Rental : Owner allowed to not sign renewal?

Dolby

Dolby

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As the thread asks, is the owner allowed to not sign the renewal?

If I've had someone for 1 year and her lease is up for renewal - can I simply decline?
Or is it easier to just hike the hike price by 20% and get her to leave?
 
Yes.

I don't really like her though
 
Ekstasis said:
She paying on time?
Click to expand...

Yup.

But here's the thing :

She's writing things off against the rent - every month she finds an issue, whether a leak, a new gate, something broken, a new electrical box etc. While a number of these are valid issues - she's not quite paying market price as the house isn't in super fantastic Dainfern condition (that said, I've spent R100,000.00+ in under 3 years on maintenance)

I've had 4 others in - and she's the only one that's had the issues. There thoughts - which I party agree - are they're fixing up my property for me. My thought are that I cannot afford to that right now.

Since she moved in (5 months), I've budgeted on R47,500.00 rental IN - yet I've got a litttle over R20,000.00 (and a new gate, electrical box etc etc).
 
Scooby_Doo said:
As long as the lease term is up, you should be able to give her notice, similar to how she would give you notice.
Click to expand...

... without her saying :

"why? I'd like to continue and never defaulted etc?'
 
Dolby said:
Yup.

But here's the thing :

She's writing things off against the rent - every month she finds an issue, whether a leak, a new gate, something broken, a new electrical box etc. While a number of these are valid issues - she's not quite paying market price as the house isn't in super fantastic Dainfern condition (that said, I've spent R100,000.00+ in under 3 years on maintenance)

I've had 4 others in - and she's the only one that's had the issues. There thoughts - which I party agree - are they're fixing up my property for me. My thought are that I cannot afford to that right now.

Since she moved in, I've budgeted on R47,500.00 rental IN - yet I've got a litttle over R20,000.00 (and a new gate, electrical box etc etc).
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Mkay! Certain things are understandable and if the roles were reversed you would probably want the same things fixed.
However, if you get the feeling she's purposefully finding fault, then she's a bad apple you don't need - get rid of the apple.

That being said, if the contract already expired, she's renting on month to month basis. Give her notice (be nice and consider 2 month notice - don't sign renewal).
 
Lease has a while to go - but I want to know what I can and can't do while when the time arrives.

My problem is can't afford it now - simple as that. If I wanted someone to sit there and pay half rent while I renovate, great - but I require my full rent now. She's very difficult as well and I'd prefer not to have her in my space. Examples :

* We've had the house 16 years and rented out for the 5 years to various families. The families, myself and none of our neighbours have had any theft issues - but within one week she has two attempted ...

* She receives the first electricity bill - and requests me to explain exactly what the network cost, service charge etc is that she's being billed for by the council. My feeling? Take it up with council. Millions have been paying the same charge for 2 decades

* Last week she arrives home, switches on the main light and the rooms trip ans she says there was a lose wire behind the light fitting. Her mail tells me she 'felt very unsafe in the situation and contacted an electrician thaat she feels is reasonable to sort it out'. My feelings A) Unsafe that a light tripped? and B) Speak to me beforehand ; you're not entitled to simply call and repair whatever you want.
 
She has to give you a chance to repair and maintain. It sounds like you are putting off essential maintenance, which isn't lawful. If that is so then she is entitled to make good the faults out of the rent. Perhaps this happened once and now she has established a pattern.

If she wanted to be really awkward she could just stop paying rent and you could wait 6 months for her to be evicted (at zero rent). Just put up a 'For Sale' sign and tell her you need the money.
 
Lounger said:
She has to give you a chance to repair and maintain. It sounds like you are putting off essential maintenance, which isn't lawful. If that is so then she is entitled to make good the faults out of the rent. Perhaps this happened once and now she has established a pattern.

If she wanted to be really awkward she could just stop paying rent and you could wait 6 months for her to be evicted (at zero rent). Just put up a 'For Sale' sign and tell her you need the money.
Click to expand...

Simple, it would move on to a month to month contract, however if u allow it to continue on month to month u give her a reasonable expectation of renewal on month to month therefore don't let that catch u. As for the electrical fault, she has to give you reasonable notice to fix, shud u not fix then she can get it fixed and deduct rent due to expenses therefore if she called him out without consulting with u then she is liable for the bill. Make her pay for the bill for expenses if no reasonable time was given to you.

As for selling, if she is smart she won't be scared of that tactic as she is not forced to move, the new owner will be responsible. For taking over the contract.
 
Well it's not really essential - and it's small things often that add up.

I've rented too (1 year and 4 years) and the owner never heard from me. If the tap in the kitchen came loose, I'd put my hands under the sink and tighten the washer. When the garden looked like it sprung a leak, I dug to see if it was an irrigation pipe. If the toilet leaked and I couldn't do anything myself, I called a friend that fixed it in 5 minutes.

She phoned me for a SCREW in the toilet seat to be tightened ... a SCREW in the curtain rail to be tightened ... a SMALL leak in the toilet that takes 3 minutes. As I say, I've rented to a few people who had no issue with anything. Just remember I spent R100,000.00 - brand new paint, carpets, varnish, every nail removed/filled, garden perfect, brand new stove, tightened pretty much everything. I had a team of 5 guys working for 3 weeks non stop.

