Tenant's take ages to tell me when things go wrong

[CoffeeDuchess]

Name changed for this.

I've been a LL for 9 years and I've never had tenants like these.

They pay on time, keep the place clean and seem like nice people. They had 2 great references from 2 previous landlords.

The only issue is that they don't tell me or the letting agency when something goes wrong immediately. They moved in in Janury and so far:

A light switch stopped working and it was only noticed when an agent when down to do their 3 month inspection, when asked, they said it had been like that for almost 2 months, I thought it was strange that they didn't just ring the agent and tell them straight away but shrugged it off.

The cooker stopped somewhat working, so the stove didn't work but the oven did, it took them 3 weeks to let someone know.

Neighbours tree fell over, toppling on to the properties fence and it took the agents inspection for us to find out, the fence had been down for more then a month.

At that point agent asked if they'd report things straight away, so that we could get it fixed asap and they wouldn't be inconvenienced.

They agreed but just got an email from the agency, the boiler has stopped working for 5 days and they've just reported it this evening who can last without hot water for 5 days, surely most people would have reported it immediately.

They're good tenants and I'm not planning to take any actions, I'm just really befuddled, why not report an issue immediately?

[Rinceoir]

I'm an excellent tenant. Never missed a payment, take great care of properties. Generally leave them in better condition than I found them. I've had 12 moves in as many years so I'm very very used to renting (all my choice to move, never been asked to leave).

I've had some terrible landlords and letting agents. I've been left without hot water, without hearing in the dead of winter, broken ovens etc- generally not fixed in any acceptable time frame. I've had the most ridiculous reasons given as an excuse not to return my deposit- there's a spoon in the dishwasher for example, or a mark on a wall which hasn't been painted in years.

At the moment I'm renting a lovely family home, in a very sought after area. And paying a huge amount for it- but we only bother the agent if we really need to because we want to stay put!

[onewhitepillowleft]

Maybe they are telling the agent. The window in my bedroom doesn't open. I've emailed several times, and every single three month inspection, I mention it and it is noted. The agents have done nothing about it, and I doubt they've informed the landlord.

[gonzo155]

Perhaps they've had bad experiences with other LLs e.g. putting rents up or getting shirty about repairs.

Perhaps they don't want to bother you.

Perhaps they both work full time and struggle when asked to be in for repairs. In our case if it was something like a light switch that didn't really cause any issues then we'd wait till we were coming up to leave to report it as we've had a bad experience with the LL's tradesperson not locking up after a visit so prefer to be in.

Bit odd they didn't report the boiler though.

[Seryph]

We've only been in our new flat two weeks and I've already had to report three things, including the toilet not working!
I feel terrible about it, but these things should have been dealt with either by the last tenant or by the LL/letting agent in between him leaving and us moving in!

[Tiggles]

Crotchet sums up our feelings as tenants perfectly. We have rented the same house now for 8 years. It feels like home so we rarely bother the landlord - partly because the big jobs that need doing that we told them about 5 years ago still haven't been done and are now in a really bad state of repair, or we have HAD to do ourselves as they were too dangerous to leave, so little jobs we just get on and do ourselves. And partly as we are worried that if we start to mention small jobs or hassle about the big jobs that we will get the rent put up and have to leave.

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

I think it's that landlords are in such a position of power. They don't necessarily mean to be, or even realise they are, but for tenants, especially when you know your whole life will probably end up being renting, it's so stressful. Nothing is long term; you know that however good a tenant you are, there will eventually be a time when things have to change. The rent will go up, they'll sell, their children will sell, they'll find another tenant, their children will want to live there, whatever. And your life will be in a mess, trying desperately to find somewhere else that is going to work out, and that can be so hard. If you have children settled in schools or your work depends on living where you are or various other things, there's going to be huge upheaval. And you'd do anything to try to stop that from happening, put up with whatever inconveniences you can, in the hopes that they'll think you are a good tenant who doesn't cause any bother, that they won't raise the rent, etc. It's part of the anxiety of knowing you are always renting. Not the landlord's fault, but just the fact that they are in a different position than you. No matter what happens in their life, they are almost certainly going to have somewhere to live, long term. And you aren't.

[ShtoppenDerFloppen]

Social anxiety. I know people who would be so uncomfortable that they would rather go without than make the call.

[toastymarshmallow]

I once reported an issue with the heating control panel. It was intermittent so of course the day the agency's maintenance guy came it worked fine.

The agent phoned me the next day and was unbelievable. He patronisingly suggested that I google the instructions for how to work the control panel and suggested I should be paying for the wasted call out. Fucking prick.

Three days later the panel gave up totally and had to be replaced.

That is only the tip of the iceberg of my LL experiences.

Sometimes reporting seems like more hassle than dealing with a broken light switch.

I agree about the boiler though, that is something that can't wait.

