If you book a room in a motel you don’t go sticking a knife through the window’s insect screen for any reason that might be convenient to you. It doesn’t matter what the reason is; you just don’t do it. If you have a problem you call the manager. Was it because the tenant was some kind of spoilt brat who did whatever she wanted at home and expected the same treatment everywhere else?
It comes down to respect for other people’s property. The place was being rented. That doesn’t entitle the person to treat it like their own or worse. If you hire a car from a rental company and lose some money down a crevice in a seat you don’t have any right to start cutting up the upholstery in search of it. It's the same with property rentals. You don't go cutting things up without asking permission.
18 November 2010
10 November 2010
Some curious tenant behaviour
I have to admit being surprised to see the change that had taken place to one of the windows in the unit the tenant was renting. Doing some maintenance around the house I spotted one of the window fly screens had had a piece of screen cut out of it. A neat square had been opened in a lower corner. I didn’t remember seeing such a large hole before when I was checking out the property. Then I realised, with the sliding window opened slightly the cut out would be a spot for the tenant’s cats to walk in and out. It was a cat door.
I wouldn’t have dared doing anything like this to someone else’s property. I couldn’t believe someone would do it to mine. Presumably it would be repaired at the end of the lease. It was a disrespectful thing to do which annoyed me. I might have agreed to it, but I wasn’t asked. That was annoying.
I was surprised a few weeks later when I noticed the same fly screen lying against an outside wall. Why was the tenant removing the flyscreen? Possibly the hole wasn’t as large as it needed to be for the cats to get in and out. Possibly one of the cats had pushed through and dislodged the screen. I don’t know. The screen seemed precarious where it was resting, so I shifted it. While moving it I saw that it was damaged.
It is an aluminium screen, and one of the corners of the frame was bent. It was the sort of damage that might occur had the screen been caught by a wind, flown through the air, and hitting something hard. I felt irritated when I saw the damage. I have to say I don’t exactly recall seeing the condition of the screen when I bought the property, but I have no reason to believe it was anything other than perfect; well to be fair: serviceable. Now it was well on its way to being stuffed.
I wouldn’t have dared doing anything like this to someone else’s property. I couldn’t believe someone would do it to mine. Presumably it would be repaired at the end of the lease. It was a disrespectful thing to do which annoyed me. I might have agreed to it, but I wasn’t asked. That was annoying.
I was surprised a few weeks later when I noticed the same fly screen lying against an outside wall. Why was the tenant removing the flyscreen? Possibly the hole wasn’t as large as it needed to be for the cats to get in and out. Possibly one of the cats had pushed through and dislodged the screen. I don’t know. The screen seemed precarious where it was resting, so I shifted it. While moving it I saw that it was damaged.
It is an aluminium screen, and one of the corners of the frame was bent. It was the sort of damage that might occur had the screen been caught by a wind, flown through the air, and hitting something hard. I felt irritated when I saw the damage. I have to say I don’t exactly recall seeing the condition of the screen when I bought the property, but I have no reason to believe it was anything other than perfect; well to be fair: serviceable. Now it was well on its way to being stuffed.
09 November 2010
Expenses
I was impressed by a local car service workshop I had been going to. I had some trouble with an old car while driving on the highway. The car barely made it home. I found a repairer and the problem was quickly fixed. It struck me that the guy seeing the interstate number plates could have fleeced me, but he didn't. So, I developed a favourable impression of the workshop and staff, and that lasted until recently. It lasted until noises, clunks, and a vibration started coming from the back of the car each time the brakes were applied.
I had taken the car to this workshop based on my previous experience with them. I was genuinely impressed with the place; the guy who ran it seemed genuine too. Well that was until the brakes gave trouble. There were no horrible accidents caused by brake failure, just a horrible bill.
We’d come to Canberra from Melbourne and the car had to have a vehicle roadworthiness inspection prior to being registered in the ACT. It passed the roadworthy without incident, but there was a sound from the rear you could hear when the brakes were applied. My enquiry to the mechanic about the noise was that it was dust and nothing to worry about.
