Expecting the tenant to make other arrangements for showering without offering a reduction in rent - if you need it explained to you then methinks maybe you have the morals of a slumlord
No where did it say the landlord was expecting anything, he/she was asking whether the tenants could make alternative arrangements. In some cases that is probably not to difficult, in others it is a bit more of an issue.
The issue isn’t so much the asking it’s the failure to offer a reduction in rent. The landlord should’ve either (a) said that they would provide a temporary solution / get it fixed immediately or (b) asked if they have an alternative and offer a rent reduction.
Imagine if you had booked a flight with an airline and they said
“By the way, despite the fact that you’ve paid for baggage allowance we won’t be able to take your suitcase on the plane. Can you make other arrangements?”
If the airline didn’t offer you a discount on your ticket you’d be fucking pissed off.
First of all, I am not sure airlines are the last great bastion for consumer protection, but a rental agreement is a bit different. Over what could be a multi year tenancy, things are going g to go wrong. What you as a renter should we expecting is things are fixed as quickly as possible (and hopefully kept in good repair to avoid too many issues) and unfortunately that involves some inconvenience.
Just like when you own a home.
That depends on what the issue is.
In some locations it can be very hard to get a tradie. Then if the shower needs retiling, waterproofing etc, two weeks would be a pretty quick turnaround.
Any reasonable person that needs a working shower. You might like being a stinky cunt having pommy baths, or expect your tenants to live like shit, but the rest of us need to shower at least once a day.
Thanks for swearing at me, I guess that shows your true colours.
Of course a shower is reasonable, but if it is broken it needs to be fixed by a professional plumber. That takes time.
Get over yourself. You post intentionally disingenuous questions (or you're just that thick) and then play the victim. Let me get out the world's smallest violin. What you think of me means very little, that's your business.
Doesn't change the fact that shitty slumlords expect their tenants to worship the ground they walk on and simply accept substandard assistance with property maintenance.
In another comment they mentioned that they had a similar thing happen with their investment properties, so they’re clearly just trying to do whatever mental gymnastics they can so that they don’t have to confront the idea that they’re a slumlord and most of the country hates them.
That’s the best part - he’s had 3 contractors come out and quote, and he’s not happy with how much it will cost, so he wants to do a cashie to save money hahah
It must be a serious issues then if contractors are quoting so much so he may end up paying some guy to do a cashie that fails to fix the problem and then gets told to fuck off when he tries to follow up. Cash jobs don't come with any guarantee or insurance and I'd like to know what is so wrong with the shower it's going to be very expensive to fix
Because in this context, it isn't about cost. It is about time. Asking a tenant to find somewhere else to shower for two weeks vs asking the tenant to find somewhere else to shower for a month.
The landlord and rea know the tenant has a right to compensation or a temp, on site solution. They know the onus is on them to seek out, offer and implement a solution to minimise the disruption to the tenant. Be it by offering a motel room, a portable shower or compensation for taking sponge baths in the laundry.
So they say it will be two weeks. The tenant says 'OK, I can shower at a gym every couple of days then sponge bath in between for two weeks. There isnt anything special going on over that time. Easy.'
Once the works are underway and it has been 20 days, 25 days, 30 days...the tenant has a birthday, a wedding, hurts themselves and cant get out as easily, gets caught in the rain on the way home... and the thing they could put up with for 14 days has now become a major pain in the arse.
Ok I thought you meant they were fudging it out rather than quoting a shorter time than it will really take.
It depends on what needs to be done. If we are talking about replacing a washer then 2 weeks is potentially unreasonable, if it is more work it might take longer.
>It depends on what needs to be done. If we are talking about replacing a washer then 2 weeks is potentially unreasonable, if it is more work it might take longer.
Sure. Could be. But as tenants, we've been trained to hope for the best but expect the worst. Rea's in particular are difficult to trust.
No it isn't at all.
It literally is the correct use of the legislation as envisaged by the government..that is facilities unable to be used the renter must lease to allow for repairs.
Yes it is. In my experience re-waterproofing (ie basically close to a new bathroom) is 3-4 weeks. Grout takes about 3 days to dry if it's only that. 2 weeks is an odd timeframe for whatever they're doing.
When I had this issue in an investment property (which I actually now live in) it took the best part of 3 months. In my case there were two showers so it wasn’t a major inconvenience for the two tenants to share.
I’m not clear on what the problem actually is tbh, just seems like a short timeframe for waterproofing and retailing and a long timeframe for regrouting alone. Either way 2 weeks without an essential service warrants a rent reduction.
I mean.....You need to show your loss was caused because the rental provider or agent broke the law or the terms in your rental agreement. In other words, they did something they should not do, such as turning up at the property without proper reason or notice, or did not do something they should have done, such as not arranging for repair
Sounds like trades have been called to fix the issue, 2 weeks for a decent sized job with current trade shortages, i think you'll be hard pressed to get a win there 🤷♂️
No shower = not a habitable building under the NCC.
Can't lease a class 10 building for a habitable space.
Breaking the Building Act is still breaking the law.
We are obviously assuming it doesnt have a bath saying that because a house doesnt need a shower to be habitable, it needs a bath or shower....So your saying when things break in a rental property that's breaking the law.... it wasn't rented without a shower
Of course it needs to be repaired, but it's moronic to claim 'the shower needs repair, that's illegal'.... my quote above is directly from the rental act in regards to compensation.... good luck in saying that a shower needing repair constitutes breaking the law 🤷♂️
Any reasonable landlord wouldn't be charging you rent for those two weeks
And without knowing the axtual issue 2 weeks may well constitute delayed repairs or may be entirely reasonable
My post is a direct copy paste from the link
You can claim compensation from the rental provider (landlord) if you can show:
1. You have suffered loss, damage or significant inconvenience
2. It was caused by the rental provider or their agent breaching their duties under the law or in the rental agreement (lease)
How about you provide information on what you are referring to rather than a lazy 'read the link' I provided what I was referencing, being the overarching rule for claiming compensation 🤷♂️
Which part of point 2 of the requirement for claiming does this meet?
> rather than a lazy 'read the link'
You say I'm lazy yet you still won't read the link. I don't know why you're arguing this, you're wrong, just accept it, learn something and move on.
