Questions on inspection
Question from Urvashi updated on 7th April 2014:
We hired a property manager to look after our property. Our tenants moved out after an inspection was done where they were asked to clean again as it didn't meet standards. We have now decided to manage the house ourselves and after visiting it we've found the toilet seat is broken. Now we have to pay for this as it wasn't picked up in property manager's inspection. That doesn't seem fair. Isn't that the property manager's responsibility to check these things?
Our expert Juliet Robinson responded:
You haven’t said how “broken” the toilet seat was when you found it. Perhaps the damage was hard to notice and the property manager may honestly have missed it. If the tenant had broken the seat, you would need to establish that the damage was caused deliberately or carelessly by the tenant. If the toilet seat is more than a couple of years old, that is very hard to prove. Regardless whether finding the broken seat is the property manager’s responsibility or your own, the repair or replacement is a cost for you to pay.
Quinovic's outstanding people and systems provide the most professional, effective and reliable residential property management service in the NZ market for over 22 years.
Search the Ask an Expert archive
Browse all questions in the Ask An Expert Archive »