Renting question

jellybeans

Hi there I have a tenant who has complained on a number of occasion about the storage heater in one of the rooms not working. Prior to me finding this particular tenant an electrician had a look at all the heaters and verified that all were in working order, this is my first house purchase and he is my first tenant. I arranged for a second electrician to take another look at the storage heater as he was complaining incessantly that it was faulty. I met with the electrician in the house and together we saw the there was no problem with the storage heater. I have just received another message off the tenant saying that the switch was broken off the heater and that if i didn't fix it he was moving out. He sent me a photograph of the switch so I have been in touch with a few repair companies who have said that the part is not available as the model is obsolete. The company quoted me for an equivalent heater, I suspect my tenant is liable for this cost as he broke the switch but I would just like confirmation of this before I approach him on it, is there anyone that can advise me on my rights as a landlord. We are registered with the PRTB. Many thanks in advance

P_1

jellybeans wrote: »

Hi there I have a tenant who has complained on a number of occasion about the storage heater in one of the rooms not working. Prior to me finding this particular tenant an electrician had a look at all the heaters and verified that all were in working order, this is my first house purchase and he is my first tenant. I arranged for a second electrician to take another look at the storage heater as he was complaining incessantly that it was faulty. I met with the electrician in the house and together we saw the there was no problem with the storage heater. I have just received another message off the tenant saying that the switch was broken off the heater and that if i didn't fix it he was moving out. He sent me a photograph of the switch so I have been in touch with a few repair companies who have said that the part is not available as the model is obsolete. The company quoted me for an equivalent heater, I suspect my tenant is liable for this cost as he broke the switch but I would just like confirmation of this before I approach him on it, is there anyone that can advise me on my rights as a landlord. We are registered with the PRTB. Many thanks in advance

I think you need to prove how it broke. You might be best off gettign this thread moved over to the Accommodation & Property forum, there are a few people over there who know their stuff.

robertpatterson

Did you give him a lease with all the fixtures and fittings on it?
If you did and the heater was on it well its broken on 'his watch' and he is liable for it and it comes out of the security deposit the ( i hope) you have

Dizzyblonde

Moved from Dublin County North.

lodger222

Are you positive that you are both talking about a storage heater?
The photo that was on another post had a timer and as far as I am aware the fan assisted sh does not have a timer.

Not sure that you will be able to prove that the tenant broke the switch. Might be more trouble than it's worth to pursue him. I would be inclined to concentrate on getting the problem solved.



There might be a separate thermostat in the room and this is preventing the heater getting up to temperature or maybe the stat on the heater is set too low

fasttalkerchat

If the model is obsolete are you sure it was working as well as it should. It sounds to me it was an old one that wasn't heating the room properly. Why not just replace it now... I'm sure leaving him without heat for so long won't look good either.

TheOldHand

robertpatterson wrote: »

Did you give him a lease with all the fixtures and fittings on it?
If you did and the heater was on it well its broken on 'his watch' and he is liable for it and it comes out of the security deposit the ( i hope) you have

Complete nonsense. The landlord is always liable unless they can prove misuse.

robertpatterson

TheOldHand wrote: »

Complete nonsense. The landlord is always liable unless they can prove misuse.

Complete nonsense?
Only unless youve seen his lease where it stipulates he is not liable for any fixtures and fittings,i take it you havent so id say youre the one talking nonsense my friend
On most leases the tenant is responsible for all fixtures listed otherwise whats to stop them from tearing everything up when they go and not lose a penny?
Completely

D3PO

robertpatterson wrote: »

Complete nonsense?
Only unless youve seen his lease where it stipulates he is not liable for any fixtures and fittings,i take it you havent so id say youre the one talking nonsense my friend
On most leases the tenant is responsible for all fixtures listed otherwise whats to stop them from tearing everything up when they go and not lose a penny?
Completely

you have to prove it was damaged or misused otherwise you have no rights at all to blame or subsequently charge the tenant for the damaged item.

Regardless of what a lease says about fixtures and fittings.