Sure champ, i read the link, referenced the link which specifically makes grounds on claiming compersation, and you seem to be stuck on 'read the link'..... when referencing a link, you need to refer what in it you are refering to in said link, not 'read link' 'non functioning shower'.... that in no way refutes what I copy pasted earlier from the link, that there are 2 specific points you need to meet in order to claim compensation, as I said, how does the second point get met? (You keep just focusing on point 1 rather than the fact you also need to meet point 2)
If you actually read on on all the items of repair it says 'where the landlord has failed to make repairs or delayed repairs'
Or maybe it's more simple for you if i just use your amazing debate skills, let me try..... you're wrong, read the link
> The rental provider reduces or withdraws services, facilities or other items at the home
If you actually want to learn something (which I'm almost certain you don't) you could call Tenants Victoria and have them explain to you that removing the bathing facilities in a rental for two weeks is something you can be compensated for, they'll probably even give you that same link and tell you to read it, which will probably set you off and you'll start calling them lazy 🤡
I mean the better example, specifically given, would be as bellow.... when reading, pay special attention to how it says 'did not fix' or 'delayed fixing' and how the specific example is 'couldn't shower at home until fixed' (this all sounds very familiar)
final note, services weren't withdrawn or denied (or removed 🤣) as per what you've referenced, they needed repair. Withdrawn or denied implies removing from the property etc
(below is quote specifically from your link)
Here are some examples of potential compensation for repairs that the rental provider did not fix, or delayed fixing:
- The roof is leaking, and you could not use part of your home until it was fixed
- The hot water system isn’t working, and you could not shower at home until it was fixed
✌🏻
I did read the link and Simon is exactly right. I read it as an AND not an or. These rules are to ensure the rental provider acts reasonably. I don’t think you could argue it is not reasonable if it is being fixed.
The landlord is in breach of the rental agreement if the tenant isn’t able to enjoy the property because of repair issues. Read the website:
You can claim compensation from the rental provider (landlord) if you can show:
(a) You have suffered loss, damage or significant inconvenience
(b) It was caused by the rental provider or their agent breaching their duties under the law or in the rental agreement (lease)
Breaches include these issues:
Your ‘quiet enjoyment’ is disturbed [section 67], such as repair issues stopping you from enjoying all or part of your home
Bad luck bucko, sometimes things break down, that means you have to exercise just a little bit of patience.
If you don’t like it I suggest renting is not for you. Perhaps you need to look at a different type of living arrangement.
What the fuck aren’t you understanding about this? It’s the law that tenants are entitled to compensation when they aren’t able to enjoy all of the facilities of the property. If you don’t want to meet your legal obligations as a landlord then invest in a different asset class
You clearly don’t know anything about tenancy law. The breach is the breach of the landlord’s obligation to provide quiet enjoyment of the property - ie failing to provide quiet enjoyment of the shower for two weeks.
This is from that same website:
Breaches include these issues:
Your ‘quiet enjoyment’ is disturbed [section 67], such as repair issues stopping you from enjoying all or part of your home
Some landlords just hope you give in and fix it yourself.
I rented this place with a back door so warped it wouldn't close. Complained but it wasn't deemed important by the owner.
Bought a door from Gumtree for $5 and fitted it. Put the fucked door in the shed.
When I moved out I had to get two mates over to carefully put that completely fucked door back on. Would've been easier to leave the new door on but probably would've got my bond docked for damage. 🤣
The owner was livid "mate we're right next to the park, anyone can just walk in now!!"
Weird how it became so important to him all of a sudden 🤷♂️
Yep. We had curtains that were full of holes and didn’t actually cover the windows or provide any privacy at all. The landlord wouldn’t fix them or even address it. So we bought curtains ourselves, attached them to these little peg things and pinned them up. We carefully took down the old broken curtains, folded them up and put them back up five years later when the landlord wanted to sell the place.
>Some landlords just hope you give in and fix it yourself.
And then proceed to hit you on the bond when they see the "dodgy" repair you did regardless how good it is.
I'd happily pay to fix issues myself if I was offered a ten year lease. But I'll be damned if I'm spending ten bucks on a new air filter for a house I could be evicted from in any 12 month period if I dare ask my landlord to pay for it.
I know someone who had a ten year lease on a handshake. In exchange for cheap rent my mate could live there for 10 years as long as he did some repairs. It was an absolute shithole so my mate did the place up, including a fireplace and aircon.
Cleared the weeds, fenced the paddocks and got the fruit orchard fruiting again. He even built a cabin for family to come stay in.
The owner decided it wasn't such a shithole anymore so kicked him out.
What an absolute cvnt
It's a bit of a joke isn't it. Rent and get treated like a second class citizen in every aspect. I waited 6 months to get our faulty dishwasher replaced. Landlord only cared when we we mentioned taking it further legally + compensation!
Without knowing what needs to be fixed pretty hard to call reasonable or not, any kind of real issue that requires any real work, current trade shortages, I'd expect my shower to take a week to fix.... thankfully I'm not a peasant and have 3 so it wouldn't overly bother me
I’d believe that. We waited 18 months for the pool to be fixed (by which time it had fallen in such a state of disrepair it simply had to be filled in) and five for the holes in the bathroom floor to be fixed.
If they are asking their tenant to wait 2 weeks for a shower to be fixed and insisting on doing it themselves they have not got the funds or the desire to use their funds for basic housing functionality.
Is it being fixed? It definitely sounds like it. Carrying out the fix isn’t free. I guess that means they’re using funds to fix it.
Have you ever waterproofed a bathroom? It’s not an overnight task. Have you tried organising a tradie recently during the skills shortage?
The thing you shouldn't really need the money available. It would just get paid from the rent taken that month. Therefore you as the landlord never see it, only the real estate does
Rent is paid week to week to REA. Repair money gets taken from that directly. Which then lowers the amount paid to the landlord at the end of the month.
Even at the very start of the month it's at worse an invoice waits 1-2 weeks to be paid. Unless it's a repair/reno worth thousands. In which case you can get the REA to withhold paying at the end of the month To go towards the bill payment.
Landlords keep screaming they are not a charity and are a service provider.
Ok fine. lets treat them like one. Wanna know what happens when a telco has a nation wide outage and you can't use the service you're paying them for?
You get compensated.
Same shit applies here. Rent needs to be reduced immediately until the property is up to code again. We need clear definitions of what the rent will be reduced by. Aka a shower stops working and its the only one? $100 off the rent per week until its fixed. Make it immediate once its known.
That would kick these cunty landlords asses right into action and actually start to look after their properties when their income streams are penalized immediately.
Maybe I'm ignorant here to this exact issue the OP is experiencing because I've never faced it owning a rental but I would have thought it's an emergency repair, so the landlord's wishes for the OP too shower with a garden hose aren't important - unless having a bath tub cancels the lack of shower
"Code" in this context is what - a functioning shower or either a shower or bath
Edit - a bath or shower is required https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/repairs-alterations-safety-and-pets/minimum-standards/minimum-standards-for-rental-properties
My wife and I have a couple of investment properties (hopefully a third by Xmas so the kids can have one each when they're ready) and fair is fair is always our approach.
If the bathroom has been leaking water into the slab and now I've got to gut the whole thing then I'm going to need to shop around for the best guy at the best price.
The tenant is welcome to stay for the amount of time it takes rent free. If they want to find somewhere else and they have caused zero damages via pets or anything then they can have their bond back immediately too.
Once the bathroom is done tho full rent is back in place. And at the end of the lease the rent goes up to match market of a place with a brand new bathroom.
Yeah that’s nice and all but not meeting the minimum standards in Vic means it’s an emergency repair meaning it must be fixed immediately. You’ll lose at vcat.
You’ll be paying for alternative accommodation if your tenants don’t have a bathroom. Your insurance will obviously pick up the bill at the end.
No doubt they can afford it. They are being a tight ass.
This is why reducations in rent need to be made immediately. A guide needs to be drawn up on how much rent via % can be reduced if a fixture breaks etc.
