Hi there !
I have two flats at ground level that the tenant claims to have been broken in a couple of times. (Mind you, no bill for smashed door or broken lock came my way).
The tenants are asking for added security measures, and I have provided with security lights back and front and fenced off side access on both sides.
They have now asked for extra locks front and back (quote is $750) and screen doors (quote still to come).
Here comes the question, the flats have both normal locks, the same as all the other flats, is it my responsibility to provide with further locks and screen doors? If they ask to have grills on the windows what then?
Is there a standard response to this? All the other houses around do not seem to bother with any of that.“What you want in your life occasionally shows up…
what you must have… always does.” . . . . . Doug Firebaugh
May God Prosper you.[biggrin]
MarcLooks like you’ve got a pair of demanding, whingey tenants. Or they could have a locksmith as a mate, $750 sounds far too excessive for locks. Or they could have upset someone nasty and are preparing for when he comes looking.
If you keep dishing out, they’ll keep needing new things for the flat. You could always say ‘pay more rent’ or you’re not getting it.
And besides, if they get broken into, it’s their stuff anyway, not yours.It simply sounds like another case of ‘lets see how far we can push the landlord’. I think these people might be on the take.
$750 could or could not be unreasonable.
I take the view that reasonable security is “reasonably provided”. In my case, I installed the deadlocks my self ($100 + my labour each). For a locksmith it was $200 each so it may not be an unreasonable sum.
Make sure you get your own quote.
Originally posted by 1Winner:Hi there !
I have two flats at ground level that the tenant claims to have been broken in a couple of times. (Mind you, no bill for smashed door or broken lock came my way).
The tenants are asking for added security measures, and I have provided with security lights back and front and fenced off side access on both sides.
They have now asked for extra locks front and back (quote is $750) and screen doors (quote still to come).
Here comes the question, the flats have both normal locks, the same as all the other flats, is it my responsibility to provide with further locks and screen doors? If they ask to have grills on the windows what then?
Is there a standard response to this? All the other houses around do not seem to bother with any of that.“What you want in your life occasionally shows up…
what you must have… always does.” . . . . . Doug Firebaugh
May God Prosper you.[biggrin]
MarcMarc,
We had something similar with our very first residential IP.
We had the standard locks on – tenant got broken into and more than $ 2K worth of their belongings got stolen. Damage for us was about $ 40…didn’t claim on insurance as it was small. Tenant claimed on their insurance policy also…happy days.
Request came in immediately from the tenants to beef up security. We were young and inexperienced, readily said yes, no problem, whatever we can do to help out.
Installed new security measures at our total expense of $ 900…tenant chipped in nothing – citing it would enhance our property value (she was a PM for an unrelated firm, and we were slightly intimidated by her position – (I laugh now looking back).
Anyway, I digress….
The thieves left it about 6 weeks, until they knew all of the tenants gear had been replaced by new appliances. Came back again, exact same scenario, broke in via the same method and stole all their gear again.
This time however, whilst stealing the tenants $ 2K worth of appliances, had done about $ 700 worth of damage getting into the place. This time we had to claim on our insurance policy and our premium the subsequent year went up.
Tenant formed the opinion the area was bad (it wasn’t – quite upmarket in fact) and our particular house was prone to burglaries and nothing could help. They moved out and we were left standing there wondering what had hit us…a tad daunting when you are first starting up.
How did we eventually fully and permanently rectify this type of situation ?? There is really only one solution. Don’t own little residential units which attract tenants like this. You are fighting the RTA and as a Landlord, you are on a losing streak.
Good luck Marc…hey, by the way, how did your daughter go up in FNQ with her tenant problems ??
Cheers,
Dazzling
“No point having a cake if you can’t eat it.”
Thank you for your answers.
Dazzling, I agree about the link between petty little problems and residential properties. Usually I leave this to the PM who are working for me. This tenants are particularly demanding. I bought the property tenanted and the first month received a $50 bill for mowing. I thought it was the guy that does the communal areas but no, the previous owner had been paying for mowing their own backyard!!So far they asked for a 4 car carport at the front (they do not own a car but would like the shade), a sail also for shade, complained about the snakes because I stopped mowing their backyard, want new locks, screen door, security lights, a new fridge and pizza delivered once a month….OK the pizza is a joke stolen from another post.
It goes without saying that they are the longest standing tenants and therefore pay the least rent…(Strange how this logic resinates with the PM who would assent gravely to this talk.)
I rectified the situation by stopping the mowing, and rising the rent from $120 to $150 to bring it up to the other flats, to the bewilderment of the terrified PM. There will be no 4 car carport or sails or fridge nor pizza yet I fitted lights and fenced off access to the back.
That is as far as I will go, after all the vacancy rate there is nil.
My daughter had a spate of bad tenants yet she is over it. The alleged drug dealer in Cairns is still on the run, flat full of his gear yet not used and rent paid religiously in advance.
Second bad tenants in Campbelltown left everything in the house and she paid ~$1400 for removalist and storage for a month plus daily adds in the Sydney Morning Herlad (Such is the legislation in New South Cuba)
Auctioning the stuff off last week got back $500.The RE agent found them and is taking them to the local court for a total damage of $5000. Good luck with that, the agent has done most of the mistakes and knows they are next in court if no money start coming our way. The insurance has managed to fence off most of the bills.
I am helping them out and removed two skippers full of trash. I counted 200 beer bottles and 50 boxes of beer cans. Fortunately the damage in the house is minor and I can do the fixing myself for a few bobs. Fortunately they are taking it with philosophy, she has another property with a good tenant and is overall doing well, asset wise.
“What you want in your life occasionally shows up…
what you must have… always does.” . . . . . Doug Firebaugh
May God Prosper you.[biggrin]
Marc
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