Hi all,
I completed a final inspection on my property to discover that the tenant has damaged floorboards in the kitchen causing it ‘puffed’ potentially due to water/moisture.
In the condition report at commencement of the lease it was agreed that the floorboards in the kitchen were undamaged and the tenant provided no comments to the contrary.
The tenant is now disagreeing with this and is stating that when the condition report was completed it was an oversight on her part is she believes it was pre-existing.
So we have a situation where we are agreeing to disagree, however the original condition report clearly states that the floorboards were undamaged at the commencement of the lease.
Any thoughts on how to handle this situation? What are my rights? Will it be worth my while taking this matter to VCAT? Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Timber flooring may be considered unsuitable for a wet area like a kitchen. If it is foreseeable that the floor would get wet then vcat would probably find that this is fair wear & tear.
i rented a apartment once and had this happen to me, quite severly in fact… when i first saw it happening i phoned the real estate and they came around and looked at it and realised that it wasnt my fault and never charged me for the repairs, I was grateful for that as it would of cost alot…sorry but its probably not something you wanna hear
Getting wet is one thing, allowing water to 'stand' for suck a period of time that it penetrates and then swells the floorboards isNOT fair wear and tear.As for the 'oversight'…she is responsible to ensuring that the preort is accurate in all details.
Hold her to the condition report and claim against her bond.Opinion only.
First, it must be established whether this damage is fair wear n tear, irrespective of the condition report.
What wear n tear is fair is completely relative.
In that regard it would be reasonable to expect that a kitchen floor could take some water without swelling.
So a tenant should be able to mop it at least every day for instance, and it should be able to take some spills.
It’d be difficult to establish how long water had sat there and arguable that it’s unlikely someone would leave a high traffic area such as their kitchen floor wet for an extended period.
A tenant’s advocate would argue there was a problem with floor sealing under normal usage conditions, not necessarily tenant abuse.
Sorry, if it went to a hearing, can’t see a result in the landlord’s favour likely in this case, even if it’s unfair.The situation would be different if it was a lounge room floor.
Cheers
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Yes, I am with thecrest- cant see it being in the Landlords favour. Having been an agent, a tenant who took her landlord to VCAT – and won, and a landlord myself, I cant see this being in the landlords favour. It sounds like there more likely an issue with water from somewhere. My land lord tied to stick me with all sorts of things but she had to pay me in the end. I would also suggest that a “bond” is not likely to cover the cost of repairs. And what are you going to do if the tenant IS found to be guilty and has to pay you for repairs and has no money?
Insure the premise and sleep at night. It is really not worth the bother.Now let me tell you a story about my sister in law who DID insure………………
Try to negotiate some trivial amount from the bond that the tenant will agree to, it is likely if you go to VCAT it is more than what you would be awarded there.
How long was the tenant in the property? I have seen this situation before with floorboards in the kitchen and bathrooms and I was able to claim some money from the bond for the kitchen but only because the damage was severe and the tenants had only been in the property for 8 months, in addition to this they did not clean the property and leave it well which supported my case of tenant negligance.
Sounds like this is the only issue with your previous tenant so I do think you would have a very hard time at VCAT. Sorry!
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