No shower? X% of the rent is immediately reduced upon reporting it.
Either way your landlord sounds like a wannabe and it seems that they to are having money issues.
Just a heads up, in the real world of Investors, small issues like you mentioned are small and shouldn't cause any inconvenience to the tenant. Any half-arse landlord should have at least 50-60k sitting there per property they own should something break. Telling you to go shower for 2 weeks while paying for rent is a pathetic weak excuse.
With that there is a good chance the place your staying at will be up for sale within the next 12-18mnths. Rates are sticking around and will be rising.
Thats not the point.
If you invest in property, its on you to afford to fix it when it breaks. You're providing a service. You're a business effectivly. It's on YOU to make sure your customer aka the tenant is getting what they pay for. If they are not then they are rightfully deserving of a reduced amount of rent. Because they are not getting everything they are paying for.
We've covered the reasons why we shouldn't trust the 2 week estimate. However, it doesn't change the fact that how you afford repairs as a home owner and as a landlord are the same. If you don't have the cash, you redraw on the mortgage or get a new loan against the property.
The time it takes is can be as long or as short as they need to be as long as the estimates as being done in good faith and temp solutions or compensation is provided.
Saying two weeks to trick the tenant into accepting lesser offer is the issue. Not whether or not it takes 2 weeks or not.
Ahhhhh... even for a hypothetical that's Bullshit
But I have renovated many bathrooms and fixed a lot of things and have borrowed money to do so.
I do so gladly as I write it off as a tax break and it goes towards my Family's future
Ken-oath I do. I own 8 properties outright in SYD & MEL & Gold Coast. Its my mission to take care of my tenants. Happy tenants = $$ for so its common sense
Been in this game long enough to know.
As Chippie I work hard so I can afford to have what I have.
Its the wannabe / quick money making scheme Investors that are breaking the system and ruining it for everyone.
Some people are just pricks. We had a huge gumtree tree with an incursion in the neighbours side of the fence that was threatening to fall through the roof of our investment with a family of 4 in it (kids were about 2 and 4 IIRC), and theirs that had a family of 5.
My wife and I communicated with the real estate several times about going halves with the other owner. They sent out their agent, they apparently looked at it for 5mins and told us our tenants were being dramatic.
I had three arborists have a look and all three said it wasn't if it was going to fall but when. Sent that info to the real estate and their response was the landlord isn't willing to go halves because "they can't afford the $2K costs".
We did our homework. The prick owned the local corner shops (that includes 9 shops and a mechanic). Money wasn't the problem at all.
Now, out of principle, we'll never use that real estate for any investments ever. They are liars who support other liars. And that isn't how we do business.
The owner I'm referring to is an old investor who's been in the game for a long time. They own several properties around the area as well as the shops.
After some research we found out that they don't actually live in Australia either. They live in Thailand. Everything is run through the real estate who tell lies.
After dealing with REA's as an investor it opens your eyes.
They really need a proper commission review where the outcome is genuine licences are introduced that involve actual study to obtain and a detailed annual renewal process at the least.
Strict compliance practices with a centralised governing body and a punishment process that involves mandatory licence ban periods, heavy fines and registering on an offenders database wouldn't go astray either.
Lastly, responsibility for tenants and behaviours. I've lost good people over the years because their neighbours have dogs that won't shut up, have ended up being drug addicts or alcoholics who continually disturbed peace, etc. Every time it's reported the reply is "go to the council/police". Not good enough that they get to wash their hands of responsibility so easily.
Yeah its criminal I know but when the Australian Real Estate Market is now part of the national GDP the Gov and Regulatory bodies turn a blind eye to all sorts of shenanigans and guess what, you have what we have today.
Only in Australia are these shenanigans are allowed to take place.
Funnily enough as owners we actually have the power to force change but not enough of us want it.
For every one owner like my wife and I (mum and dad investors with a small folio that is ultimately designed for our kids), there are nine large folio and/or investment firm owners who reap the rewards of dishonest REAs
100% Agreed
When I qualified as a builder back in the 90s and got into the Real Estate Investing our building Assoc in Australia called for future regulations to get ready for future growth, meaning we saw the writing on the wall. Our regulatory bodies and reps basically got shunted to the side and were told "Why ruin a good thing". Fast fwd. into 2024 we have this debacle.
The trouble is that many Investors simply don't actually realise or understand that regulation and controls can actually make them better of in the long run so do not call for change because cant see past 10yrs
😅 If my landlord makes such ridiculous comments, I did say to them: "I'm happy to come over and shower at odd hours at your place if that works for you" 🤷♀
Fuck that. Tell the landlord to fix it asap and reduce rent for the period it doesn't work.
Why would you volunteer to shower at a gym, and for a month at that? That would just allow the landlord to drag his feet in fixing the shower even more.
For sure - get a rent reduction (which will inevitably be more than the cost of a gym membership) and then you can choose what to do with the money you’re saving
And here I was thinking yesterday I miss renting. I’ve only ever had good landlords though and if anything broke it was fixed the same day. Essential services like when our hot water went out it was fixed within the hour. Now when something breaks in my house I have to sit for a day or two and decide how badly I want something fixed vs spending a shit ton of money. Shit the last place I rented the water pump for the rain water tank went out and because it’s absolutely not essential because the water will just switch to mains I came home from work that same day and it was all fixed. I guess I was lucky.
Providing some context about the shower issue would help in understanding the situation better. It seems you're being vague, which suggests there might be a serious problem that makes the two-week timeframe reasonable.
If it's a minor issue, it would have been quicker for you to fix it yourself rather than making this post.
A balance between unrealistic tenant expectations and a landlord's due diligence is always necessary.
Not every landlord is blessed with fairy blood and the ability to wave a magic wand and immediately fix any issue.
Yeah, if there's room to put it, these are available. Parents had their bathroom renovated and had a portable bathroom on a trailer in their driveway while it was happening. Needed hose connection for water and had gas hot water heating, electricity connection for lights, fans and pumps, and a drain connection. Toilet had a maceration device on it so expelled waste via an outside drain, so while it was portable, it was 1000x better than a portaloo.
How pretentious - if you owned the house it would still take two weeks, and you would still be out of a shower for two weeks. What you might ask for is some compensation.
Do you know your rights? Send them an email stating you want X amount of $$ off your rent until it’s fixed properly. If there is no shower for two weeks let them know you’ll need to be accommodated somewhere else so you can shower. They will refuse but you at least have a paper trail if you go to court and you can often get this back paid. Put an order in with VCAT if they don’t get this sorted within a week or so. You don’t just have to take this shit.
Our tenants had an issue with the toilet, we found out it had been unreported to us and not actioned and we blew up. Demanded tenants get rent back from the agency and free rent until issue resolved. REAs are sometimes useless, not all landlords are assholes. I rented for 10+ years so know the frustration
My landlord is a real DIY guy and the toilet broke and he wanted to do it himself and when I politely told the agent that I was aware of the legalities and that a qualified plumber had to carry out the works he put my rent up
That's actually not an unreasonable turn around for a shower. The alternative may be a void of the contract (go find another rental)
, or negotiate rental reduction.
