Tenants & Compensation Part 3

The saga unfortunately continues with this tenant.

Just as a recap, for those who are new to my blog. He put in a request that an old electric heater at the property be repaired, however the heater hasn't worked for many many years, and he's only lived at the property for just over 12 months now, and it's made clear in his lease that the heater doesn't work.

After many discussions between ourselves and the tenant's advocacy, it was explained to him that the heater would not be getting repaired, as it was unrepairable.

Unfortunately he doesn't seem to understand that this property does not have a heater, and the rent that he is paying does not include the use of a heater. So he's stopped paying his rent.

We haven't received any rent from him since June, so naturally our next step was to send him a termination notice for breach of his lease. The date on the termination notice came and went without any rent coming into our office, and without him vacating the property. So the next step was to apply to Tribunal for vacant possession of the property.

The Tribunal date came and went, without any rent coming into the office, and without him vacating the property. We were awarded vacant possession of the property, stating that he must return the keys on or before the 23rd of August.

On approximately the 20th of August we receive an application for rehearing of the Tribunal matter. Words can not convey emotions that start running when a landlord is told that the vacant possession that was ordered is put on hold indefinately and still no rent is coming in. It's a shame that the fact that the landlord has 2 mortgages to pay does not come into play in these instances.

So we submitted our reasons for believing that there shouldn't be a rehearing;

In response to the application for a rehearing of the above matter please find attached our reasons for believing that the existing Tribunal orders should be acted on, and that a rehearing is not necessary.

The tenant Mr. Tenant's rent is currently only paid to the 13th of May 2010, and no payments have been made since June. We have spoken to him about this issue several times and on the last occasion he informed us that he was not going to pay any rent.

As far as we are aware, the reason behind Mr. Tenant not paying his rent is due to the fact that there is an electric heater in the property that is not repairable. However this heater has not been repairable for several years, even before the commencement of the current lease, and this is noted in the condition report, dated September 14th 2006. Mr. Other Tenant, who is the original tenant on the lease, has also confirmed that he has always been aware that the heater is not repairable, and has never been included in the lease.

We have included a Statutory Declaration from Mr. Other Tenant to this effect, as well as a copy of the original condition report. Also included is a copy of the ledger for the premises showing that rent has not been paid for a long time.

We understand that Mr. Tenant is of ill health, and for that reason needs a heater, therefore we believe it is best if Mr. Tenant vacates the property, to find alternate accommodation which has heating.
If you have any questions regarding our submission please feel free to contact our office.

Now we wait. The landlord is still without rent, the tenant is still without a heater and the issue will not be resolved for some time now.

Tenants and Compensation Part 2

Just an update on the tenant's advocacy problem I'm having.

In the most recent reply I received from Tenant's Advocacy they seemed to have dropped the issues regarding to the oven and the dripping tap - Progress! However they have pushed the fact that due to several rent arrears letters that I have sent to the approved occupant, specifically addressed to him that he is in fact the lease holder at the property, and that due to other instances they can safely say that he has a new oral lease at the property, and is entitled to everything that the original lease holder is.

My concern with whose name the lease was in was mainly to point out that the condition report is 4 years old. Myself, and the landlord are quite happy for him to stay on in the property, and I am even willing to sign up a new lease in his name. This would ensure that he would need to take the time to sit down with me, and go through all of the clauses in the lease. I believe he is entitled to everything the original lease holder is, which includes taking on the original condition report.

They are also still seeking compensation for the time he has been at the property without a working heater. As mentioned previously I stated to Tenant's Advocacy that the condition report states the the heater is not working (In hindsight it should probably say that the heater is unrepairable, but this report was done up before I managed the property.) and that the condition report is part of the lease. So the signed lease indicates that the tenant is aware that the heater is not working.

Tenant's advocacy has told me that this is contracting outside of the law, as all fixtures need to be repaired. They are also seeking a "rent abatement for the withdrawal of services and compensation for economic loss for increased electricity costs and compensation for non-economic loss for frustration, distress, inconvenience and anxiety over the failure of his landlord to undertake the repairs." However we have reminded them that the heater is unrepairable, and as the property was not advertised with a heater and was agreed in the lease that there is no heater then there is no compensation owing.

The unfortunate problem with this situation, is that the tenant is sick, and could really do with a heater coming into these cold nights. His time would be better spent looking for a property that comes with a heater, and not in seeking compensation that he's not entitled to.

The saga continues.