Landlords/Property Managers - Fair wear and tear or not?

L[Deactivated] on 21/02/2018 - 18:09

Hi all,

Recently we moved out of our rental. We have been waiting to hear about getting our bond returned.
It has been two weeks and today they finally have contacted us today. They landlord is unhappy with the state of one of our blinds - fearing he may have to replace it. I have posted an image of the blind below.

https://imgur.com/a/AzfNK

My question is, is this really considered damage claimable by the landlord?
The blind is not torn or broken, it has simply come out from the bottom weight slightly.

They were happy with the rest of the house and this is their only qualm.

Do you agree with me or am I completely wrong?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Home & Garden

Comments

  • FoxJump on 21/02/2018 - 18:13
    +14

    I am a landlord.
    I also would not enjoy seeing that in my apartment after the tenant leaves.

    Thankfully, roller blinds are only a couple of hundred dollars.
    If I were a landlord of a tenant that had done as such, I would consider how long you have been the tenant prior to leaving. If you had only been there 1 year and the blinds were new when you went in, then yeah … I wouldn't be happy. If the blinds were 10 years old and you'd been there for 10 years, then meh. If the blinds were 10 years old and you had been there two or three years, then meh.

  • JimmyF on 21/02/2018 - 18:15
    +3

    My question is, is this really considered damage claimable by the landlord?

    Is the blind in the same condition as when you moved in?

    The blind is not torn or broken, it has simply come out from the bottom weight slightly.

    Why did you leave it this way? Go back and fix it up!

    Do you agree with me or am I completely wrong?

    Your completed wrong. Either go and fix the blind, or pay for replacement.

    • [Deactivated] on 21/02/2018 - 18:49
      -4

      But what if it's a cheap set of blinds and the damage is due to substandard quality?

      Should a tenant be liable for when a landlord cheaps out?

      • robbyjones on 21/02/2018 - 19:56
        +1

        You damaged the blind, you fix the blind, cost does not come into it. If a tenant left a blind like this I would be wondering what else there is.

        • [Deactivated] on 22/02/2018 - 00:53

          Not cost, but poor quality.

          If the shower door is made out of sheets of A4 paper glued together, of course it is going to get a lot more wear, tear and damage than a glass door.
          A bit of a silly analogy, sure.

          But, seemingly excessive wear and tear can occur through normal use when the products are of sub-standard quality.

  • altomic on 21/02/2018 - 18:31

    Yeah, nah. Not happy

  • nocure on 21/02/2018 - 18:44

    Easy fix OP, pop the end caps off and the insert slides out.

  • bobbified on 21/02/2018 - 18:47
    +1

    That's definitely not wear and tear, which is damage from day-to-day usage.

    This has had some sort of force applied to it, either from pulling it up too fast or something's pulled it too hard from that bottom bit.

    • mbck on 21/02/2018 - 18:58

      yeah, it shows someone has been pulling on the plastic bar instead of using the chains.

      Ordinary wear and tear would not affect that part of the curtain.

  • Seraphin7 on 21/02/2018 - 18:58

    Based purely on the state it is in now … and on an assumption that it can't be adequately fixed … this should be coming out of your bond.

    As others have suggested, if this is "an easy fix", why haven't you fixed it? Why should the landlord need to fix it?

    The state of the rest of the place is irrelevant … yeah, mate I know I trashed this bedroom, but the rest of the house is pristine!

  • josetann on 21/02/2018 - 19:01

    I always do a video and/or photos when I move into a new place (emailed to myself to date them). Was this issue present when you moved in, and it simply got worse? Did you mention that it needed to be fixed? I often have a small list of "when you get to it" items that need to be fixed, but that I'm in no rush for (i.e. a loose tile in the bathroom can wait, but a leak in the roof would not). Whenever the list is big enough, or they're sending someone out for something major, they can get to the smaller items too. What I'm saying is, if this is a defect in the blinds and has been getting progressively worse, you probably should have mentioned something. If a year ago you said "by the way, the blinds in the living room are starting to fray at the bottom, it doesn't bother us but if you want to send someone to fix it that'd be fine", and it got worse, I'd say that's on them (they were advised of the issue and decided to put it off).

    How much are we talking about? Can you fix it yourself? If they were in new condition when you moved in and you haven't been there long and we're not talking hundreds of dollars, I'd pay.

  • bobbified on 21/02/2018 - 19:21
    +2

    DisabledUser250637

    That was quick!

    OP must've come here hoping we'd all agree with him and use the thread against his landlord, but instead got the opposite!

    • mbck on 21/02/2018 - 19:34

      why do people get banned?

      • nocure on 21/02/2018 - 19:35
        +2

        Not banned, account disabled by OP

        • mbck on 21/02/2018 - 19:36
          +2

          ah that makes sense. I mean he hasn't done anything wrong here, so I was confused.

      • volcanoeqcycle on 21/02/2018 - 19:51

        They get banned for starting dumb threads.

    • Seraphin7 on 21/02/2018 - 20:12
      +3

      Another satisfied customer then!

  • iperezgenius on 21/02/2018 - 19:35

    Call the Ombudsman. They will be able to tell you the law.
    How long have you lived there? I know that if its been a few months, you probably have an issue. If its a been a few years then you might not have to pay anything and finally if it is an issue, fix it yourself. It will be cheaper!

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