The noise did sound like dust in brake drums, because I know that sound. This car had disks all round. The months passed and the noise got worse. Before the car was taken to a brake specialist there were clunking noises and a noisy scraping sound that reverberated through the whole car. The brake pads had worn down to the extent that there was no pad left on one of the wheels. The noise was the sound of metal on metal, and the wear had been such that one of the callipers was damaged. If the brakes had been inspected property during the roadworthy check the $1000 expense of replacing disks and callipers may not have been required. During such checks, mechanics often check one side of the vehicle during their inspection and assume the other side to be the same. That may have been the problem, but I have to wonder if any brake check was done at all. The mechanic might take offence at that suggestion, but the bottom line is that the noise couldn’t have been dust and they missed picking up the brake problem.
Getting the finance for this property was a bit touch-and-go at one point. The last straw on camel’s back that nearly brought things to a halt was the solicitor’s fee. I was expecting them to bill me, oh, sometime later. No, they wanted their fee included in the settlement cheques. I didn’t really account for that and consequently had to use credit card money to help cover the cheques.
Banks have a killer interest rate on cash advances from credit cards. It’s not that borrowing on the card maxed out the card, but it came close. Then there were other expenses that did max out the card. As a consequence I’m having trouble getting the card’s debt cleared. I’ve had the property for about a year and I still have the credit card debt, and the way banks operate the cash advance interest will remain until all debt on the card has gone. A banking policy of kicking you when you're down; making things hard for you when you can least afford it.
So just when I wanted a steady uninterrupted flow of money to help pay off these debts we were asked by our tenant if we could fit new screen doors to the property. I don't know why we were so soft.
I had taken the car to this workshop based on my previous experience with them. I was genuinely impressed with the place; the guy who ran it seemed genuine too. Well that was until the brakes gave trouble. There were no horrible accidents caused by brake failure, just a horrible bill.
We’d come to Canberra from Melbourne and the car had to have a vehicle roadworthiness inspection prior to being registered in the ACT. It passed the roadworthy without incident, but there was a sound from the rear you could hear when the brakes were applied. My enquiry to the mechanic about the noise was that it was dust and nothing to worry about.
The noise did sound like dust in brake drums, because I know that sound. This car had disks all round. The months passed and the noise got worse. Before the car was taken to a brake specialist there were clunking noises and a noisy scraping sound that reverberated through the whole car. The brake pads had worn down to the extent that there was no pad left on one of the wheels. The noise was the sound of metal on metal, and the wear had been such that one of the callipers was damaged. If the brakes had been inspected property during the roadworthy check the $1000 expense of replacing disks and callipers may not have been required. During such checks, mechanics often check one side of the vehicle during their inspection and assume the other side to be the same. That may have been the problem, but I have to wonder if any brake check was done at all. The mechanic might take offence at that suggestion, but the bottom line is that the noise couldn’t have been dust and they missed picking up the brake problem.
Getting the finance for this property was a bit touch-and-go at one point. The last straw on camel’s back that nearly brought things to a halt was the solicitor’s fee. I was expecting them to bill me, oh, sometime later. No, they wanted their fee included in the settlement cheques. I didn’t really account for that and consequently had to use credit card money to help cover the cheques.
Banks have a killer interest rate on cash advances from credit cards. It’s not that borrowing on the card maxed out the card, but it came close. Then there were other expenses that did max out the card. As a consequence I’m having trouble getting the card’s debt cleared. I’ve had the property for about a year and I still have the credit card debt, and the way banks operate the cash advance interest will remain until all debt on the card has gone. A banking policy of kicking you when you're down; making things hard for you when you can least afford it.
So just when I wanted a steady uninterrupted flow of money to help pay off these debts we were asked by our tenant if we could fit new screen doors to the property. I don't know why we were so soft.
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