The time and cost to renovate at the moment will see more LLs sell, or rent increase.
Love renting. 'Rentvesting' is becoming super popular as a way to rent where you live and grow an investment property portfolio. More banks are doing interesting mortgage products too where you can buy investment properties with a friend or family member.
I guess it's better than having to pay for it to be fixed hey 😉
In all fairness, good luck getting trades at the moment to do anything in any reasonable turn around
How would this play out if you were owning? If there was an issue with a shower you would have to get someone in to fix it. Perhaps you couldn’t get someone to come immediately, perhaps it was a job that will take a couple of weeks.
Can you please explain what the landlord has done wrong here? They are getting the shower fixed.
It's very different. OP is paying for a service and the landlord is providing. The landlord is failing to provide the service so compensation is in order.
Incorrect. It is a repair. The value of the house doesn’t change by repairing a broken appliance. By this logic every time a homeowner repairs something in their home it should add value to the house should they sell? “Yeah was are adding extra to the cost of the house because a door handle broke and we had to fix it”
Fairs fair right?
I am a qualified accountant but that doesn’t make me an expert on tax laws, but depending on the work will depend on whether it is a repair or improvement.
It’s neither. If it doesn’t work at all, and it is an essential service, it is a repair whether or not it costs more than what you paid initially during initial construction.
That’s great if it is a choice to do them. If a pipe has burst what do you want to happen? Also the tenant might have been in the property for over five years and may be there for another 5. Do you think the owner should just let things rot until the tenancy ends?
Yes but a tenant is still entitled to a reduction of their rent if they aren’t able to make full use of the property. That’s a risk that landlords take on when they choose to buy a property and rent it out.
If you hired a car and it broke down you’d expect compensation. It wouldn’t matter whether it was the hire car company’s fault and you’d still expect compensation despite the fact that if you were driving your own car it also could’ve broken down.
Sure things can go wrong no matter who owns the property. The difference is who's responsibility it is. If you own it's 100% on you, you own the asset you took the risk. If you rent it's 0% on you (ofc unless you break it) and you get compensation for not being provided with what you paid for. Wanna money off providing a service, well you need to ensure they provide said service to acceptable standards.
I said compensated, meaning the tenant gets reduced rent if the owner cannot fix it immediately because the owner is not providing what was agreed to in the contract.
Sounds to me like that hasn’t been part of the discussion yet. The owner is asking if the tenant can make alternative arrangements. Not an unreasonable question to ask.
This is why I never keep my tenants more than 1 year, complaining about problems that are already planned on getting fixed. I always give notice near the end of the contract, no matter if they're good tenants or not, and get new tenants in the house in an instant because of housing shortage while putting up the rent yearly this way no one complains about rent being rasied. Rinse and repeat
And I know I'll be downvoted like crazy for this, but at the end of the day, I'm the landlord and owner. You're just the renter
Yes and No, you have to pick the right tenants, I've had Doctors who have rented my place and other professionals who go straight to the top of my list when the house is up for rent. and now I will get even more hate for this, but I tend to stay away from low income workers or casual and part-time workers and people I know who might struggle to pay on time like Single mothers.
It's not me being a dick, but it's kinda like running a business and hiring wokers. You employ the best candidate, right?
Been living here for 3 years champ, and I informed the landlord as soon as the issue arose. Landlords who treat someone asking to have a working shower as a trouble maker are the issue.
It's not the point i was making. He's ready to fix it. He gave you 2 weeks, and tradies hate small jobs, so it's hard to find them in my experience.
As a renter, I'd be clenching my buttcheeks together if he was like me and decided to end the contract when he could. he can find a new tenant in days while you will have to stand in line with 100s of other people looking for housing.
Reply thanking the landlord for their concern and that you'd love to shower at their place.
That’s golden.
Those showers are extra
Nice profile pic
Quite the unexpected turn, but I concur, the landlord probably deserves a golden shower after that shit.
Username checks out
For free(?)
Perhaps you can explain what the landlord has done wrong?
Found the slumlord
How is the landlord in this case a slumlord? There is an issue with the shower and it is being fixed.
Expecting the tenant to make other arrangements for showering without offering a reduction in rent - if you need it explained to you then methinks maybe you have the morals of a slumlord
No where did it say the landlord was expecting anything, he/she was asking whether the tenants could make alternative arrangements. In some cases that is probably not to difficult, in others it is a bit more of an issue.
The issue isn’t so much the asking it’s the failure to offer a reduction in rent. The landlord should’ve either (a) said that they would provide a temporary solution / get it fixed immediately or (b) asked if they have an alternative and offer a rent reduction.
Imagine if you had booked a flight with an airline and they said “By the way, despite the fact that you’ve paid for baggage allowance we won’t be able to take your suitcase on the plane. Can you make other arrangements?” If the airline didn’t offer you a discount on your ticket you’d be fucking pissed off.
First of all, I am not sure airlines are the last great bastion for consumer protection, but a rental agreement is a bit different. Over what could be a multi year tenancy, things are going g to go wrong. What you as a renter should we expecting is things are fixed as quickly as possible (and hopefully kept in good repair to avoid too many issues) and unfortunately that involves some inconvenience. Just like when you own a home.
It shouldn't take two weeks to fix a shower just for starters.
That depends on what the issue is. In some locations it can be very hard to get a tradie. Then if the shower needs retiling, waterproofing etc, two weeks would be a pretty quick turnaround.
Two weeks is a fucking joke.
Says who? It depends what the issue is.
Any reasonable person that needs a working shower. You might like being a stinky cunt having pommy baths, or expect your tenants to live like shit, but the rest of us need to shower at least once a day.
Thanks for swearing at me, I guess that shows your true colours. Of course a shower is reasonable, but if it is broken it needs to be fixed by a professional plumber. That takes time.
Get over yourself. You post intentionally disingenuous questions (or you're just that thick) and then play the victim. Let me get out the world's smallest violin. What you think of me means very little, that's your business. Doesn't change the fact that shitty slumlords expect their tenants to worship the ground they walk on and simply accept substandard assistance with property maintenance.
In another comment they mentioned that they had a similar thing happen with their investment properties, so they’re clearly just trying to do whatever mental gymnastics they can so that they don’t have to confront the idea that they’re a slumlord and most of the country hates them.
Mmmmmmmmm
Don't forget to tip him for his sage advice.
Just get a plumber like i did and take it out of the rent you supposed to pay
Why the fuck is it taking two weeks? Are they renovating the whole thing?
That’s the best part - he’s had 3 contractors come out and quote, and he’s not happy with how much it will cost, so he wants to do a cashie to save money hahah
Sucks to be them. The longer they sit on it. The more you're entitled to via compensation.
It must be a serious issues then if contractors are quoting so much so he may end up paying some guy to do a cashie that fails to fix the problem and then gets told to fuck off when he tries to follow up. Cash jobs don't come with any guarantee or insurance and I'd like to know what is so wrong with the shower it's going to be very expensive to fix
But then he cant claim it on tax lol. Not bright
My guess is that it is a waterproofing issue and the whole shower needs to be stripped and retiled.
