Posted by
ms1
20 yrs ago
Recently we had tenants move in and it has been barely 2 weeks and we have had calls from them everyday about the light not working/ breakfast bar broken, sink leaking, door lock broken etc. when they moved, the day before they came and checked and everything was working great..., and now within 2 weeks it just is going downill.
As a landlord i have replaced everything and fixed the leaks etc but i am getting sick of hearing them call constantly for new stuff. the other tenants didn't seem to have a problem. When does a landlord eventually say no you've broken in and i am not fixing it again? also on one of our visits i saw that they were using the air cons with the windows wide open. at this rate the motor is going to burn out and we'll have to replace them too.any advice would be appreciated. thanks
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Have they just arrived in HK or have they been here for a while? May be a difference in expectations of what rental housing should be like.
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Unless the agreement says anything to the contrary, the line is drawn whenever something is reasonable and whenever it's your fault not theirs.
The sink leaking and the light not working are probably fair; only you can judge whether the door lock and breakfast bar were already broken.
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brian,
Please re-read my post. I said OP should fix anything reasonable that's his fault. What's wrong with that?
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When one buys any insurance, one deals with a charming helpful salesman. When one claims, one deals with endless unhelpful bureaucracy. That is neither bait & switch nor illegal; and one just has to grin and bear it until the next renewal.
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But yankee, the police will tell you it's nothing to do with them (which is true; nothing criminal has happened). And the lands tribunal will tell you that fluent English and a friendly telephone manner are not job requirements to be a landlord's agent in HK. And when you stop paying rent, you will be sued and you will lose.
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If someone breaks a lease early in the contract, the amount at issue could be half a million dollars. Most landlords would think it worth suing for that.
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catsoup:
No, not unique to expats; but my implicit counsel to those reading this site (largely expats) is that their landlords won't just shrug their shoulders if readers take some of the cavalier advice offered by other posters on this thread.
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ms1
20 yrs ago
Thanks burgundy... i think i agree with u that reasonable is actually the correct word. Just that "reasonable" is different to different people and we wish to be good landlords and want to have a good/ fair relationship with the tenant therefore we have had everything repaired ASAP. However... just frustrated at what ELSE could go wrong?
Brian.. yes the tenant did check all lights/ fans/ gas heaters ( even ran the water because she didn't know how to use a gas water heater)and air cons for 20 mins the day before she moved in. the next day they changed light bulbs on the fittings and suddenly things don't work anymore.
They have lived in HKG for a long time and have rented before with excellent references. and they're actually nice people ... just seem to somehow "break" stuff i think.!!
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