[birdladyfromhomealone]

We find our tenants report the slightest problem even for things that as a tenant we would expect them to sort themselves - such as- light bulbs, smoke alarms batteries need changing.
In the past we have had tenant call us because:-
They have locked themselves out. Driven 45 minutes to let them back in.
The wind has blown so hard it has smashed the garden gate in half, obviously left it open banging on the side of the house- we bought a new gate.
The bathroom has got black mould growing- They had disconnected the extractor fan.
The bedroom windows were steamed up in the morning- they slept with the windows closed and had damp clothes on the radiators.
They couldn't get the washing machine to dry their clothes- it was a washing machine not a tumble dryer.
Their were stains on the carpets from the previous tenants - They moved the double bed out from the wall to show us- they wanted new carpets.
They were getting bites, the house must have fleas- yes from their cat.
The hedge needed cutting, the gutters are blocked, the kitchen sink is blocked- yes that is your responsibility!!!
Having said all this we had one couple who had a major leak over their double bed in Nov 13 when we had all that really heavy rain as the roof leaked and didnt tell us till we did check out the following March which by then cost us ££££'s to put right :(

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

I should add that I don't put off things that would cause immediate damage, like water leaks or whatever! but something like a light switch, that just inconveniences me, that I might put off. Or things that are likely to be big and expensive, but not needing immediate repair.

[Yika]

I am rather like your tenants. I have a high tolerance for inconvenience and hate to bother other people (the two issues being related). Quite interesting (and useful) for me to hear that this reluctance to report is actually an inconvience in its own right.

[CoffeeDuchess]

LRD, not infuriating just slightly annoying.

Tame, I don't enter homes without asking and the issue isn't people coming in but the fact that it's not reported at all for ages.

I didn't realise people we're so reluctant to report issues perhaps they've had horrible experiences with LL's but boilers and fences and cookers aren't tiny things, but I can see how fear of being labelled difficult would stop people from reporting.

[tametempo]

Maybe they work full time and will find it difficult to get the time off for lots of little jobs to be fixed.
Not everyone is happy for Landlord's / tradespeople to enter their home while they're out.

[wowfudge]

I would be wondering if they have something to hide and don't want anyone coming round. On the other hand, maybe they are just dozy and notice things straight away.

[Muddlewitch]

I'm a tenant and must admit I do put off reporting things, and if it's something minor I will arrange for it to be sorted myself rather than ask the landlord (I rent direct from LL not through agency.)

As pp's have mentioned above it is fear of being thought of as a difficult tenant. I've had horrible landlords before and I love my house, my kids are settled in school, I don't have the money to move and just don't want to rock the boat.

Maybe they have had bad landlords before and worry too.

[CrotchetQuaverMinim]

Yes I'm always worried that the landlords will raise my rent if I complain about things that cost to be fixed. Or that they'll just have me down as 'difficult'. Or that at some point they'll decide it's easier to sell than keep renting, etc. It's such an insecure and anxious thing to be renting, and such a worry that they'll put the rent up or change their mind or whatever. And I never like to bother them for little things, because I always think maybe I should be dealing with it myself, or it's not a real problem, or it's my fault somehow.

It's so nervewracking to email about a problem, wait to see how they'll respond, wait for the hassle of people coming to see and decide what to do, waiting for them to actually come do it, etc. Sometimes you just want to put off that worry for a little while!

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

Good luck! It must be infuriating to be dealing with this.

[NancyNamechange]

I hate reporting things. I usually have

(1) a landlord telling me I have to pay for the broken thing (for example, an oven that stopped working one month after I moved in!)

(2) a letting agent tutting and making out that I am being difficult

(3) I swear landlords try to deduct from the deposit for things you've complained about during the year

(4) It feels like every time I complain I end up with a builder being given a key and permission to come into the house WITHOUT MY PERMISSIONS/KNOWLEDGE.

I hate renting. I have rented 4 houses now and every time the landlord and letting agents are absolute crooks.

[sentia]

We never bothered our landlord if we could avoid it when we rented. I hate having strangers in my house.

[CoffeeDuchess]

Sproglet, I've had the same letting agency for 7 years and they're amazing. We've had 2 previous tenants before these ones and things were reported immediately and fixed asap. The specific agent that deals with my property is lovely but of course people can show different sides but I very much doubt it's an agency issue as he was just as suprised that it took them 5 days to report the boiler.

LRD, I think I'll take your advice and email the tenants, tell them that it's perfectly fine to report when things go wrong.

[Gusthetheatrecat]

Is it possible that they're subletting to someone else and hence they don't know themselves when things go wrong? Just a thought.

[CurbsideProphet]

I would also put off reporting things, as the Letting Agents are so rude. We moved in and discovered the fridge freezer did not work. We were left for 2 weeks waiting for a new one. They didn't give a shit that no fridge freezer for that long is very inconvenient. I would now think twice before reporting anything unless it was absolutely necessary. No one wants to risk being known as a "difficult" tenant.

[EssentialHummus]

I've had this before with tenants, and interpreted it as reluctance to be seen as a troublemaker. Drove me bonkers. It was a shared house, so I resolved it by contacting them all when i was due to attend, in the vein of "I'll be in next Tuesday to do X. Please let me know if anything else needs doing/fixing so I can attend to it."

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

coffee - no, they weren't twats, just not very experienced in renting places out. It is very common, which is why I think it might be that your tenants had the same sort of experience.

[CoffeeDuchess]

LRD you're LL sounds like an absolute twat. It's an agreement that both parties sign up to, it's part of my agreement to keep the property livable, which means boilers, cookers, light switches all need to work. I don't expect my tenants to live in a condition that I wouldn't.