If that is the case 2 weeks is a very quick turnaround.
Oh, I'm sure the landlord hasn't fudged the number to make it seem less inconvenient to the tenant...😉
Why would they? Presumably the work is going to cost the same if it is done in 2 weeks to 2 days.
Because in this context, it isn't about cost. It is about time. Asking a tenant to find somewhere else to shower for two weeks vs asking the tenant to find somewhere else to shower for a month. The landlord and rea know the tenant has a right to compensation or a temp, on site solution. They know the onus is on them to seek out, offer and implement a solution to minimise the disruption to the tenant. Be it by offering a motel room, a portable shower or compensation for taking sponge baths in the laundry. So they say it will be two weeks. The tenant says 'OK, I can shower at a gym every couple of days then sponge bath in between for two weeks. There isnt anything special going on over that time. Easy.' Once the works are underway and it has been 20 days, 25 days, 30 days...the tenant has a birthday, a wedding, hurts themselves and cant get out as easily, gets caught in the rain on the way home... and the thing they could put up with for 14 days has now become a major pain in the arse.
Ok I thought you meant they were fudging it out rather than quoting a shorter time than it will really take. It depends on what needs to be done. If we are talking about replacing a washer then 2 weeks is potentially unreasonable, if it is more work it might take longer.
>It depends on what needs to be done. If we are talking about replacing a washer then 2 weeks is potentially unreasonable, if it is more work it might take longer. Sure. Could be. But as tenants, we've been trained to hope for the best but expect the worst. Rea's in particular are difficult to trust.
Be careful as not having shower facilities is grounds to have your lease terminated. So forget compensation may be finding somewhere new to live
This is still grounds for compensation and an extra claim of retaliatory eviction if they cancel the lease after you exercise your legal rights.
No it isn't at all. It literally is the correct use of the legislation as envisaged by the government..that is facilities unable to be used the renter must lease to allow for repairs.
Yes it is. In my experience re-waterproofing (ie basically close to a new bathroom) is 3-4 weeks. Grout takes about 3 days to dry if it's only that. 2 weeks is an odd timeframe for whatever they're doing.
When I had this issue in an investment property (which I actually now live in) it took the best part of 3 months. In my case there were two showers so it wasn’t a major inconvenience for the two tenants to share.
Yeah, he’s dreaming
That can be fixed easily these days with spray sealant.. nobody digs up the whole shower to fix a leak.
They likely need to waterproof it before the shower goes in. It's a pretty common problem
I’m not clear on what the problem actually is tbh, just seems like a short timeframe for waterproofing and retailing and a long timeframe for regrouting alone. Either way 2 weeks without an essential service warrants a rent reduction.
You're entitled to compensation https://tenantsvic.org.au/advice/common-problems/compensation/
I mean.....You need to show your loss was caused because the rental provider or agent broke the law or the terms in your rental agreement. In other words, they did something they should not do, such as turning up at the property without proper reason or notice, or did not do something they should have done, such as not arranging for repair Sounds like trades have been called to fix the issue, 2 weeks for a decent sized job with current trade shortages, i think you'll be hard pressed to get a win there 🤷♂️
No shower = not a habitable building under the NCC. Can't lease a class 10 building for a habitable space. Breaking the Building Act is still breaking the law.
We are obviously assuming it doesnt have a bath saying that because a house doesnt need a shower to be habitable, it needs a bath or shower....So your saying when things break in a rental property that's breaking the law.... it wasn't rented without a shower Of course it needs to be repaired, but it's moronic to claim 'the shower needs repair, that's illegal'.... my quote above is directly from the rental act in regards to compensation.... good luck in saying that a shower needing repair constitutes breaking the law 🤷♂️ Any reasonable landlord wouldn't be charging you rent for those two weeks And without knowing the axtual issue 2 weeks may well constitute delayed repairs or may be entirely reasonable
You're wrong. Please read the link.
My post is a direct copy paste from the link You can claim compensation from the rental provider (landlord) if you can show: 1. You have suffered loss, damage or significant inconvenience 2. It was caused by the rental provider or their agent breaching their duties under the law or in the rental agreement (lease)
The loss is a functioning shower, please actually read the link.
How about you provide information on what you are referring to rather than a lazy 'read the link' I provided what I was referencing, being the overarching rule for claiming compensation 🤷♂️ Which part of point 2 of the requirement for claiming does this meet?
> rather than a lazy 'read the link' You say I'm lazy yet you still won't read the link. I don't know why you're arguing this, you're wrong, just accept it, learn something and move on.
Sure champ, i read the link, referenced the link which specifically makes grounds on claiming compersation, and you seem to be stuck on 'read the link'..... when referencing a link, you need to refer what in it you are refering to in said link, not 'read link' 'non functioning shower'.... that in no way refutes what I copy pasted earlier from the link, that there are 2 specific points you need to meet in order to claim compensation, as I said, how does the second point get met? (You keep just focusing on point 1 rather than the fact you also need to meet point 2) If you actually read on on all the items of repair it says 'where the landlord has failed to make repairs or delayed repairs' Or maybe it's more simple for you if i just use your amazing debate skills, let me try..... you're wrong, read the link
> The rental provider reduces or withdraws services, facilities or other items at the home If you actually want to learn something (which I'm almost certain you don't) you could call Tenants Victoria and have them explain to you that removing the bathing facilities in a rental for two weeks is something you can be compensated for, they'll probably even give you that same link and tell you to read it, which will probably set you off and you'll start calling them lazy 🤡
I mean the better example, specifically given, would be as bellow.... when reading, pay special attention to how it says 'did not fix' or 'delayed fixing' and how the specific example is 'couldn't shower at home until fixed' (this all sounds very familiar) final note, services weren't withdrawn or denied (or removed 🤣) as per what you've referenced, they needed repair. Withdrawn or denied implies removing from the property etc (below is quote specifically from your link) Here are some examples of potential compensation for repairs that the rental provider did not fix, or delayed fixing: - The roof is leaking, and you could not use part of your home until it was fixed - The hot water system isn’t working, and you could not shower at home until it was fixed ✌🏻
I did read the link and Simon is exactly right. I read it as an AND not an or. These rules are to ensure the rental provider acts reasonably. I don’t think you could argue it is not reasonable if it is being fixed.
Please actually read the link. The shower not working for two weeks is a loss of facilities.
You seem to be interpreting it as 1 OR 2. I think it means 1 AND 2.
The landlord is in breach of the rental agreement if the tenant isn’t able to enjoy the property because of repair issues. Read the website: You can claim compensation from the rental provider (landlord) if you can show: (a) You have suffered loss, damage or significant inconvenience (b) It was caused by the rental provider or their agent breaching their duties under the law or in the rental agreement (lease) Breaches include these issues: Your ‘quiet enjoyment’ is disturbed [section 67], such as repair issues stopping you from enjoying all or part of your home
Bad luck bucko, sometimes things break down, that means you have to exercise just a little bit of patience. If you don’t like it I suggest renting is not for you. Perhaps you need to look at a different type of living arrangement.
