Management company failure to inspect rental property correctly.

golfnuts

After the management company had signed of on an inspection of our property and then said it was OK to return the tenants security deposit, we later found that there had been damage done to the property.

We then discovered that the waste pipe in the shower has changed shape, its warped, melted and we cannot take out the hair catcher that was in there as it wont pass the opening. The cover for the hole is distorted and out of shape.
It looks like the tenants have used a chemical down the drain rather than clean out the hair catcher manually (a mucky job but essential maintenance as a complaint was the shower tray was filling up with water)

The only recourse we have now is to file a dispute with the RTB according the management company. I feel the management company are to blame for inadequately inspecting the property properly.

Thoughts?

Michael D Not Higgins

What's in your contract with the management agent?

Pelvis

Sinkholes and the like seem like an odd place to be inspecting. Using bleach is fairly standard practice for cleaning a drain.

C3PO

Is it realistic to expect a management company to check whether the shower hair catcher is functioning correctly when doing an inspection?

dave98

I wouldn't expect the management company to be responsible. Checking the sinkhole? Come on. Surely they have better things to be doing like checking the inventory and stuff

Paulw

This wouldn't be an issue for the RTB. This would be a civil case between you and the management company, for breach of contract - I assume you have a written contract with them, which details what sort of things that have to be inspected??

RTB deal with tenancy issues, which this is not.

Colonel Claptrap

Perhaps ask the management company to give you a credit (1 month free fees), as a gesture of good faith?

Sleeper12

I wouldn't blame the management company for not inspecting the drains.

Cleaning /removing the hair is basic maintenance however over a period of time the pipes are themselves built up scum. The diameter of the pipe slowly gets smaller and smaller. To clear this anything from using a plunger to chemicals is required.

Is it just the removable part that catches the hair that is damaged? A plumber might be able to cut this out.

witchgirl26

I wouldn't think it's something for the RTB - thought that was between the tenents and landlords but rather a civil matter for yourself and the management agent.

As for the shower drain. It can easily happen. My sister did it to her own one in her apartment by accident. She'd bought a drain cleaner for showers and put it down after cleaning out the hair trap manually. Turns out they shouldn't be used on any plastic piping but she didn't know what was under the shower tray. Only came to light about a year after she'd first used it.

Mrs OBumble

Were the tenants told that there was plastic piping, and that therefore they could not use chemicals to clean the drain? As a tenant I would assume that chemicals were ok, unless advised otherwise.

Xterminator

If they used standard unblocking product the way they are supposed to be used, you cannot really think the tenants did anything wrong here. Unless you stated they had to maintain the shower catcher without using chemicals?

As for mgmt agency, without having the benefit of seeing their contract stipulations, it does not seem reasonable to expect them to pick up on that during an inspection. do you think any checklist they had would include trying to take out the hair catcher to discover this, or x raying the hidden pipes?

OP - sometimes things happen but its not always through negligence or fault.this sounds like one of those occasions.

RoisinClare6

golfnuts wrote: »

After the management company had signed of on an inspection of our property and then said it was OK to return the tenants security deposit, we later found that there had been damage done to the property.

We then discovered that the waste pipe in the shower has changed shape, its warped, melted and we cannot take out the hair catcher that was in there as it wont pass the opening. The cover for the hole is distorted and out of shape.
It looks like the tenants have used a chemical down the drain rather than clean out the hair catcher manually (a mucky job but essential maintenance as a complaint was the shower tray was filling up with water)

The only recourse we have now is to file a dispute with the RTB according the management company. I feel the management company are to blame for inadequately inspecting the property properly.

Thoughts?

What was the other damage? Dismiss the shower situation, unless you specifically asked them to check the shower.

golfnuts

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipNrwCMDZj3vaMVPy3KenrMm-jctyy5uGwJrNPQX
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPpPZP2VoWLmiaAGWLbwdmD4-53VQpNqZXSBps9
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipPTM_QaBpF99gI44IkSIxlZ070e660dvDCq_e7E

Various views.
Mgt company's plumber from just looking at picture said that could be from over tightning the insert (there is no threads to screw it in though) It "inserts" not screws.
Anyway Expensive lesson learned. Trap will need replacing from underneath, so go through the ceiling below otherwise it would be rip up the shower tray.