A tenant vacating a rental property she had lived in for seven years was left flabbergasted after her actual property agent requested her to do one very last thing earlier than releasing the bond.
In a Fb publish, the Brisbane-based tenant shared a screenshot of the agent’s message, which thanked her for “returning the property in actually good situation”, however added a caveat that she needed to change a light-weight bulb earlier than the bond might be “finalised”.
The publish, in a bunch for renters, divided opinion a couple of seemingly trivial but frequent challenge for renters: who takes on the accountability of changing fixtures corresponding to gentle bulbs, particularly on the finish of a tenancy?
Ridiculous request?
Members of the group had been at odds over whether or not tenant or landlord is liable for altering gentle bulbs in a rental property.
“Who’s to say the sunshine wasn’t working the night time earlier than? Ridiculous!” somebody commented, whereas one other member opined: “It is not really that ridiculous. Every thing must be in working order. If it is not working, it’s essential to repair it earlier than leaving or pay for it to be fastened. They must request you to repair it since you are accountable for it. Sure even a light-weight bulb sadly.”
Some members of the group mentioned they’d be grateful in the event that they obtained such a message from their actual property agent. “I imply they may have despatched you the invoice to pay an electrician to alter it like many do. To me, I believe they’ve been honest to permit you to do it your self as an alternative of simply charging an exorbitant quantity,” one member commented.
Others shared their very own experiences, with one fellow renter writing, “The true property for the final property I rented tried to cost me $175 to get an electrician to go and put in 3 highlight bulbs on the surface of the property. We did it ourselves and it value us $21.”
Trade requirements
A property agent talking in anonymity to Yahoo Information Australia mentioned that whereas it could not at all times be the case, tenants are normally requested to switch issues corresponding to gentle bulbs after they go away a rental property.
“I can not converse for everybody, however I do know that we do ask tenants to switch gentle bulbs if they’ve gone out,” the agent mentioned, including that the request is nothing uncommon.
Whereas the property must be handed to the tenant with all the sunshine bulbs working in the beginning of a lease, the agent defined that if a light-weight bulb wants altering it’s usually the tenant’s accountability.
In accordance with the Residential Tenancy Authority (RTA), any preparations about gentle bulbs must be included in particular phrases of a tenancy settlement as the availability and substitute of sunshine bulbs shouldn’t be specified within the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Lodging Act 2008.
“Usually, the property supervisor/proprietor could also be liable for sustaining specialised bulbs and the tenant could also be liable for the substitute of on a regular basis bulbs,” the act states. “If altering a bulb requires specialist data or gear, it could be a part of the property supervisor/proprietor’s accountability to keep up the property.”
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