Electrical failure

[george price]

Tenant rang me 2 evenings ago at 5.40 pm he had arrived home from work and found the consumer unit had tripped (and continued to trip) leaving no active wall sockets or immersion heater. Lights, cooker and electric shower worked. I attended and checked with him by pulling all appliances' plugs out in case one had developed a fault and contacted a plumber and electrician I use but neither could attend that evening. The plumber arranged to break off a job and check it out for next day, usually these problems are caused by the heater element getting lime scale corrosion and packing up and shorting out the system. The electrician put on standby and booked in for the following morning after.

My tenant not at all happy so i offered to put him up in my spare room which he refused, however, the tenant above dropped an extension lead down which my tenant used for his essentials ie microwave, kettle and TV. and dropped him £20 as a thank you.

The plumber disconnected the 2 immersion heaters but the consumer  unit continued to trip. I therefore contacted my electrician who arrived at 07.30 am next day (today).

He discovered that the fault lay in the electric shower,although apparently working, that when switched off it tripped the consumer unit, he disconnected it and it now works, so the tenant has power but no electric shower which he is not botthered about at the moment, I just bought a new one and it is booked in to be fitted later by the plumber. The elctrician will come back tomorrow and install a new updated consumer unit.

Nice to be friendly with your tenant but they can turn. My tenant was going to call out an emergency service which he stated would be at my cost and or stay in a hotel at my cost and made no secret of how disgruntled he was and is. 

I pointed out to him that the problem was sorted quickly, an emmergency service call out at night which I am not convinced could have fixed the problem any quicker at a cost of an 'open cheque' did not impress him.

[Richlist]

Bloody tenants, if only us landlords could run our business without them everything would be a lot easier. ? 

Tenants are not entitled to any better treatment than an owner occupier could expect given the same situation. Paying rent doesn't entitle tenants to special treatment.

You have acted entirely appropriately and if the tenant is not happy let him find another landlord who could do better.

Failure of an electric shower cannot be forseen and to determine the cause and have it replaced within a few days is excellent.

Put his rent up or serve notice so he can see how disgruntled you are by his bad attitude.

 

[Melboy]

Everything that Richlist has said to you I agree with 100%.

It would really pi** me off if any tenant came at me as your tenant has done. He needs to be taken down a bit imo and have it spelt out to him that you acted as quickly as you could in unforeseen circumstances and that is as good as it will ever get. If he doesn't like it tell him to move somewhere else.

Thinking about this I would get rid of him if he was my tenant but only because I am in a position I can afford to lose a tenant.

 I had a call out yesterday to a leaking WC inlet pipe. Tenant was fine about it and it was fixed within 3 hours. That's how it should be and not a mouthful of impossible and unwarranted demands on a landlord.

[Grampa]

Explain to him very simply that

"As a tenant you are not entitled to any special treatment that a owner occupier wouldn't receive"  

"An emergency is defined as fire, flood or endangerment to life or limb"

"You are a tenant in a rented property not living in a hotel"

The above 3 phases 9 times out of ten kill off stupid remarks such as the ones you mention. 

 

[bil8999]

You went above and beyond, put his rent up.

[george price]

Thanks everyone, makes me feel better reading all your supportive comments. The electrician arrived this morning 7.30 am and changed the consumer unit and gave me his safety certificates to be followed by the official certification which also goes to the council. Good job done. The tenant also mentioned in passing that the bath plug hole had been blocked since he moved in 2 years ago and One Shot and plunger did not work. I told him I found this strange as the place was immaculate when he moved in and the bath had been cleaned and no problem with blockages, anyway, I gave it a a good dollop of One Shot this morning and it cleared immediately.

[Grampa]

Normally the cause of any blockage in a drain or toilet is what ever has been put down it by the tenant unless there is a fault with the pipework which is rare.

I tell tenants the above and if any contractor they instruct states on the invoice there is a fault with the pipework then the cost passes to the landlord for reimbursement. 

[Richlist]

My experiences:

Baths, shower trays, washbasins.......any blockage is almost always hair. The worst offenders are female tenants with long hair. They can't help it, hair drops out of all us with hair but, long hair is what I find blocks up. It hasn't got so bad yet that I have added applications from 'women with long hair' to my list of those not acceptable.

Toilets....toilet tissue breaks down in water, almost every other type does not. Often kitchen paper towel is enough, if put down the toilet regularly, to eventually cause a blockage. Obviously nappies and sanitary items etc will almost definitely cause problems. To be 100% safe only toilet paper should be used.

Kitchen/utility sinks......blockages nearly always caused by fat.

[Grampa]

Or vomit which I had once and the landlord was kind enough to pay and instruct a plumber to go round. (not knowing it was vomit at the time) The plumber wasnt happy.

Wet wipes are a major cause of blockages 

[george price]

This morning, unbelievably, the tenant advised that his water heater failed, I discovered a loose connection easilly fixed. I took the opportunity to confront  and berate his attitude being quite prepared to call it a day on his tenancy.  He appeared quite laid back and was apologetic admitting he did not expect me to be able solve the problems immediately. Some more prodding at him to provoke any latent hostility, he apologised again so I left it at that. He has been my tenant for 2 years, its less hassle and cheaper to continue with him for now. 

Thanks again for your help everyone.

[Carryon Regardless]

If he's wound his neck in I think you've made the right decision. Voids  / T changes usually mean losses and the admin these days is a head ache.

Tbh my T's don't get the service you provided him, and I don't intend to try to. There can be advantage to leaving a silly T to stew, they usually realise there power is to relocate but that isn't so easy for them and they realise when they've cooled some.

[kanrent]

Your tenants arrogant behaviour is a bloe back or reaction from government policy in which the landlord is always in the wrong and always depicted as a criminal

Let the buggers sleep on a park bench that will give them something to complain about

[sherryphillips]

Maintaining electrical support system is not an easy task, it requires regular maintenance work. Hence my uncle who rented his property assure to take the help of generator repair service NJ for regular maintenance, so that his tenants do not face problem in his absence as he stays away most of the time from his home. Taking professional help has been always best as the electrical work is very risky.