Tenants moved out of house and now have undertaken final inspection and there are a large number of issues. During COVID rents were much lower and we never increased the bond so have only $1120 to work with there. Walls were painted 5 years ago. When tenants moved in there had been two sets of tenants before them and in 1.5 years there had been what I would consider normal wear and tear (a couple of relatively minor scuffs to paint on walls, one edge of wall a bit scuffed with a few slight dings/deeper chips). Overall there were many walls without a single scuff mark (bedrooms) and the living space had two scuff marks across all the walls. We have about 140 photos prior to them moving in circa March 2020 and a detailed property condition report which also highlights the only issues (eg one scuff on this wall etc).
Lots of things have been damaged but we consider a fair chunk of that normal wear and tear (a cracked laundry tile, the towel rail hanging out of the wall, a bit of green crayon on the carpet, rusted bathroom rails and door handles etc). We decided lots of little things like dirty light fixtures and the garden weren't worth even mentioning.
Essentially the big items are:
- two flyscreens very badly damaged (both with multiple holes) that started undamaged prior to moving in (front door had two holes and we listed this at the time in the condition report and of course aren't claiming that). One of the screens they have tried to patch (very badly) and there are still lots of holes left.
- one set of blinds which are completely destroyed to the point they didn't even bother putting about 50% of the blades back, with the remainder either bent or mouldy.
- walls - everywhere chipped to the point that it would take at least a day just to patch up the holes and sand them back, lots of hooks that have been half removed, and paint ripped everywhere where it appears they've had posters or sticky tape. Every wall has large hole and chunks missing, particularly on edges of walls. The walls are dirty, and many have extension writing/pen on them (one wall is absolutely covered in pen).
- installation of hose in toilet (without permission) which has also caused damage to the plaster and we want hose removed.
- substantial damage to laminate cupboards (hopefully able to be fixed with just one panel repaired) and one piece we can just glue back
(There's heaps of intermediary things like dents in cupboard doors, a broken bedroom door, dirty blinds etc).
I know everything has a useful life but it seems in WA it's not agreed upon like in other states. I can understand not being able to claim the full cost of painting but even generous provisions seem to suggest 10 years for paint. Every wall is badly damaged (I was really shocked as to what people had landlords quibble about - because this is extreme to the tiny scratches on floorboards in other posts). The tenant must have got advice from his REA friend who advised he had to remove fixtures and repair holes as says he wants to do this (but unclear how he will fix everything in an afternoon which is what he is proposing).
The kitchen is also very dirty and we have move in photos/condition report to now. The pantry in particular is so bad that I retched opening it to take a photo (lots of food scraps, dirt, possibly rotting food), light fixture very dirty, even cook top and benchtops dirty (there was what looked like animal blood on the kickboards). There's also a lot of damage to the laminate (beyond normal scuffs or cracks). We have heaps of before and after photos.
A new cabinet and basin also went in 5 years ago, and they have spilled blue dye/ink over part of the basin and stained it.
My questions:
1) What amount can I claim for flyscreens - I don't know how old they were but they were in good condition with no holes prior to tenant moving in (and window flyscreens not accessible to kids are all undamaged) - I'd say there's a good chance they are the age of the house which is 20-25 years old. We have only owned the house for 5 years so can't know. I know ATO says fixtures so depreciate over 40 years but advice on-line argues that useful life is less than that.
2) Same with blinds - seem like they are probably newer than that but no way to know as only owned house for 5 years. They were completely undamaged prior to them moving in so they have gone from fine (but obviously at least a few years old) to destroyed. I think ATO says 10 years, but also advice says even if fully depreciated repairs or a nominal amount could still be required.
3) Walls - 5 years old paint with minor markings in two rooms to whole house needing to be repainted after thorough clean of walls and patching. Some places say 10 years but ATO has it again at 40 years. I would say at least 10 years for full repaints, maybe longer, but even at 10 years we are talking 50% of the cost which I gather is a lot (probably $5000 to 6000/2).
4) Can we continue to claim rent while these repairs are being made as we can't possibly relet the place in this state? (For reference market rent is now at least $550pw and was what they were paying in the interim after the refused to leave at the end of their lease because they claimed they couldn't afford $490pw and then went and bought a house)
Problem is tenant is now arguing they will come and sort some things later in the week and also that some things aren't a problem (they said they would collect possessions they left behind for example and clean the kitchen light and pantry and stove). I am worried that in attempting to repair walls, especially if they patch then attempt to paint they will damage the carpets which are in really good condition as they had their own rugs and carpets protecting them throughout the tenancy. The last thing I want is a bad patch and paint which still requires a paint and then damaged carpet. I did read that if you let them come back and clean they still have to pay rent but if you say no I assume you can't (although that seemed unclear on the Austlii page). They also said they will remove the hose but I want to be sure they use a licensed plumber and don't cause more damage. To be honest, I'm not even sure how quickly we'd be able to get painters in and that is another worry if it takes many weeks to get painted. We could do it ourselves but I work full-time and honestly it would take at least a few weeks to do the whole house.
Does anyone have any experience in these things as a landlord (or tenant experiences contesting) - especially large scale damage to walls/paint. Particularly interested in WA perspective. I want to be fair and reasonable and would rather get things sorted quickly and properly with more out of pocket expenses, than have it drag out which will end up costing more and be more stressful for everyone. And for reference the tenants were middle of the road - they were always on time with rent, but made a lot of demands when moving in (wanted curtain rails, another airconditioning unit, us to mow the lawn etc), didn't look after the garden and were very aggressive with rental negotiation even in the changing market (for example, once we suggested a rental increase of $15pw and they said they only wanted a $5pw increase, when the rent we suggested was already $100pw below market). I think the simplest fixes are the hose, blinds and flyscreens and the painting will be expensive, so I'd rather have them pay for these things (pro rata where applicable) and do the rest ourselves for example.
I didn't read it all, but a word search for 'insurance' didn't find a result. I'd use your insurance
.