At the start of any lease agreement three documents must be arranged and supplied to the tenant by the property owner. These consist of the Lease Agreement, Condition report and Information Statement. In your letter to me you said that only the condition report was given to you and no other documents. The property owner can get a fine for this, as this is also breaking the rules stated in the RTA. The condition report should also not be taken lightly, often if future ‘natural’ problems in the house require attending to by the property owner, you can prove that they were originally in the property by the condition report. You, as a tenant did the right thing by listing in the condition report that there was a rip in the couch.
A leaking roof, in some cases and in this case, is the effect of age, known as ‘natural’ ware. You did the right thing by notifying the property owner immediately of the problem. Kate as the property owner has a legal responsibility to repair this leak, and if the problem persisted you should have issued a notice to Kate of the ongoing issue. If no action was taken, you can ask for mediation, which will often help. At $20 it is much cheaper than going to the Small Claims Tribunal, but if the mediation doesn’t help, the SCT may be your only option.
You stated that during a party, the property was damaged. This included the rip in the couch getting bigger and a smashed window. Unfortunately for you, fixing these problems is not a responsibility of the Property Owner. Considering your guests did the damage, and it is your name listed in the lease, it is your responsibility to fix the window. Seeing that you had listed the couch as originally having a rip, you could ask the property owner to assist in some of the repairs for this item. The storm the following day damaged a rug owned by you and existing carpets, due to the leak in the roof. You originally informed the Property owner of this problem so legally it is the property owner’s responsibility to fix the leak and to also pay you compensation to account for the repair cost of the rug and damaged carpets. If the property owner refuses to pay, you may seek mediation and then, if not successful go to the Small Claims Tribunal.
The property owner cannot increase the rent of the property without at least a 2 month notice. The notice should be in writing.
The Residential Tenancies Act states that a tenant has the right to the privacy and peace of the property without the Property owner. You claim that the owner often goes into the property without notice to inspect it etc. This is definitely not allowed. The Property owner must give the tenant written notice to inspect and the time that the tenant has to prepare differs on what reason the Property owner wants to enter. If the property owner wants to inspect the property, the must give seven days notice. By stating in the tenancy agreement that the Property owner can enter the property whenever she wants is not relevant.
The Property owner has a right not to return your bond if the property isn’t left in a state very close to what it was like when the lease first started, so yes, the Property owner can keep your bond if you don’t repair the broken window. The Property owner, though has no right to tell you to immediately move. The process is much more complicated. First the Owner must give you a notice to remedy breach, which in this case is the window. If you as the tenant do not fix this problem within fourteen days, the property owner can give you a notice to leave. The notice to leave will state a handover day, which is the day on which you must leave the property. If your refuse once again to leave, the Property owner will go to the Small claims tribunal within two weeks of turnover day, to try to gain a termination order. A police person will then claim the property within three days, if the termination order is obtained. The fact that the property owner blames you for the carpets cannot be proven, as that damage was a fault of her own.
Hopefully the information given is sufficient to help you through your current situation.
Yours sincerely,
Ben Walker
Walker.B