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I am a landlord of an apartment in NSW. The current tenant gave notice of termination and I had the managing agent perform the usual final inspection.
All was good except the tenant has used an inappropriate cleaning chemical on two expensive stone benches, which has destroyed them. I hired a stone professional who has confirmed they cannot be repaired. The replacement cost is likely to be well in excess of the bond.
But the managing agent now tells me that I won’t be able to withhold all the bond because “in a dispute, the tribunal will discount the compensation amount due to the tenant having been in the property for several years”.
This seems crazy to me, stone benches last forever if cared for, and prior, regular, documented inspections (with photographs) showed them in perfect condition until this incident. The NSW Fair Trading web site says “The tenant is responsible for negligent, irresponsible or intentional actions that cause damage to the property…” at final inspection. I would think this falls into the category of “negligent”.
I would like to hear the Forum’s thought on this.
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I had a problem with a tenant who did considerable damage to my property. I was able to claim a large proportion of the damages from my insurance company and the residual (over $6,000) I claimed from the tenant at NCAT. The tribunal accepted the tenant was liable and issued an order to pay.
I then obtained a court order and and they issued a garnishee order against the tenants bank account and the bank paid me the money. The damage done was reasonably old carpets blinds etc but it’s the replacement cost that the Insurance Company and NCAT based the damages claim on.
I would defiinitely go to NCAT. What you need to ensure is that you have good documentation, well presented, nice pictures in an indexed file and the tenants forwarding address and bank details. Follow the NCAT advice from their web site.
Its a fair amount of work and the agent probably knows that, so is trying to talk you out of it. I presented my own case to NCAT. Good luck.
If “newness” is the only criterion for value, the Mona Lisa must be worth tuppence. See the post below for an example of how you can go way beyond the bond – and a rental agent’s attitude – to get compensation for damage to your property.
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G’day Monty,
Here’s my 2c:
1. The advice given by JT and JonH is sound;
2. In my experience, going to NCAT is a lucky dip, regardless of the proof you have. It is best to be in a situation where you can avoid NCAT; and
3. I too had a fixture in a leased property that required care and listed it as a stand alone dot point in the lease mandating that only certain cleaners may be used to clean the fixture (as it was recently expensively repaired and fragile in parts) and that any damage during the tenancy – be it caused by the tenant’s disregard for her own consent to the dot point or say, by placing hard objects on it – would be recoverable from her. I spelled out the cost of the repairs which would be the sum I would sue for. The dot point (or “clause” as she called it) worked a treat, no damage to that item was done.
Whilst one can claim Stone is everlasting, in the scheme of a kitchen, kitchens are replaced periodically.
I’m feeling a bit stupid, here. It never ocurred to me that it was a kitchen bench. I had pictured an ornate garden bench hewn from Tuscan rock. Maybe the OP can clarify.
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Hi Monty
the amount of damage was considerable and I was unsure I would be able to claim the total amount via a garnishee order so went to the insurance company for you may say insurance backup