WWYD - tenant went ahead without our permission

[birdladyfromhomealone]

New tenant first month in, tells us the back door is not easy to lock.
For security we agreed to his request to call a locksmith.
He told us he had called three and gave the price.
We agreed the one who charged £65 per hour- estimated £95 to fix.
One month later our tenant has emailed to say they came out but couldnt fix the lock as the PVC door was warped.
Attached an invoice for £398 for complete new locking mechanism.
He has paid on the day and wants repayment.

Well he should have checked with you before going ahead, but I guess if the lock wasn't fixable you were going to have to get a new lock at some point. You can't expect your tenet not to be able to lock the doors..

Well lesson learnt I suppose. But for whom?

If you pay, then the lesson is that you should arrange these things yourself. Also do proper walk rounds with tenants to show that all locking mechanisms work properly.

If you don't pay, teaches the tenant not to be so presumptuous. And they should have called you.

Both sides need to fall back on the contract - what does it state? If you agreed to the locksmith arranged by the tenant then you probably should pay, even if its 4 times the estimate. But I would then tidy the contract up and your processes up to retain control over these things.

But he did check first. An estimate is an estimate, not a binding guarantee. The lock turned out to be irrereparable. Perhaps in the course if determining that, it proved impossible to leave lock "as was".

To be fair, a door that won't lock and where the lock can't be adequately repaired is an emergency- you can't expect people to run the risk of being burgled/murdered in their beds.

In the future, check state of repair more throughly and maintain your property adequately.

Well to be fair it was your job and he did all the leg work. If you want full control of an urgent repair in the future get round there ASAP and get it sorted! You can't expect someone to have a dodgy lock, if it's difficult to lock it'll also be difficult to open = massive fire risk! I would have cracked on too if the landlord was blaze about it

The door was lockable, just temperamental.
A bit dumbfounded they would go ahead with our say so or at least letting us know for over one month.
We offered to arrange it but they said they were happy to arrange as his GF is home.
£400 could have been put towards a new door- he says as the door is warped it will break again :(

Also two previous tenants never reported any problem?

Also two previous tenants never reported any problem?

so?

Don't be that person! "well it never bothered our last people"
Just don't.

If you'ld got round there straight away in person you can question the necessity, but you didn't

The door was lockable, just temperamental.

Thats ok if you want that where you live but as a landlord technically I think you need to be a bit more health and safety focussed. Also, gaps between tenants are when these things can really be addressed.

But a door that's "lockable but temperamental" easily becomes a door that won't lock at all midnight one night after you've put the bins out.

If you wanted control of the work done, you should have organized the work yourself and been present whilst it was conducted.

There might not have been much choice over how things went- locksmith arrives, tries to fix lock, nothing can be done, door no longer locks as attempted repairs have changed how door and lock fit together, only other option that restores a lockable door that day is a new locking mechanism.

You need to do the grunt work of getting quotes OP. It's the safest way. All my landlords have done that.

But a door that's "lockable but temperamental" easily becomes a door that won't lock at all midnight one night after you've put the bins out or a door that won't open in an emergency when people want to get out!

If you know its "just a bit temperamental" then that indicates you knew there was an exisiting issue

Exactly Tinsel.

Really you should have got the quotes through and so it sounds like a misunderstanding - I think you should pay as really they should have been left with a door that has issues locking.

Make it clear you should have been contacted first and they shouldn't pay for any more things without checking with you first.

Ah I had the same thing with my last landlord

Well you just need to push it here and pull it here, kick it there and it will lock

Or you could just replace the bloody thing?

Ooh we had a lock that was temperamental in my last rented house. It decided to be a real stubborn bastard one day when my 3 year old was on the other side of it. I had to bust the door through with a hammer.

Attached an invoice for £398 for complete new locking mechanism.

Bloody hell what was it made of Platinum?.

Sounds very expensive, have you got a breakdown of that at all?.

Lesson learned OP? When your tenant alerts you to something that needs doing you need to arrange for it to be done - quotes, choice of contractor - and in a timely manner otherwise you have suck up the expensive consequences. In this case the tenant has a right to an untemperamental lock for all the reasons cited by PPs such as security, fire hazard and the like. Or you might want to consider doing what we've done and get a good property management company to oversee your property. It's worth the percentage we pay them every month to not have to deal constantly with the tenants re repairs/replacements.

I think you should reply "Well of course we'll reimburse but in future please contact us before more expensive work is done as in this situation it would have made more sense to replace the whole door."

I agree with BertieBotts' suggested reply.

And in the future, if any other locks, appliances or whatever, are "temperamental" or starting to look like they need replaced or repaired, take the initiative and get the work done sooner rather than later, ensuring that you have control over what is done, and the price.

The tenant did pay up front. Obviously needed doing. Saved you the hassle of arranging it all at least.

Tenant should not have spent so much of your money. They should have called you first and explained about the lock and how much the new quote was. Then you'd be able to give go ahead or not.

Not sure how you sort this out though, but I'd be majorly pissed off. Like a PP said, make it clear to them they should not do this again

I agree with BB.

Personally, as a tenant, I would never do something like this as I have experience with LL who'd be furious - but I have also had LL (including the current one) who are actually more irritated by me constantly running things past them. The current LL has more than once had to spell it out to me that, yes, when the plumber comes, I should just make a decision about work to be done, and let him foot the bill. He doesn't want me to hang around waiting for him to ok the decision as he trusts his plumber.

So do remember that your tenants might have had a very different working relationship with a previous LL and may simply have assumed if you'd okayed the estimate they'd obtained, you would expect them to carry on with that trader even if the job cost more to complete properly.

I'd offer half as a goodwill gesture

You can't offer half as a Goodwill gesture!!

As others have said, the landlord knew the lock was 'temperamental' (eg not working properly). So it needed to be fixed. Why should the tenant be out of pocket?

You knew it was 'temperamental'

Pay it