Who is responsible in this situation?

gosuckonalemon

Hi,
I share an apartment with a guy and a girl. We've never met our landlord but he seems ok; he got a handy man in to paint and touch up the place and reduced our rent by 12.5%. The front door of the flat had been dodgy for a while, took a bit of effort to get it open, but no real problem.

Anyways I was away for the weekend and the female flatmate said she couldn't open the door. (She couldn't during the week also until I came along and opened it). She couldn't open it again (on BH Sunday evening), called the landlord and he sent a relative around to open it. With some effort he managed to open it but didn't fix it (he wasn't a locksmith). So the flatmate gained entrance into the flat. The LL could have sent someone the next day to fix the lock properly.

However, the flatmate decides she wants to socialise on Sunday night and so instead of staying in (in case she couldn't open it again), she immediately calls a locksmith from the golden pages and pays 110e for him to fix the lock. (The lock wasn't broken, just a little off line).

The LL told her to tell me to ring him. Apparently she was rude and he didn't want to speak to her. (He turned his phone off on Sunday as he couldn't take all her calls...she also said he was rude to her)

He is not willing to pay, because as far as he sees it, the door was faulty and he could have got it fixed the next day. He got her into the house and that was enough for a BH Sunday.

The flatmate obviously wants him to pay it, or at the very least for the 3 of us to split the bill. I told her I am reluctant as she should never have called the locksmith in the first place, the LL would have sorted it with his own handyman the next day (as he usually does).

So, who do you think should foot the bill:

1) the landlord
2) Her
3) Divide 3 ways amongst tenants?

I told her if it was me, I would have had some friends over and save myself the 110e BH Sunday call out charge (he didn't even change the lock!). I knew the LL would not pay for that without authorisation. But she wanted to go out with her friends she said!

silja

Did the landlord know of the problem door and that she wasn't able to get in twice before? Did the lady tell the landlord on the phone when they talked, or the relative when he came, that she wanted a locksmith that night? If the answer is "no", I would say it should definitely be the lady who pays.

If the landlord knew of the problem of not being able to get in (as opposed to just a slightly wonky door) it is less clear cut. Overall, I would say the fairest would be for the landlord to pay what the normal, daytime rate is and for the lady to pay the extra for an evening emergency callout.

gosuckonalemon

silja wrote: »

Did the landlord know of the problem door and that she wasn't able to get in twice before? Did the lady tell the landlord on the phone when they talked, or the relative when he came, that she wanted a locksmith that night? If the answer is "no", I would say it should definitely be the lady who pays.

If the landlord knew of the problem of not being able to get in (as opposed to just a slightly wonky door) it is less clear cut. Overall, I would say the fairest would be for the landlord to pay what the normal, daytime rate is and for the lady to pay the extra for an evening emergency callout.

We called the landllord a while back and he arranged for his handyman to call out. However he didn't show up on time so it never got fixed then. We didnt bother to follow it up.

On the night he got a relative out, the relative came, opened the door with a key and left in a hurry. I asked my flatmate why she didn't try to open it herself in front of him to prove she still couldn't get in or not. She had no answer.

So basically she got into the flat ok, this proves the door is faulty but not totally broken, lets the guy go, and then decides to call a locksmith to fix the lock.

D3PO

your housemate had no right to do what she did. For all we know the landlord may have assumed the person he sent out had fixed it.

Granted if there was a fault the landlord would be obliged to sort it but if I were a landlord and a tennant called me all uppity having gone and got a locksmith on a bank holliday weekend at what I suggest was probably an inflated price given the time and day the callout happened.

I think the responsibility lies somewhere in the middle. Yes the landlord would have to remedy the broken lock but given the unilateral approach taken by your housemate probably adding additional unnecessary cost into the equation a compramise should be sought.

I would approach the landlorrd and discuss it explain it needed to be fixed and offer to split the bill 50/50. Given he/she would be able to offset this against expenses there would be little to no real cost to them.

How Strange

I agree with D3PO, the fault/responsibility lies somewhere in the middle but really if your flatmate had been a little more civil and polite she may have gotten the landlord to sort it that weekend. Being rude gets you nowhere in these situations.

