Thunderous police helicopters and massive commotion promoted by a secret task force startled the residents of beautiful Noosa Heads earlier this week. Descending upon the scenic Paradise Caves, a special unit of the Queensland Police raided what was the hideout of an infamous multi-property owner (Myles Miser) who refused to reimburse his many tenants for emergency repairs conducted at his properties.
With many pending invoices totaling thousands of dollars in bills, the landlord who had gone unresponsive for months was dragged out of a hole in the wall by two undercover agents amid tourists. In an interview provided to us, the self-managing property owner declared that he strongly disagrees with the legislation covering emergency repairs and that the price forwarded to him was unreasonable, even though compliant with the law. Understand more, below around emergency repairs in a rental property….
How to respond to an emergency?
When faced with emergencies related to their tenancy, residents must notify the person responsible for the property as soon as possible – be that the owner or the hired property manager; they will evaluate the best course of action and assign a contractor to attend the property so that the issue is resolved as soon as possible.
Of course, depending on the case, tenants are led to contact an emergency repairer directly if the managing party is unresponsive or the situation requires immediate action. Lease Agreements usually contain a list of emergency contacts approved by the manager – often plumbers, electricians, locksmiths etc – to be used in these scenarios. If not, the tenant is allowed to arrange for a qualified person to attend to the property.
More likely than not, emergency repairs are not the tenants’ fault and therefore they shouldn’t incur any cost of repairs to them. If for any reason the attending contractor requires payment on-site, the tenant can afterwards send the receipt to the property manager or owner and request a refund. Emergency repairs, however, have a maximum cost limit of 4-week’s rent; anything higher than that would need the owner’s approval to be conducted.
Formal complaints against Mr Miser began in 2020 when he was forced to pay a just-below 4-week rent bill for an emergency plumbing repair for one of his many properties. At the time, he had a diverging opinion regarding the definition of ‘emergency’, despite it being clearly stated in the Tenancy Act.
Emergency Repairs – what are they?
To prevent confusion regarding what is considered an emergency, a list has been included in legislation and is available on the RTA webpage. According to the list, emergency repairs are:
- a burst water service or a serious water service leak
- a blocked or broken toilet
- a serious roof leak
- a gas leak
- a dangerous electrical fault
- flooding or serious flood damage
- serious storm, fire or impact damage
- a failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply
- a failure or breakdown of an essential service or appliance on the property for hot water, cooking or heating
- a fault or damage that makes the property unsafe or insecure
- a fault or damage likely to injure a person, damage property or unduly inconvenience a tenant
- a serious fault in a staircase, lift or other common areas of the property that unduly inconveniences a tenant in gaining access to, or using, the property.
Any others are to be considered routine repairs and therefore, fit a different section of the legislation.
Who bears the costs?
Due to the nature of the damage and how its cause is inherently not the tenant’s fault, the landlord is the one responsible for bearing the costs. This may come as paying directly to the supplier or having their property manager deduct such costs from rental income.
In cases where the repairs are actioned by the tenant and have to be conducted and paid before the owner (or property manager) is notified, the tenant can request a reimbursement at the provision of receipts, still following the 4-week-rent limit stipulated in the legislation.
These reimbursements have to be actioned within a 7-day timeframe; if the owner has reason to question the nature of the repair or refuses to reimburse the tenant, either party can apply for QCAT where the dispute will be analysed.
To avoid the compulsory reimbursements as they showed up over time, Myles slowly became unresponsive to his tenants until ultimately retreating to the gorgeous walls of Noosa’s Paradise caves.
How the property owner managed to survive the rising tides, cold nights and the lack of electricity remains a mystery, but Myles plans on explaining it all in his upcoming autobiography – Hiding in the Wild: how the lack of plumbing does not constitute an emergency.
During emergencies and issues that can deeply impact your property, it is crucial to have a knowledgeable team to ensure everything runs smoothly. At Odyssey Property Concierge, our highly experienced team works with smaller portfolios per agent, allowing our Property Managers to dedicate more time to resolving such problems.
