Am I wrong? I rent a house out to an elderly lady who has the support of a close family. She’s a good tenant
Question by shih tzu lady:
but has rung me on several occasions to sort problems out and having called out repair people, we find that she has flicked switches, turned knobs etc and there has been no fault. She’s never been charged for the call outs. She has had problem with door lock and hasn’t let me know. Her son called out a locksmith to change the lock, but the new UPVC doors and windows were still under warranty and the repair would have been covered under the warranty. She’s sent me the locksmith invoice to reimburse her and I am refusing to pay it as she never contacted me to let me know there was a problem anyway. She said it was because it was late at night – the bill however states that her son phoned at 5.20pm. It would have been much earlier that she contacted her son, giving me plenty of time to get the windows people out (friends of mine). What is your view please?
livvy – all that rent does is pay the mortgage. If I make anything at all, it is not her concern. I’m doing it for a pension when I retire as I’m self employed. My finances are no-one else’s concern.
Just to mention – every other problem she has phoned me to mention, I have had someone out to attend to it within 4 hours. I did wonder whether she had locked herself out and let me foot the bill. Also she has not offered me a new key!
When spoke with her about it she threw in my face that I had loads more money than her – what’s that got to do with it. Told her was disappointed in her attitude and thought it insulting as me and my husband work hard for our retirement. She said I should give her son the money as he wasn’t working! My problem?? Explained I have no problem keeping the place 100% but she has at least to give me the opportunity to do it. Dont like falling out with people though! Think she may have dementia because she is a changed woman from 12 months ago. But how guilty do I feel!!!!
but has rung me on several occasions to sort problems out and having called out repair people, we find that she has flicked switches, turned knobs etc and there has been no fault. She’s never been charged for the call outs. She has had problem with door lock and hasn’t let me know. Her son called out a locksmith to change the lock, but the new UPVC doors and windows were still under warranty and the repair would have been covered under the warranty. She’s sent me the locksmith invoice to reimburse her and I am refusing to pay it as she never contacted me to let me know there was a problem anyway. She said it was because it was late at night – the bill however states that her son phoned at 5.20pm. It would have been much earlier that she contacted her son, giving me plenty of time to get the windows people out (friends of mine). What is your view please?
livvy – all that rent does is pay the mortgage. If I make anything at all, it is not her concern. I’m doing it for a pension when I retire as I’m self employed. My finances are no-one else’s concern.
Just to mention – every other problem she has phoned me to mention, I have had someone out to attend to it within 4 hours. I did wonder whether she had locked herself out and let me foot the bill. Also she has not offered me a new key!
When spoke with her about it she threw in my face that I had loads more money than her – what’s that got to do with it. Told her was disappointed in her attitude and thought it insulting as me and my husband work hard for our retirement. She said I should give her son the money as he wasn’t working! My problem?? Explained I have no problem keeping the place 100% but she has at least to give me the opportunity to do it. Dont like falling out with people though! Think she may have dementia because she is a changed woman from 12 months ago. But how guilty do I feel!!!!
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Comments on Am I wrong? I rent a house out to an elderly lady who has the support of a close family. She’s a good tenant »
you dont have to pay. they probably invalidated your upvc warranty by getting someone else in. i wouldnt pay.
I think that it’s your house not hers and she should contact you if she has a problem not just go ahead and fix it.
I think you are total ok !That is fair. She has to let you know b4 doing stuff like that! I would refuse to pay!
your running a buisness not a charity and her family now that ask them for the money and see if they would pay stupid amounts every week and you will find your answer
ah ffs. Let it go this time and warn her in future she has to notify you before any repairs are made or she will have to pay the bill herself. I am sure you have well made your money from her.
edit: ok you are not running a charity but something is not laying straight here otherwise you would not even be asking this question. Just go with your gut.
I think you should get together with your Tenant and her Family and have a good talk explaining the tenancy agreement,,,in a nice way,,,,
you dont have to pay,
legally she isnt suppose to make any repairs because she doesnt own the house.
she has to contact you and give you a “reasonable” length of time to have the problem fixed.
No just because she is old doesn’t means she gets special privileges. tell her no.
I wouldn’t pay. She needs to know that she is living in your house and if there is a problem big or small that you want to be the one to handle it. And if she doesn’t understand, make it clear to her son. And thank them for invalidating your warranties.
I think she should have contacted you first to sort out the locks as it is your property. But I can’t really advise any further than that as I don’t know where you would stand legally.
No one, regardless of who or what they are have the right to cause you financial or other damage. She is a responsible adult and there is nothing wrong with her mind even though she’s old. She sounds to me like she likes having things done her way and you have to make it clear it’s not acceptable by insisting she pays the bill or she gets out.
It is her responsibility to call you with problems and not to take matters in her own hands.
Don’t pay. Point out to her that you’ve provided free service calls, which were not your fault. Point out that she actually had no right to change the locks thereby potentially invalidating the warranty on your door.
She will either get mad and move out, or just do nothing. Chances are the latter.
if she was 26 years old would you hesitate to say no to the charge? make her pay!
I dont think your wrong at all, and sweet old lady or not business is business, you shouldnt have to pay for that
Explain to her and her son that if she does not contact you before enlisting in repair people, she will be responsible. I would also do this is writing and have her to sign it.
You are not obligated, as you were not informed. REad the lease, carefully.
