[Resolved] My Guest Hit The Communal Gate - Owner Has Sent Me Invoice

Recently, I had issue. One of my guest hit the communal garage roller gate of building of may be 2000 units and he forgot to inform me and next day, owner came to my place and asked my partner about who is he and blah blah and as he was not on lease and he been staying as guest for 2 month. We did mentioned it.

But she said it might be criminal case to him and she got picture of him as evidence But interesting is next day the gate was working normally like before and looks like they fix it.

And other day they send us two invoices and one quote where invoice was $600 and quote of $7k for whole new gate replacement.

My guest is happy to pay for repair but he refuse to pay the whole gate as gate is working fine for 2 weeks and real estate called me and I explained him situation but still owner calling from her own number and threatening to pay or go with police proceeding. But I’m from real estate and owner is harassing and giving mental pressure.

My guest said he is happy to go with legal action as owner is trying to get money for that 10-20 years old gate and also which is working fine.

Any suggestions?

closed Comments

  • -6

    Get body corporate to fix it.

  • +9

    2000 units? No body Corp?

  • +21

    Your guest will be covered by their car insurance for the damage
    The body Corp is probably holding the owner of your unit solely liable. That’s what all the drama is about. Obviously the owner now knows exactly who is responsible and that is someone you invited onto the property

    • +4

      Your guest will be covered by their car insurance for the damage

      Assuming they even have third-party/comprehensive insurance …

    • +7

      He doesn’t have even car insurance

      • +31

        Probably time he gets it if he manages to hit a gate …

      • +7

        He belongs on ozbargain then

        • S'long as there's a Paint Diagram

  • +24

    Your guest damaged other people's property, and thought it was OK to not own up or even mention it.

    I stand with the Karen neighbour and her $7k demands.

    • He did said he is happy to pay for the damage cost. And the gate is working fine but owner want to replace all

  • +8

    Good thing your guest has insurance…comprehensive one at that

  • +1

    Let the cops come and laugh at it..

  • +3

    isn't it a civil matter? the cops aren't going to get involved

    • +7

      I suspect its the damage and run aspect that the neighbour does not like.

  • +18

    2 months is not a guest.

    Anyway, your "guest" reports the incident to their insurer, after recieving a letter of demand.

  • +8

    What are you even asking for here? lol

    • +1

      When amygdala overloads, Need OzB community to pave way forward

  • +3

    This is a matter between the driver and the property owner. Don't get involved.

    • I do understand that but I’m the medium. And as he is my guest.

      • +5

        It doesn't matter. You were not a party to the accident. You don't have to say or take sides. The only way they can drag you in this is by a Court order.

        • That’s fair enough. So what should I do? Should I provide them his details to deal with him?

          • +3

            @Malinga123: That is up to you. You're not legally required to do anything.

            • @whooah1979: @whooah , But they are harassing me with email saying I’m responsible and they are just making me confused.

              • +3

                @Malinga123: You do understand that we're all here together getting the same feeling…. that maybe you were involved in some way or that you bear responsibility.

                Either stay away from the matter completely. Or get involved.
                There is no "middle ground" that you're seeking.

              • @Malinga123: You're not responsible - just ignore them?

                • @Quantumcat: But the main concern is they don’t have details of him. And I’m from real estate but owner keeps calling from her private number and private email and saying to pay for it and telling me I’m protecting the person.

                  • @Malinga123: Contact either the real estate and if thy can't help go to the RTA (Residential Tenancies Authority) or local equivalent. It is absolutely unacceptable for the owner to be harassing you. The fact it is coming from the owner not the real estate makes me suspect they have no legal grounds for the $7k.

                • +4

                  @Quantumcat: There's one flaw in this logic. A "guest" is only a "guest" if they are staying for a short time period. This "guest" is an unlisted tenant as they've been there for 2 months, which means that OP is actually responsible if they're the primary tenant - and the owner is more than within their rights to request extra rent/ammendments to the lease agreement.

                  • @trankillity: Yeah that’s not the issue here but owner is harassing instead real estate dealing on this matter

              • @Malinga123: Should I make police involve in this matter. As giving mental pressure and harrassement

        • +3

          Just adding onto this.

          I think the problem is, the "owner" is looking for the culprit of the damages (the "guest") and they know OP has the information. I don't think OP needs to do anything as OP should not provide details without legal reason (confidentiality and privacy concerns).

