Tenent left window open wants us to pay electric bill for drying out carpet

Landlord Discussion
1

Stil fairly new to all this but having a tough time with our tenant.

Tenant been in 1 month. She’s informed us today that 24 hours ago she left her window open in very heavy rain and carpet is soaked. She’s pulled up half the carpet and the lino and is drying it with a demudifer.

told us 24 hours after she has done this as she doesn’t know what to do, told us there was a leak and to call her. We went over within 30 minutes to find there was no leak she had infect left her window open in very heavy rain rainfall. She says the amount of water is due to guttering issues. The rain does not come in when the window is closed only when open, we confirmed this with her. We have organised for a roofer to come and review asap.

She has now asked us to contribute towards her electrical costs due to running the dehumidifier. We have declined and she has become quite angry with us.

Also for context the property needed some drain repairs within first week of her moving in, she knew this prior to signing contract but I did not know the date of this work. due to this happening in her first week as an offer of goodwill we reduced her rent by 1 week for her first month only, I fear she is now testing boundaries by asking us to pay for her electric.

Advice welcome

2

yeesh… dunno what kind of dehumidifier she’s got but let’s say it’s a stonking 500W model (which is unlikely), she must be looking at a grand total of, oooh, I don’t know, maybe about £4 to run it for 24 hours.

Find out her tariff, find the wattage of the machine and do the maths. Then give her the sum in coppers.

5 Likes
3

@User123346678

Write down a record of what tenant has told you occurred and send to tenant so you have a contemporaneous record in case you need to claim from deposit.

Visit the property asap - give her 24h notice for an inspection visit

Tell the tenant to read the tenancy contract which explains her responsibilities for taking care of the property and also reporting issues to you promptly. Make clear that her behaviour is unacceptable.

Take photos of the carpet and lino and tell the tenant you would normally need to charge her for the damage as this is not wear and tear, and she is responsible through her own carelessness. Get quotes to replace the damaged items. Then decide whether to charge her.

Good luck

4 Likes
4

Lesson 1 as you are new to this. Don’t conflate multiple maintenance issues. The drains and the wet carpet and the guttering are totally separate. Treat them as such. Otherwise, you will tie yourself in knots.

So, the wet carpet. She left the window open, it got wet. She states she is drying it. You should ask yourself these types of questions about the cause and the damage

Did a problem with the fabric of the building cause the damage in a way a tenant couldn’t reasonably control?

Has the water caused further damage or water stains to paintwork? Is the carpet permanently damaged? Will the carpet go mouldy before it dries out. How old is the carpet and decoration?

I would say even if the gutters are leaking, fundamentally the tenant left the window open - it’s on her. Also, she didn’t report that the guttering was leaking before this incident - did she know the guttering was leaking before, did she fail to report it. How could you know it was leaking if she hadn’t reported it. Have you seen that the guttering is leaking? If so, do repair it, as it will cause damp eventually. Have you been round to inspect the property and any damage?

I would politely respond and say thanks for reporting the issue, as the window was left open during heavy rain the responsibility lies with you (the tenant). Thank you for now reporting a potential leaking gutter, which I’m now looking into. However, that was not the root cause of the water ingress and it is an issue that you had not previously reported. You are doing the correct thing by drying the carpet with a dehumidifier. I will call round and inspect things again in 2 weeks, once everything has dried out, to ensure the water ingress hasn’t caused further issues, such as marking the walls or causing mildew on the carpet. If there is further damage, this will need to be repaired at your expense as per the tenancy agreement.

If there is damage, you should get her to repair it, or get it repaired and charge her. Otherwise maintenance problems will build up over the tenancy that may mean there isn’t enough deposit to cover them. Of course if the walls haven’t been decorated in 10 years and there’s now a mark that’s no worse than other wear and tear damage, just leave it. But if you redecorated just before the tenancy, you should endeavour to keep the condition good.

If she tells you it’s all your fault anyway, then just be clear that windows should be closed when there is a chance of rain.

3 Likes
5

Thank you this has made it very clear and it’s good to get another landlords take on this.

She reported the issue Monday and the new guttering has been done today costing us £600 but it needed to be done which we were not aware of. Ultimately I agree with you, she left the window open causing the damage and I am not paying electrical costs for her error. She had sent a message clearing the air.. I think we have been too nice to her initially with the weeks free rent etc and she has taken this for weakness thinking she can get what she wants when she wants from us. Thank you again

1 Like
6

Thank you for this advice, she seems smart and is drying out the carpet with dehumidifiers herself now but will keep a record of course. Thank you

1 Like
7

She’s gotten a week free rent from us, I can’t believe she would ask for the electrical costs. God loves a trier as they say, I can see why people use letting agents now as they would deal with all this!

1 Like
8

well she had a dehumidifier so it shouldn’t have been too hard…

2 Likes
9

Just going back to the drains. I don’t necessarily think you were too soft. Again, each issue needs dealing with on its own merits. I had a tenant move into a property I was renovating, and it all went up to the wire with her move in date. So I didn’t have time to do a full clean as I would have liked to. So I knocked her a chunk of rent off her first month. I felt that was appropriate as she did a lot of cleaning.

But when she reported the seals on her window weren’t keeping the road noise out, I checked them and found they had all gone hard and brittle so I replaced them. No rent deduction, just a maintenance repair once reported.

I think you said you are new to this. Maybe it’s worth categorising any issues as they come up to give you a framework. You could have categories for dangerous and needs immediate attention (we should all record these as it’s a legal requirement to deal with dangerous issues), serious and causes a tenant serious inconvenience (maybe warrants extra action by the landlord or a partial rent refund) and normal wear and tear issues (add them to the to do list).

I have a maintenance log, where I record any issues reported and renovations and what repairs were done and when.

1 Like
10

Get rid of this tenant as soon as you can it will only get worse. Its really that simple.

What window was it to let all that water? A velux?

You might consider restrictors on windows tho in this heat i wouldn’t want them

1 Like
11

First, check that there is no defect with the window or its drainage and that the water ingress was definitely caused by the window being left open.

Once that has been confirmed, I would send:

Unfortunately, as the water ingress and resulting damp appear to have been caused by the window being left open during heavy rain, the landlord is unable to contribute towards the cost of the dehumidifier.

If you have accidental damage or tenants’ liability cover under your contents insurance, I would recommend contacting your insurer to see whether the carpet damage or any associated costs may be covered.

2 Likes
12

Being asked to contribute towards the electricity cost of running a dehumidifier because of the tenant’s own mistake is exactly the kind of eye-roll situation that makes me despise being a landlord. Things like this, combined with the constant legislative changes, are why I’ve decided to sell up. As each tenant gives notice and moves out, I’ll be selling each property (although I may keep a few to remain diversified).

2 Likes