I don't think she can stick the landlord with the bill really as she arranged for the locksmith herself.

gosuckonalemon

I told her it was nothing to do with me. Unfortunately I was not contactable on Sunday night when it happened.

I suggested to let things calm down, and then write an e-mail. I'm thinking at best, the landlord will meet her half way.

Should I be in anyway responsible for the bill?

Also, if the landlord fails to entertain her, could it be worth her while going to the PRTB and see what they say?

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

gosuckonalemon wrote: »

I told her it was nothing to do with me. Unfortunately I was not contactable on Sunday night when it happened.

I suggested to let things calm down, and then write an e-mail. I'm thinking at best, the landlord will meet her half way.

Should I be in anyway responsible for the bill?

Also, if the landlord fails to entertain her, could it be worth her while going to the PRTB and see what they say?

You are in no way responsible for the bill. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. She may feel that you are as you use the door too, but that's rubbish. Normally the LL should pay the bill, but your housemate didn't get prior authorisation. She can't go doing things like this and then sending the LL the bill for it.

gosuckonalemon

Devin Shrilling Waterfall wrote: »

You are in no way responsible for the bill. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. She may feel that you are as you use the door too, but that's rubbish. Normally the LL should pay the bill, but your housemate didn't get prior authorisation. She can't go doing things like this and then sending the LL the bill for it.

That's what I said to her. AFAIK he's got alot of property around the city. If all his tenants started calling out locksmiths, tradesmen etc. and then sending him the bill he wouldn't be long going out of business.

I told her no tenant should ever call out anyone without prior authorisation from the LL. I guess she didn't know the score. (She's from Spain, maybe things are different there).

syklops

Devin Shrilling Waterfall wrote: »

You are in no way responsible for the bill. Do not let anybody tell you otherwise. She may feel that you are as you use the door too, but that's rubbish. Normally the LL should pay the bill, but your housemate didn't get prior authorisation. She can't go doing things like this and then sending the LL the bill for it.

I agree 100%. That said, if it were me, I warn her never to pull a stunt like that again, and split it 3 ways. between the 3 of you its 36 euro, and IMO a calm and happy home where no-one feels like they have been conned(not that she has, but she will feel like she has) is worth a lot more than 36 euro.

Nice flats, nice co-renters and nice landlords are hard to find. Finding them all at the same time even more so. Keep the peace. Keep the landlord on side. Keep the status Quo.

gosuckonalemon

syklops wrote: »

I agree 100%. That said, if it were me, I warn her never to pull a stunt like that again, and split it 3 ways. between the 3 of you its 36 euro, and IMO a calm and happy home where no-one feels like they have been conned(not that she has, but she will feel like she has) is worth a lot more than 36 euro.

Nice flats, nice co-renters and nice landlords are hard to find. Finding them all at the same time even more so. Keep the peace. Keep the landlord on side. Keep the status Quo.

I agree but the thing I don't get is she got into the flat and could have chilled there for the night and have something sorted for the following day. However she said she had a "social life too" and wanted to go out on Sunday night.

I said I would've been a bit pissed off but would have stayed put, maybe had a few friends over, and saved myself the 110e.

I'm finding it hard to justify having to pay for her actions!

silja

The only way you are responsible for any of this is if you caused the damage that made the door wonky.

ebixa82

Ye probably should have got the handyman to call out earlier instead of letting things get so bad. However if both you and the LL's guy were able to open it shows the lock was just dodge and not broken and so didnt warrant calling out a locksmith on BH Sunday!

Your flatmate went about this completely the wrong way.

She probably thought that the LL would pay, or at worst ye would split it 3 ways, and then she was free to go out and have her night out on Sunday. If she was so worried about the 110e she should have stayed at home for the night.

Tough luck but her loss!

gosuckonalemon

silja wrote: »

The only way you are responsible for any of this is if you caused the damage that made the door wonky.

When the locksmith called out he told her the damage was just caused use over time. All he did was take out the existing lock and refit it correctly. He did not replace the lock as it did not need to be replaced.

Icepick

It's not your fault. She has to sort it out with the landlord.