Can we use deposit to re-do work the tenant had done?

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shesells

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Just found out that our tenant has had extractor fans installed in two bathrooms in our house. These were badly installed and have leaked and done damage. We only found out when they complained about the leaks, they never asked about getting them in and we certainly did not authorise their installation.

Can we use their deposit to remove these and restore the walls? Both rooms have windows so fans weren't vital.

We haven't decided whether to give them notice or not yet. They were very good tenants for the first 2 years but in the past year they've started becoming a little difficult.
 
If they are good tenants then I would be careful before rocking the boat. Are you sure you are going to get better tenants? If they put one in then obviously thought it was inportant? Have you discussed your dissatisfaction with them? I think if you do you use thier deposit you should tell them you are doing that. Are you sure the fans are causing the leaks as fans are usually on side walls?
 
Is it in your lease about not doing anything to the house without your permission?

Adding a bathroom fan is hardly an emergency and I certainly would be highly annoyed if my tenants did such a thing...highly.

Personally I would email them that the fans were badly installed and the work would have to be remedied. And that you will organise that. And that in future they are not to hammer as much as a nial into the wall without your clearance.

I wouldn't bring up taking it out of the deposit until they have actual left.
Doing so prematurely could lead to ugliness...espescially if they have become difficult.

I would ask if you are easily contactable?
I live abroad and got a call the other night from my tenant who forgot the alarm number and get occasional emails from my tenants....even though I have a local agent.

In my experience tenants who suddenly become difficult....if your own conscience is clear....is often about drinking or drug taking.
I had to evict one guy who went off the rails on both.
 
We have an agent. Who is normally good. I posted at the start of the year when the agent hadn't told us about a problem with the heating and the tenant had gone and got someone to "fix" it themselves and took it out of the rent. We had strong words with the agent and asked him to make sure the tenants knew that this was unacceptable and that in no circumstances were they to do any work on the house without consent nor was it up to them to call service people.

They only called the agent because they called out a guy about the leaks and he quoted them a lot of money. So they were about to go on another solo run at our expense. We got our own repair guy in yesterday and the fans are definitely the cause of the leaks. All we had been told was that there were leaks, so to hear they had caused them was frustrating to say the least.

We have tried to stay away from the property but now I think a full inspection is due to see if there are any other surprises in store for us. Of course we'll give them proper notice etc of the inspection.
 
shesells said:
We haven't decided whether to give them notice or not yet. They were very good tenants for the first 2 years but in the past year they've started becoming a little difficult.
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Regardless of these problems they have caused you, you cannot give them notice on a whim or for "becoming a little difficult." It sounds to me that your tenants may have been frustrated at not getting things sorted out in a timely manner by your agent.
 
Our tenants have caused damage to our property and did not notify our agent of any issues since the heating fiasco. They have also broken the lease clause about altering the property without permission. There is no "whim" about it, we are concerned for our property. I am not saying we're going to do anything illegal or underhand, we want to do everything properly, we are just considering what the best thing to do is.
 
shesells said:
I am not saying we're going to do anything illegal or underhand, we want to do everything properly, we are just considering what the best thing to do is.
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Even given that a clause has been broken in your lease, it is extremely unlikely that you will be legally entitled to serve notice to your tenants for this relatively minor damage so I think you need to consider carefully. You should certainly be able to deduct an appropriate amount from the deposit for repairs at the end of the tenancy however. Remember that the terms of the PRTA supercede any lease that you may have in place.
 
How could an extractor fan cause a leak? Are you sure? Have you seen this yourself? A tenant who cares enough about your property to do such work (however badly it might have been carried out) is a rare thing, I would imagine, and you might not want to alienate them in the current market (providing they are paying the rent on time, of course).
 
shesells said:
We have an agent. Who is normally good. I posted at the start of the year when the agent hadn't told us about a problem with the heating and the tenant had gone and got someone to "fix" it themselves and took it out of the rent. We had strong words with the agent and asked him to make sure the tenants knew that this was unacceptable and that in no circumstances were they to do any work on the house without consent nor was it up to them to call service people.
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I don't know how you could possible blame the tenants in this situation.

How do you know that they didn't tell the agent about ventilation issues in bathrooms ?
 
I too cannot imagine a tenant going to the expense of putting in fans unless they were needed. A tenant of two years standing is a tenant to hold unto.

I think there is miscommunication between the agent, tenant and landlord. You should visit your own property as often as possible, agents have been known to be quite useless.
 
We lived in that house for 5 years. There were no ventilation issues. We know the fans caused the leaks because a trusted professional told us so.

As I said, a full inspection will tell more. This is not what we wanted to have to do, I never want to meet tenants, that's why we have an agent.
 
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