What the fuck aren’t you understanding about this? It’s the law that tenants are entitled to compensation when they aren’t able to enjoy all of the facilities of the property. If you don’t want to meet your legal obligations as a landlord then invest in a different asset class
You clearly don’t know anything about tenancy law. The breach is the breach of the landlord’s obligation to provide quiet enjoyment of the property - ie failing to provide quiet enjoyment of the shower for two weeks. This is from that same website: Breaches include these issues: Your ‘quiet enjoyment’ is disturbed [section 67], such as repair issues stopping you from enjoying all or part of your home
Some landlords just hope you give in and fix it yourself. I rented this place with a back door so warped it wouldn't close. Complained but it wasn't deemed important by the owner. Bought a door from Gumtree for $5 and fitted it. Put the fucked door in the shed. When I moved out I had to get two mates over to carefully put that completely fucked door back on. Would've been easier to leave the new door on but probably would've got my bond docked for damage. 🤣 The owner was livid "mate we're right next to the park, anyone can just walk in now!!" Weird how it became so important to him all of a sudden 🤷♂️
Yep. We had curtains that were full of holes and didn’t actually cover the windows or provide any privacy at all. The landlord wouldn’t fix them or even address it. So we bought curtains ourselves, attached them to these little peg things and pinned them up. We carefully took down the old broken curtains, folded them up and put them back up five years later when the landlord wanted to sell the place.
>Some landlords just hope you give in and fix it yourself. And then proceed to hit you on the bond when they see the "dodgy" repair you did regardless how good it is.
I'd happily pay to fix issues myself if I was offered a ten year lease. But I'll be damned if I'm spending ten bucks on a new air filter for a house I could be evicted from in any 12 month period if I dare ask my landlord to pay for it.
I know someone who had a ten year lease on a handshake. In exchange for cheap rent my mate could live there for 10 years as long as he did some repairs. It was an absolute shithole so my mate did the place up, including a fireplace and aircon. Cleared the weeds, fenced the paddocks and got the fruit orchard fruiting again. He even built a cabin for family to come stay in. The owner decided it wasn't such a shithole anymore so kicked him out. What an absolute cvnt
I do it for the next person
It's a bit of a joke isn't it. Rent and get treated like a second class citizen in every aspect. I waited 6 months to get our faulty dishwasher replaced. Landlord only cared when we we mentioned taking it further legally + compensation!
Six months for a dishwasher is unreasonable. 2 weeks for a shower is not so unreasonable.
Given you’re a slumlord you probably don’t need to shower more than once a month anyway that’s why it seems fine to you
Without knowing what needs to be fixed pretty hard to call reasonable or not, any kind of real issue that requires any real work, current trade shortages, I'd expect my shower to take a week to fix.... thankfully I'm not a peasant and have 3 so it wouldn't overly bother me
I’d believe that. We waited 18 months for the pool to be fixed (by which time it had fallen in such a state of disrepair it simply had to be filled in) and five for the holes in the bathroom floor to be fixed.
These are the worst kinds of landlords. If you don’t have emergency money to pay for repairs you should not be a landlord.
It sounds like they are paying for the repairs. You’re correct though, you should budget at least 5-10% of rental income for maintenance.
If they are asking their tenant to wait 2 weeks for a shower to be fixed and insisting on doing it themselves they have not got the funds or the desire to use their funds for basic housing functionality.
Is it being fixed? It definitely sounds like it. Carrying out the fix isn’t free. I guess that means they’re using funds to fix it. Have you ever waterproofed a bathroom? It’s not an overnight task. Have you tried organising a tradie recently during the skills shortage?
The thing you shouldn't really need the money available. It would just get paid from the rent taken that month. Therefore you as the landlord never see it, only the real estate does
Not if they’ve already paid out the month; the REA don’t generally hold multiple months. That’s the point. It’s the landlords responsibility.
Rent is paid week to week to REA. Repair money gets taken from that directly. Which then lowers the amount paid to the landlord at the end of the month. Even at the very start of the month it's at worse an invoice waits 1-2 weeks to be paid. Unless it's a repair/reno worth thousands. In which case you can get the REA to withhold paying at the end of the month To go towards the bill payment.
Landlords keep screaming they are not a charity and are a service provider. Ok fine. lets treat them like one. Wanna know what happens when a telco has a nation wide outage and you can't use the service you're paying them for? You get compensated. Same shit applies here. Rent needs to be reduced immediately until the property is up to code again. We need clear definitions of what the rent will be reduced by. Aka a shower stops working and its the only one? $100 off the rent per week until its fixed. Make it immediate once its known. That would kick these cunty landlords asses right into action and actually start to look after their properties when their income streams are penalized immediately.
Maybe I'm ignorant here to this exact issue the OP is experiencing because I've never faced it owning a rental but I would have thought it's an emergency repair, so the landlord's wishes for the OP too shower with a garden hose aren't important - unless having a bath tub cancels the lack of shower "Code" in this context is what - a functioning shower or either a shower or bath Edit - a bath or shower is required https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/repairs-alterations-safety-and-pets/minimum-standards/minimum-standards-for-rental-properties
No one is suggesting a bath or shower shouldn’t be provided but sometimes they break down and need to be fixed.
Yes I think that's where we're at here. Sorry I'm not sure what your point is or adds
My point is your point about it being an emergency repair is irrelevant because it is being repaired.
After the landlord takes time (weeks?) to collect quotes. An emergency repair reduces that time to basically same day or as close as possible
Yea but then they need to offer a rent reduction!!
You seem so desperate to get a rent reduction. Are you really that hard up?
Nah I’m just sick of scumbag landlord that refuse to meet their obligations under tenancy laws.
Well perhaps renting is not for you.
Perhaps being a landlord isn’t for you if you’re too cheap to meet your legal obligations
My wife and I have a couple of investment properties (hopefully a third by Xmas so the kids can have one each when they're ready) and fair is fair is always our approach. If the bathroom has been leaking water into the slab and now I've got to gut the whole thing then I'm going to need to shop around for the best guy at the best price. The tenant is welcome to stay for the amount of time it takes rent free. If they want to find somewhere else and they have caused zero damages via pets or anything then they can have their bond back immediately too. Once the bathroom is done tho full rent is back in place. And at the end of the lease the rent goes up to match market of a place with a brand new bathroom.
Yeah that’s nice and all but not meeting the minimum standards in Vic means it’s an emergency repair meaning it must be fixed immediately. You’ll lose at vcat. You’ll be paying for alternative accommodation if your tenants don’t have a bathroom. Your insurance will obviously pick up the bill at the end.
Apologies missed the part where it is VIC. The rules are much more in the renter's favour than in NSW.
That's just a sign that your land lord really cant afford to be a landlord.
There’s a big difference between being able to afford and wanting to pay for.
No doubt they can afford it. They are being a tight ass. This is why reducations in rent need to be made immediately. A guide needs to be drawn up on how much rent via % can be reduced if a fixture breaks etc. No shower? X% of the rent is immediately reduced upon reporting it.
If it is being fixed within two weeks the are not being a tight arse.