I get the feeling she feels it's a holiday home and doesn't quite understand. It's herself (recently divorced) and 3 teenage kids - so they need space. She's got a 3 bedroom + study house with pool, pub, double garage etc on a 1600m stand in a quiet cul de sac less than a KM from schools ... for R9,500.00

My friends pay between R7,000.00-R8,000.00 for a complex in the same area - or she's more than entitled to buy a R750,000.00 2 bedroom place with no loose screws. Choice is hers - but right now she's paying the equivalent of 1 bedroom rent for a house ... I think she's enjoying it too much

As I say, I'd love to help and spend R100,000.00 every year on the house - but I can't now. I bought my own place in August and this started September ... so I haven't even had a single month to recoup. I've used to rent for 4 years.
 
snail said:
As for the electrical fault, she has to give you reasonable notice to fix, shud u not fix then she can get it fixed and deduct rent due to expenses therefore if she called him out without consulting with u then she is liable for the bill.
Click to expand...

My issue with that was that it wasn't life threatening.

If the toaster trips the plugs - don't turn it on and we'll sort it out tomorrow.
If the study light is tripping the other lights - don't turn it on and we'll sort it tomorrow.

I mean - 'I feel unsafe in the situation' ... wtf?
 
My wife has a tenant that for some reason she doesn't like. Rent is paid on time by debit order, but he has complained about the paintwork on a couple of occasions, and he doesn't want to allow non whites in to do repairs.

We have told him that if he wants to repaint we will buy the paint, but that the paint problems are a result of too many coats of paint, and that the real solution is to strip the walls. This can only be done when the place is empty.

The lease came up for renewal at the end of January, and he has given notice so my wife has her wish and the promise of April with her painting clothes on.
 
But what does your contract say?

Also with regards to repairs and upgrades without your prior consent, your not liable for them. Lots of case law poping up in the media about this. If I called an electrician in without my landlords permission, he would say sod that, its to my expense.

Your better off seeing a lawyer.
 
Shame Dolby, and being recently divorced, she's probably bitter too. i'm a renter myslef and my landlords hardly hear from us. in the 3 years i have been there, we have called him 4 times.

don't jump at every whim she has. i bet just once you say no and tell her to seek a lawyer, she'll leave. and if she doesn't pay the full rent just one time, you have the right to evict :)
 
Dolby said:
As the thread asks, is the owner allowed to not sign the renewal?

If I've had someone for 1 year and her lease is up for renewal - can I simply decline?
Or is it easier to just hike the hike price by 20% and get her to leave?
Click to expand...
Just to be safe, tell her well in advance that she needs to look at some place else to stay since you are not going to renew her lease. Do this WELL in advance otherwise she will insist that she be given 30-60-90 days to make arrangements. Make sure she understands this and communicate it to her often.

You do not need to give a reason as to why, and do not say anything if she ask why, just stand firm that you are not going to renew.
DO NOT GET INTO A DEBATE AS TO WHAT IS FAIR! It is your property and the lease is up, end of story.

After this, when you draw up a new contract, make sure you cover your bases that was taken advantage of in this case. Live and learn!
 
crackersa said:
Shame Dolby, and being recently divorced, she's probably bitter too. i'm a renter myslef and my landlords hardly hear from us. in the 3 years i have been there, we have called him 4 times.

don't jump at every whim she has. i bet just once you say no and tell her to seek a lawyer, she'll leave. and if she doesn't pay the full rent just one time, you have the right to evict :)
Click to expand...
She also has the right to stay on until the court decides to evict, so be careful.
 
Dolby said:
Lease has a while to go - but I want to know what I can and can't do while when the time arrives.

My problem is can't afford it now - simple as that. If I wanted someone to sit there and pay half rent while I renovate, great - but I require my full rent now. She's very difficult as well and I'd prefer not to have her in my space. Examples :

* We've had the house 16 years and rented out for the 5 years to various families. The families, myself and none of our neighbours have had any theft issues - but within one week she has two attempted ...

* She receives the first electricity bill - and requests me to explain exactly what the network cost, service charge etc is that she's being billed for by the council. My feeling? Take it up with council. Millions have been paying the same charge for 2 decades

* Last week she arrives home, switches on the main light and the rooms trip ans she says there was a lose wire behind the light fitting. Her mail tells me she 'felt very unsafe in the situation and contacted an electrician thaat she feels is reasonable to sort it out'. My feelings A) Unsafe that a light tripped? and B) Speak to me beforehand ; you're not entitled to simply call and repair whatever you want.
Click to expand...

W.T.F :confused: So she gets attempted break-ins and it's her fault? Catch a clue bro ........ this house I'm in also never had any crap but we had a full on home invasion a while after we moved in, shyte happens. We also had another case (different house) where we had a loose wire that would occasionally trip things. One night it smoldered enough to set alight, luckily we woke up and smelt it.
 
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