Landlord Wants Us To Pay For A New Lawn

Lavi2377 on 11/12/2015 - 00:43
Last edited 11/12/2015 - 12:46 by 1 other user

We have rented a unit which has a lawn (actually it's not lawn, it's a weed and bits and pieces of lawn here and there). The grass became dry,as we could not water the lawn from January until May, as there was no tap. We had called the real estate agent several times to fix it. Took them a few months to get it fixed. Then real estate agent had inspections and never said a thing.

Now he is adding a new lawn and reticulation system. Even though it was his fault,he is now asking me to pay for $300. The real estate agent says that we can go to tribunal, if we not agree. We told the real estate agent, we will pay $150 even though it is his fault.

Can you please anyone give us suggestions on how to sort this out

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  shadowarrior on 11/12/2015 - 00:50

  So there were no outside tap/working tap to water the lawn? Was there a clause in your rental agreement that you had to maintain the lawn? Did you notify the RE agent about the broken tap (have email or any documented proof of this?) Based on what you have written, you did not damage the lawn. Tell them you want to go to the tribunal, it actually wastes more time for the RE agent than yours, with the paperworks and summons. Don't pay a cent, don't bend down. If you bend down once, they will ride your arse forever.

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  avi2377 on 11/12/2015 - 01:14

  i dont remember about what is included in the rental agreement, but i will check and let youknow. we have the email written in Feb notifying the RE agent the broken tap , owner came in may to fix the tap and again it was leaking again and we notified the RE again then the RE sent the plumber to fix the tap before we moved out

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  shadowarrior on 11/12/2015 - 01:58

  +2

  Yep, not your problem then. Tell them you want to go to the tribunal. Most RE use tribunal as a scare tactic on tenants who wouldn't know the regulations. Refuse to pay a single penny. If they then offer to settle outside tribunal, threaten them that you will report them to the tribunal for trying to extort money off you for no reason.

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    eqv on 12/12/2015 - 19:10

    I agree, that's what I found as well, they thought that once they mention 'tribunal' the tenant will think twice. If you know you are not at fault and can prove it, no need to be afraid to go to tribunal.

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  mskeggs on 11/12/2015 - 07:39

  Often there is miscommunication between tenants, agents and landlords. So an agent might have taken longer to fix something, and an owner not known about the delay. So from the owners side they just see a tenant letting the lawn die.
  How did the leaking tap prevent you from watering the lawn?

  In any case, I don't think you should pay for new turf. I would be inclined to say you withdraw the offer to pay half and tell them you don't want to hear any more about it.
  Almost certainly, the cost in time and hassles to the owner isn't worth pursuing, especially as it is likely the tribunal would find in your favour.

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    avi2377 on 14/12/2015 - 00:50

    The leaking tap mean if we open the tap it wont stop so i would have buckets of water i can not stop so we just tied it back and havenot used it and that was mentioned to real estate aswell.
    Thank you

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  barginhunter11 on 11/12/2015 - 08:39

  +1

  It wont pass in a tribunal if you have said evidence

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  avi2377 on 14/12/2015 - 00:22

  Thank you all for your advices will see how we go