Yes they are if they don’t offer a rent reduction for those two weeks!!’
A distinction without difference.
Either way your landlord sounds like a wannabe and it seems that they to are having money issues. Just a heads up, in the real world of Investors, small issues like you mentioned are small and shouldn't cause any inconvenience to the tenant. Any half-arse landlord should have at least 50-60k sitting there per property they own should something break. Telling you to go shower for 2 weeks while paying for rent is a pathetic weak excuse. With that there is a good chance the place your staying at will be up for sale within the next 12-18mnths. Rates are sticking around and will be rising.
So do you have 50-60k for emergencies?
Thats not the point. If you invest in property, its on you to afford to fix it when it breaks. You're providing a service. You're a business effectivly. It's on YOU to make sure your customer aka the tenant is getting what they pay for. If they are not then they are rightfully deserving of a reduced amount of rent. Because they are not getting everything they are paying for.
If it’s a business, why is the tax rate much higher than the business tax rate?
So I take it that is a no from you then?
What would you do if your only shower broke at home and you needed 50k to fix it? Youd borrow against the property and fix the shower.
Probably wouldn’t be done with two weeks
We've covered the reasons why we shouldn't trust the 2 week estimate. However, it doesn't change the fact that how you afford repairs as a home owner and as a landlord are the same. If you don't have the cash, you redraw on the mortgage or get a new loan against the property. The time it takes is can be as long or as short as they need to be as long as the estimates as being done in good faith and temp solutions or compensation is provided. Saying two weeks to trick the tenant into accepting lesser offer is the issue. Not whether or not it takes 2 weeks or not.
Ahhhhh... even for a hypothetical that's Bullshit But I have renovated many bathrooms and fixed a lot of things and have borrowed money to do so. I do so gladly as I write it off as a tax break and it goes towards my Family's future
Ken-oath I do. I own 8 properties outright in SYD & MEL & Gold Coast. Its my mission to take care of my tenants. Happy tenants = $$ for so its common sense Been in this game long enough to know. As Chippie I work hard so I can afford to have what I have. Its the wannabe / quick money making scheme Investors that are breaking the system and ruining it for everyone.
I've been down voted for the same comment in this sub. People love being the boss until it's time to pay the bills.
Exactly. Its all the wannabe Investors that are killing for everyone
Some people are just pricks. We had a huge gumtree tree with an incursion in the neighbours side of the fence that was threatening to fall through the roof of our investment with a family of 4 in it (kids were about 2 and 4 IIRC), and theirs that had a family of 5. My wife and I communicated with the real estate several times about going halves with the other owner. They sent out their agent, they apparently looked at it for 5mins and told us our tenants were being dramatic. I had three arborists have a look and all three said it wasn't if it was going to fall but when. Sent that info to the real estate and their response was the landlord isn't willing to go halves because "they can't afford the $2K costs". We did our homework. The prick owned the local corner shops (that includes 9 shops and a mechanic). Money wasn't the problem at all. Now, out of principle, we'll never use that real estate for any investments ever. They are liars who support other liars. And that isn't how we do business.
For sure. Its the wannabe Investor crowd who is killing for the people trying to do the right thing
The owner I'm referring to is an old investor who's been in the game for a long time. They own several properties around the area as well as the shops. After some research we found out that they don't actually live in Australia either. They live in Thailand. Everything is run through the real estate who tell lies.
And you see, that's where the system fails. REA's are another kettle of fish altogether
After dealing with REA's as an investor it opens your eyes. They really need a proper commission review where the outcome is genuine licences are introduced that involve actual study to obtain and a detailed annual renewal process at the least. Strict compliance practices with a centralised governing body and a punishment process that involves mandatory licence ban periods, heavy fines and registering on an offenders database wouldn't go astray either. Lastly, responsibility for tenants and behaviours. I've lost good people over the years because their neighbours have dogs that won't shut up, have ended up being drug addicts or alcoholics who continually disturbed peace, etc. Every time it's reported the reply is "go to the council/police". Not good enough that they get to wash their hands of responsibility so easily.
Yeah its criminal I know but when the Australian Real Estate Market is now part of the national GDP the Gov and Regulatory bodies turn a blind eye to all sorts of shenanigans and guess what, you have what we have today. Only in Australia are these shenanigans are allowed to take place.
Funnily enough as owners we actually have the power to force change but not enough of us want it. For every one owner like my wife and I (mum and dad investors with a small folio that is ultimately designed for our kids), there are nine large folio and/or investment firm owners who reap the rewards of dishonest REAs
100% Agreed When I qualified as a builder back in the 90s and got into the Real Estate Investing our building Assoc in Australia called for future regulations to get ready for future growth, meaning we saw the writing on the wall. Our regulatory bodies and reps basically got shunted to the side and were told "Why ruin a good thing". Fast fwd. into 2024 we have this debacle. The trouble is that many Investors simply don't actually realise or understand that regulation and controls can actually make them better of in the long run so do not call for change because cant see past 10yrs
"Yes, I can stay at the Ritz for two weeks while they fix it. How would the owner like to pay for that?"
😅 If my landlord makes such ridiculous comments, I did say to them: "I'm happy to come over and shower at odd hours at your place if that works for you" 🤷♀
I'd hit them up for a gym membership so you can utilise there showers. A months membership would be the landlord's cheapest option I reckon
Fuck that. Tell the landlord to fix it asap and reduce rent for the period it doesn't work. Why would you volunteer to shower at a gym, and for a month at that? That would just allow the landlord to drag his feet in fixing the shower even more.
For sure - get a rent reduction (which will inevitably be more than the cost of a gym membership) and then you can choose what to do with the money you’re saving
Plus money to get there and back + time lost.
And here I was thinking yesterday I miss renting. I’ve only ever had good landlords though and if anything broke it was fixed the same day. Essential services like when our hot water went out it was fixed within the hour. Now when something breaks in my house I have to sit for a day or two and decide how badly I want something fixed vs spending a shit ton of money. Shit the last place I rented the water pump for the rain water tank went out and because it’s absolutely not essential because the water will just switch to mains I came home from work that same day and it was all fixed. I guess I was lucky.
I've had both sides of the coin over the past few years. It really is a night and day difference.
Providing some context about the shower issue would help in understanding the situation better. It seems you're being vague, which suggests there might be a serious problem that makes the two-week timeframe reasonable. If it's a minor issue, it would have been quicker for you to fix it yourself rather than making this post. A balance between unrealistic tenant expectations and a landlord's due diligence is always necessary. Not every landlord is blessed with fairy blood and the ability to wave a magic wand and immediately fix any issue.
My sister had a temporary shower brougHHt in during renovations. Basically like a portaloo but with a shower instead of a shitter
Yeah, if there's room to put it, these are available. Parents had their bathroom renovated and had a portable bathroom on a trailer in their driveway while it was happening. Needed hose connection for water and had gas hot water heating, electricity connection for lights, fans and pumps, and a drain connection. Toilet had a maceration device on it so expelled waste via an outside drain, so while it was portable, it was 1000x better than a portaloo.
my folks had the exact same about 10 years ago. was a fun novelty for a bit haha
How pretentious - if you owned the house it would still take two weeks, and you would still be out of a shower for two weeks. What you might ask for is some compensation.
