between tenancies to ensure we have time to follow the correct procedures. I appreciate the tenant not moving out at the correct time, throws a curve ball into the planning.
 
jerrybee said:
$300-400 of unbillable hours for taking the morning off as my rate is pretty high. I worked the rest of the day at a local cafe so at least I didn't have to take the whole day off work.
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As sanj already pointed out, your unbillable hours cannot be billed to your tenant.

I have to ask, if your rate for billable hours is around $100 per hour why are you even thinking of changing light bulbs? Just pay someone to do it and deduct the cost as an expense.
 
datto said:
Take it out of the bond.
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Sounds fantastic - if he was allowed (which he isn't) and he had it (which he doesn't).

I've heard so many Landlord's and well meaning friends of Landlord's say that one line. Most haven't got a clue all of the Laws stacked up against them.

Let's just say it's much easier saying it than actually receiving the Tenant's bond monies into your account.
 
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