          Either the "guest" should contact the "owner" directly, or the "owner" can get the police to question OP for the "guest"'s details.

      • Can you please contact George Michael and ask him if he likes the afterlife?

  • +2

    If this gate protects 2,000 units, possibly around 5,000 people all up, and it really does keep people out then it may actually be worth 7k. That's like $1.40 per person it protects. The person you sublease a room too drove their car into it. Were they under the influence of a drug at the time, had a few drinks?

    • No he doesn’t drink or don’t use any substances as my awareness

  • owner is basically in the same situation as you, they got invoice from complex manager, and they want you to pay. talk to the complex manager see if $600 is all is needed.

  • +1

    It would be easier to comprehend this story if correct terms were used.

    Owner of what? Do you mean a person or an entity.

    Either way, make your deadbeat guest pay up

    edit: Assume they have an international drivers licence and no insurance?

  • +5

    What do you mean by "I'm from real estate"?

    • +8

      Possibly International student from Real Estateistan?

  • +2

    How difficult is it to simply pass your hit and run friend's address and contact details to the body corporate or property manager? Just do it.

    It has nothing to do with you.

    Your friend is liable and it's up to him to sort it out. Not you. If he doesn't have insurance then that's his problem, not yours.

  • +1

    You are being bullied. I expect this behaviour has worked with other people in the past who submit rather than fight. Tell them to stop harassing you or you will report them to the police. Your home is your castle. It’s not your problem. It’s between the collective owners and the offending vehicle owner and hopefully insurance companies. Now read a good book and have a latte.

    • Thanks for advice.

  • +1

    If you're from the real estate, does that mean your guest is a tenant? Who is the owner? The building owner? Are they a representative from the strata committee or are they a strata manager? Hard to believe you're from the real estate if you're using ambiguous terms.

  • -2

    You robbed them in.

    If they had the person on cctv… why didn't they contact them directly.

    It has nothing to do with you, so ignore all correspondences. You are not the go-between. Send them a bill for your time at $75 per hour and charge $5 per photocopy/print out.

    It occurred on private land, so it is between the other party and your land lord… nothing to do with you. In fact, are you even sure your visitor caused any damage.

    You should have acted much more smarter and your visitor should have simply denied everything.

  • +1

    You have two broad options here.

    1. Play hardball. Tell the owner and all relevant parties that you know nothing about the gate, and in any event it is not up to you to provide personal details of third parties. If they have the photo evidence you've suggested they have, tell them they can follow that up via their insurer, but in any event the matter doesn't concern you. Be aware that this path of action may lead to a bad relationship with the owner/agent and may lead to future hassle and eviction with bond refund dramas.

    2. Handover details. Give the owner the name and phone number of your guest. In doing so make it clear that this is now a matter between them and to leave you out of it. Tell your guest that they need to take responsibility for their actions as you are getting caught in the middle.

    As has been mentioned above, if it can be shown that your "guest" is effectively a tenant (by virtue of the fact they've been living there for two months), you may have a whole different drama on your hands.

    • Thanks for advice. I did went through the step I found it here.

  • if they are your guest you are responsible for anything your guest does.

  • +2

    Why did you change the title and content to something else unrelated? Thank god this is not Whirlpool where you can get away with removing your original content!!!

    Recently, I had issue. One of my guest hit the communal garage roller gate of building of may be 2000 units and he forgot to inform me and next day, owner came to my place and asked my partner about who is he and blah blah and as he was not on lease and he been staying as guest for 2 month. We did mentioned it.

    But she said it might be criminal case to him and she got picture of him as evidence But interesting is next day the gate was working normally like before and looks like they fix it.

    And other day they send us two invoices and one quote where invoice was $600 and quote of $7k for whole new gate replacement.

    My guest is happy to pay for repair but he refuse to pay the whole gate as gate is working fine for 2 weeks and real estate called me and I explained him situation but still owner calling from her own number and threatening to pay or go with police proceeding. But I’m from real estate and owner is harassing and giving mental pressure.

    My guest said he is happy to go with legal action as owner is trying to get money for that 10-20 years old gate and also which is working fine.

    Any suggestions?

    • -1

      I got my answer from you guys. Thanks for help. And will follow through the advice and was thinking different topic which was issue too.

      • You start a new thread if you have a different issue to be discussed, not vandalise your own thread.

Login or Join to leave a comment