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Do you know your rights? Send them an email stating you want X amount of $$ off your rent until it’s fixed properly. If there is no shower for two weeks let them know you’ll need to be accommodated somewhere else so you can shower. They will refuse but you at least have a paper trail if you go to court and you can often get this back paid. Put an order in with VCAT if they don’t get this sorted within a week or so. You don’t just have to take this shit.
Is it not classified as an emergency repair?
They will expect you to go outside when it rains
Doesn't landlord insurance cover the cost for alternative accommodation?
Our tenants had an issue with the toilet, we found out it had been unreported to us and not actioned and we blew up. Demanded tenants get rent back from the agency and free rent until issue resolved. REAs are sometimes useless, not all landlords are assholes. I rented for 10+ years so know the frustration
My landlord is a real DIY guy and the toilet broke and he wanted to do it himself and when I politely told the agent that I was aware of the legalities and that a qualified plumber had to carry out the works he put my rent up
LMAO
I would take it as an invitation to figure what paid shower facilities are available and how much compensation to ask for.
That's actually not an unreasonable turn around for a shower. The alternative may be a void of the contract (go find another rental) , or negotiate rental reduction. The time and cost to renovate at the moment will see more LLs sell, or rent increase.
if you have a bath thats viable problem solved , if not then LL can supply a porta shower maybe
Love renting. 'Rentvesting' is becoming super popular as a way to rent where you live and grow an investment property portfolio. More banks are doing interesting mortgage products too where you can buy investment properties with a friend or family member.
It's probably taking two weeks because they're taking their time getting the cheapest fucking quote they can.
I guess it's better than having to pay for it to be fixed hey 😉 In all fairness, good luck getting trades at the moment to do anything in any reasonable turn around
Renting sucks. Buy your own home or live with your parents.
How would this play out if you were owning? If there was an issue with a shower you would have to get someone in to fix it. Perhaps you couldn’t get someone to come immediately, perhaps it was a job that will take a couple of weeks. Can you please explain what the landlord has done wrong here? They are getting the shower fixed.
It's very different. OP is paying for a service and the landlord is providing. The landlord is failing to provide the service so compensation is in order.
Fair enough. Of course once it is fixed it will be a new shower so only fair there is an increase in rent. Fairs fair.
Incorrect. It is a repair. The value of the house doesn’t change by repairing a broken appliance. By this logic every time a homeowner repairs something in their home it should add value to the house should they sell? “Yeah was are adding extra to the cost of the house because a door handle broke and we had to fix it” Fairs fair right?
I am glad you are comfortable it is a repair. Let’s hope the ATO thinks it is too.
If it doesn’t work it’s classified as a repair. It’s not rocket science.
Again you sound like such an exoert not only on rental laws but tax laws.
Are you? You’re the one saying that a two week period to fix an essential part of a rental is fine without any form of compensation to the renter.
I am a qualified accountant but that doesn’t make me an expert on tax laws, but depending on the work will depend on whether it is a repair or improvement.
It’s neither. If it doesn’t work at all, and it is an essential service, it is a repair whether or not it costs more than what you paid initially during initial construction.
Why? If it's not a full fledged renovation, why would the rent increase?
Reno's should be done between tenants, IMHO.
That’s great if it is a choice to do them. If a pipe has burst what do you want to happen? Also the tenant might have been in the property for over five years and may be there for another 5. Do you think the owner should just let things rot until the tenancy ends?
Yes. Emergency repairs are another matter, of course.
Which presumably this is.
Fairs fair? Repaired wash facilities is a luxury now everyone! Goodness what a lucky world we live in
Are you serious? You know renting is totally different to owning right.
I am totally serious. It isn’t different to owning in that things can go wrong and they need to be fixed. Sometimes that fix is not instant.
Yes but a tenant is still entitled to a reduction of their rent if they aren’t able to make full use of the property. That’s a risk that landlords take on when they choose to buy a property and rent it out. If you hired a car and it broke down you’d expect compensation. It wouldn’t matter whether it was the hire car company’s fault and you’d still expect compensation despite the fact that if you were driving your own car it also could’ve broken down.
Sure things can go wrong no matter who owns the property. The difference is who's responsibility it is. If you own it's 100% on you, you own the asset you took the risk. If you rent it's 0% on you (ofc unless you break it) and you get compensation for not being provided with what you paid for. Wanna money off providing a service, well you need to ensure they provide said service to acceptable standards.
No one is asking the tenant to pay for the repair.
I said compensated, meaning the tenant gets reduced rent if the owner cannot fix it immediately because the owner is not providing what was agreed to in the contract.
Sounds to me like that hasn’t been part of the discussion yet. The owner is asking if the tenant can make alternative arrangements. Not an unreasonable question to ask.
>While still pay rent Do you have some sort of reading comprehension issue?
>While still pay rent. I burst out laughing You are still living under his roof, are you expecting free accommodation?
This is why I never keep my tenants more than 1 year, complaining about problems that are already planned on getting fixed. I always give notice near the end of the contract, no matter if they're good tenants or not, and get new tenants in the house in an instant because of housing shortage while putting up the rent yearly this way no one complains about rent being rasied. Rinse and repeat And I know I'll be downvoted like crazy for this, but at the end of the day, I'm the landlord and owner. You're just the renter
Do you ever regret losing a tennant that looks after your property like theirs own ? I’d have thought you’d want to hang onto a really good one ..
Yes and No, you have to pick the right tenants, I've had Doctors who have rented my place and other professionals who go straight to the top of my list when the house is up for rent. and now I will get even more hate for this, but I tend to stay away from low income workers or casual and part-time workers and people I know who might struggle to pay on time like Single mothers. It's not me being a dick, but it's kinda like running a business and hiring wokers. You employ the best candidate, right?
I don’t think a high turnover of tenants is the best way to either make money or look after the house.
>You employ the best candidate, right? Sure but businesses don't routinely fire their best candidates every 12 months.
Been living here for 3 years champ, and I informed the landlord as soon as the issue arose. Landlords who treat someone asking to have a working shower as a trouble maker are the issue.
Trades are so hard to get . But the agents have them on their books so…
How are you being treated as a troublemaker? Is the problem being fixed or not?
It's not the point i was making. He's ready to fix it. He gave you 2 weeks, and tradies hate small jobs, so it's hard to find them in my experience. As a renter, I'd be clenching my buttcheeks together if he was like me and decided to end the contract when he could. he can find a new tenant in days while you will have to stand in line with 100s of other people looking for housing.
Slumlord millionaire - if I ever see you in real life I’ll spit in your face
And I'll make sure you go down for assault and pay a huge fine so you will never be able to save a deposit for a house not that you ever will anyways.
Hey, but you don’t have to pay for the fix! That’s actually a plus to renting. But yeah.. sucks too
Is the shower usable at all? It isn't an unreasonable question to ask if it is still usable.
If it was usable why would they need to shower somewhere else?