I would send her a letter to that effect, returning the bill and refusing to pay it, indicating that it was under warranty and you would not have incurred any charges. I would be pleasant, sorry she had the problem, note that you have already absorbed multiple unnecessary service charges, and ASKING that she call you regarding any problems, stating that you will not pay for repairs you did not authorize. I would send a copy to the son.
I would have her deduct the amount out of her next months rent but explain to her that before she makes a call to have something repaired that she needs to contact you first because the house is under warranty and the cost to get items repaired are covered. Explain that you’ll let this one go but in future you will not reimburse her if she takes it upon herself to get items repaired without your permission.
This is a tough one, because you hate to alienate someone who has been, in your words, “a good tenant.” By that, I assume you mean she pays her rent on time and doesn’t otherwise bother you unless something needs to be repaired. The question is, how much do you want to hang onto her as a tenant?
I’ve been a landlord, and good tenants are hard to find. I would often put up with crap from a good one that I wouldn’t tolerate in a bad one, or even a marginal one.
You don’t HAVE to pay that bill. But how much is it? Is it a significant amount of money? Is it enough to risk losing her? You have to weigh the amount of money against the loss of the tenant? Is she good enough to make you pay? Is she NOT good enough that you’re willing to lose her? Might she be open to negotiation? Each of you pay half? You would pay half to show good faith in her as a good tenant, and she would pay half to admit that she was at fault and should’ve called you first.
Your call, but good tenants can be hard to find. Good luck!
i totally agree with you i wouldn’t pay it your the land lord she should have phoned you to be quite honest i think she may be loosing it a bit I would let her family know
So you own it and don’t have an intermediary Property Manager, correct? (these are things that the PM would handle)
Well what are the terms of the lease?
If she doesn’t have to pay for apporved repairs, then the light/switches isue comes out of your pocket. But, on approved repairs, the lock would fall to them.
You might look at the warrenty to see if immediate repairs by another party are covered. SOMETIMES, they give exceptions for immediate work or work done to prevent further damage.
As for the tenant herself, “She’s a good tenant, but has rung me on several occasions” Yeah, that’s a bad tenant. =) Not as bad as some, but not in the good catagory.
I would explain to her AND her son that no repairs are to be made until they are approved by you. Maybe you can work out smething where you will reduce the rent by $10.00 a month until it covers the cost of the locks just as a goodwill gesture but make perfectly clear that ANY unapproved repairs in the future will NOT be reimbursed
i was living in a house where my landlord wouldn’t spend nout on,he used to get his mate and cut corners,we moved.
its good that your a good landlord but you need to tell her that next time she will have to pay,send a letter explaining,as you said shes a good tenant,so she should respect Ur wishes.
If you have already asked her to call you first when there is a problem with the house (after an incident–I’m sure it was either in the lease or explained when she signed it–that’s not what I’m talking about), then stick to your guns and don’t pay it. Otherwise, I’d say you should give her a break and cover it (just to be nice and to keep a good tenant happy).
Basically, I’d say give her one free chance, unless she’s already used it up. I’m also assuming that you believe that the lock was busted and that she isn’t trying to slip you a bill for when she locked herself out.
Make sure she’s clear that you want to be called when there is a problem–even a little one. Tell her you aren’t running a slum and you want to keep the house in good condition, but you don’t know that there is a problem unless she lets you know. Also tell her that you don’t want her to call her own contractor unless she can’t reach you and there is an emergency like water pouring on the floor uncontrolably (and even then, the first call should be to you–the call to the plumber should come if she gets your machine and just can’t wait). Just make everything crystal clear so this doesn’t happen again, and suck up the expense this time (good tenants are not always easy to find so keeping her happy could be worth it). If you already did that, tell her it is her bill to teach her a lesson.
No, you should not have to pay and all the people on here advising you to get her to agree not to have any work done in the house unless it is through you,are spot on.Perhaps the old lady is getting a bit confused,in which case,maybe it would be better to deal with her son.You seem like a very forebearing person,so good luck.
If I may say, you sound like a good landlord/lady, get the key! ASAP. This has voided your warranty and would have been covered. Put it in writing to her and, if you feel it necessary, her son. You are right, your finances are completely your own affair. Age is no excuse.
i wouldnt pay for it sounds to me she is being a pain tell her you want a key otherwise she’ll have to find somewhere else to live
no since it is your property it is up to the tenant to have you make all repairs and arrangement…..also they have to provide a key if they change a lock, so you can get a court order for the key or have the local cops come tell her she must give you a key. All repairs she makes on her own bills to pay. I changed locks on apartments before but I paid the bill and had to send my landlord new keys, they only time it would be your bill is if it broke…either she lost the key, gave someone a key she didn’t want to have any more or she locked her self out. Also repair people can’t send you bills for work she authorized, she can only authorize bills in her own name. Do you have a lease agreement? It should say right in there (if you used a standard on from the net or the court) that all repairs are to be handled through the land lord. If you took it to court she would have to pay. It’s not up to her to get her own labors (who could be relatives charging outrageous prices), it’s up to you to maintain the property, and that’s the point of a land lord, to be called at all hours for large problems, so she had no reason not to call. Don’t be nice just because she is old….she will do it again and again then…and it could be just people she knows making fake bills to keep her rent down…..there are way too many dishonest people these days.