# Tenants broke bed - who pays



## Sipe (13 Oct 2015)

Hi 

Our tenants broke a double bed. Who is liable to pay for its replacement

Thx


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## Setanta12 (13 Oct 2015)

How did they break it?


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## Sipe (13 Oct 2015)

No idea. The new tenants pointed in out at their moving in inspection.

The old tenants failed to mention this and appared to have tried to mend it themselves by added an extra board (didn't work).

We are about to return the deposit so need to decide on who pays.


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## Bronte (13 Oct 2015)

You the landlord pays. You also have written off the cost under wear and tear and ditto with the new bed.


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## Learner2015 (13 Oct 2015)

I'd be charging the tenant end of story. 

Also if the bed is fairly new the OP may not have written it fully off yet, not that this matters they broke it they pay for it.


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## Bronte (13 Oct 2015)

Learner2015 said:


> I'd be charging the tenant end of story.
> 
> Also if the bed is fairly new the OP may not have written it fully off yet, not that this matters they broke it they pay for it.



Ok Learner on what basis do they pay!  And if OP bought it last year, is allowed now write off full cost as far as I know.


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## Clonback (13 Oct 2015)

If the bed was new when tenants moved in I would expect them to pay.


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## Bronte (13 Oct 2015)

Clonback said:


> If the bed was new when tenants moved in I would expect them to pay.



Not true, not if it was not fit for purpose!  I can well remember using books myself when a leg gave way.


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## Learner2015 (13 Oct 2015)

My basis is wear and tear versus breakage / damage.

Wear and tear I pay...breakage / damage they pay. And before we go head long into what constitutes wear and tear the OP says they broke it so that's what my opinion is based on!


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## Bronte (13 Oct 2015)

Learner2015 said:


> My basis is wear and tear versus breakage / damage.
> 
> Wear and tear I pay...breakage / damage they pay. And before we go head long into what constitutes wear and tear the OP says they broke it so that's what my opinion is based on!



But OP said the tenants saw there was already a problem, and even worse the previous tenant hid it and did a temporary repair.  

I wouldn't like to be you up before the PRTB with your logic, not attacking you, I just pay for whatever the tenant needs and write it off, not worth debating about.  I should have shares in washing machines and cookers in particular.  

Actually kettles and hoovers might be better.


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## Learner2015 (13 Oct 2015)

Bronte fair point re the PRTB. 

Maybe the best bet for the OP is to simply ask the old tenants how much they are prepared to pay, might get lucky and they might say keep a few hundred Euro. If they do great if not maybe leave it.

Normally I'd say stand my ground on something like this but in this case maybe no. At the end of the day OP didn't spot damage, new tenants did. Old tenant could simply say they didn't break it and maybe the new tenant did etc.


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## vandriver (13 Oct 2015)

Beds break.How old was it,and what quality?


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## Sipe (14 Oct 2015)

We have decided to cover it. It was 8 yrs old. 

Just wish the tenants had owned up to it so we could have had a new one in place before the new tenants had moved it

Thx everyone for your insight!


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## vandriver (14 Oct 2015)

Sipe said:


> We have decided to cover it. It was 8 yrs old.
> 
> Just wish the tenants had owned up to it so we could have had a new one in place before the new tenants had moved it
> 
> Thx everyone for your insight!


You _were _thinking of paying for a new bed out of the old tenants deposit.It was 8 years old.Even the revenue acknowledge that its end of life.Would you as a tenant mention a broken bed and run the risk of getting stiifed for a new one?


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## T McGibney (14 Oct 2015)

An 8 year old bed shouldn't be breaking, any more than an 8 year old table should be breaking.

The Revenue capital allowances system has nothing to do with an asset being at "end of life". A tractor has a useful life of several decades while a phone has a useful life of 1-2 years. Both are similarly written off over 8 years.


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## Dermot (14 Oct 2015)

Agree with Tommy on that


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## facetious (15 Oct 2015)

If a landlord does not recoup a certain amount of money from a tenant who has broken an item through their own fault, then you may find tenants breaking everything in a property because it is passed a sell by date (8 years) in order to simply have new items.

IMO, the OP, if he still has the old tenants deposit, I would be deducting something for the breakage.


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## staff (15 Oct 2015)

This exact incident happened to my sister who was letting her house.  When it happened she replaced the bed but when they moved out she deducted the cost from their deposit.  There was no question it was their fault as the bed was only 2/3 years old and they did not question it as this was the only item she deducted from their deposit.


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## Bronte (15 Oct 2015)

T McGibney said:


> An 8 year old bed shouldn't be breaking, any more than an 8 year old table should be breaking.
> 
> .



That depends entirely on the bed.  Which is why after many years of experience I make sure never to buy beds with legs.  The ones with only 4 legs being the worst.   They now come with 6 legs, or those solid rectangular bases are much better.   I actually broke a bed with one such myself. A bed base is a pittance in comparison with a mattress.  And it wasnn't an uncommon sight to see beds supported by books or planks of wood in times gone by.


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## Bronte (15 Oct 2015)

facetious said:


> If a landlord does not recoup a certain amount of money from a tenant who has broken an item through their own fault, then you may find tenants breaking everything in a property because it is passed a sell by date (8 years) in order to simply have new items.
> .



I've never come across tenants doing that.  But I have had tenants asking for a better mattress, I agreed, but if the mattress was fairly new I refused and supplied a mattress cover instead.  The sooner Ireland moves to unfurnished the better.  I don't ask tenants who broke the hoover by thinking it was a good idea to hoover up water (or whatever) who burnt the toaster, how come the fridge has mould growing out of it, or why the cooker top is beyond cleaning.  (the hoover story I made up, but I just did my tax returns recently and discovered I've bought another hoover).  The best request was for light bulbs.  TV's I also refuse to buy.  Don't supply irons either but if a tenant asks I will.  Nowadays they all seem to come with their own crockery so that's an advance.  My mother had a tenant who washed runners in the machine, which she reckoned broke it.  And a tenant once sued me in the High court coz he fell off one of my chairs.


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## facetious (15 Oct 2015)

Hi Bronte,

I am a believer that if a tenant breaks an item (whether intentionally or accidentally) then they are liable for either a good repair (bringing it back to its previous state) or pay for a replacement which should be of the same type condition and year. If they fail to find a suitable replacement then they are liable for the cost of the suitable replacement; that is, on a pro rata basis according to its age.

If a landlord just lets damage/breakages go then the tenants will become (or have already become) complacent and " easy come, easy go" is the order of the day.

I think we previously agreed that the PRTB's definition of "fair wear and tear" is very much on the tenant's side. A landlord should not have to redecorate a property at the end of a 1 year lease but may have to and it is put down to "normal" fair wear and tear. My parents (and I) never redecorated a house even every 5 years; the family looked after it, and many of the walls of those properties were always wallpapered.

Maybe it's just me in my old age!


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## AlbacoreA (15 Oct 2015)

This is what the deposit is for. But at 8 yrs you couldn't charge a fee for a new bed, just a % of it. 

But you'd have to look at it in context if it was the only item after a long trouble free tenancy then I'd let it go.


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