mission

Hi Folks
just a quick question......I have a leak in our apartment in our kitchen....it is coming from the water tank which supplies to our sink. Our building maintenance team came in and switched off the hot water valve to stop the leak and they said the water tank needs replacing.
Would the cost of this be down to me or my landlord?

jam25mack

Landlord..... good luck getting it though!

Meow

Landlord and that is by law.

The damn things seem to go every few years and we've had numerous replaced, always by the landlord.

scrubbedexpat141

I'd suggest letting the landlord know first that it's broken and needs replacing. That way there's no shock when the bill comes and you can try to get his agreement to pay as I'm sure some will want to swerve the responsibility.

mission

thanks folks....i am just in the middle of getting a couple of quotations so that i can email them to the letting agency to forward onto the landlord.

my other half says not to bother to get it repaired & hence bring it to the landlord's attention, since it only supplies hot water to the sink and we get luke warm water as it is anyway, and we will be moving out come November. The landlord won't know since the dewa will be switched off by the time we hand over the aprt. Sneaky i know, but i would rather avoid bringing it to his attention in case he refuses to pay and then deducts it from my deposit.

the landlord is a complete d*ck - reason why i want to move out.

mission

in all my time over here, i have never had this happen in any of the previous apartments i have lived in.

Millhouse

very common. I reckon I've had about 4 done over the years.
Typically 850-1000 fitted for a new one. Depending on how much access they have to it and if some of ceiling is needed to be cut out.

I'd move out and leave it with him...

scrubbedexpat141

Options:

1. Get it fixed, ask for money. Might get it, might not. If the LL is a knob then unlikely?
2. Ask him to fix it. If he refuses, you can argue it's his responsibility...but you know you can live without it. Move out and hope he doesn't try deducting it from deposit.
3. Ask him to fix it, he fixes it.
4. Say nothing. Move out. Hope he doesn't notice and you get the deposit back.

To me, as much as I dislike being dishonest or deceitful, option 4 looks pretty solid.

iggle

Sounds like the beginning of a B Movie.

Mission "Oh Mr Landlord , i am all wet can you come fix my leak, and i have no money to pay for repairs"
Landlord "I am sure there is another way we can fix this the problem"

DXBtoDOH

Living without hot water at the moment is doable if you don't mind not having hot water to wash dishes and lukewarm showers.

But come October the water in the pipes will probably noticeably cool and you're doomed to cold showers for a while.

The UAE standard seems to be if the repairs are under 1,000 (or 500 AED) then the tenant pays for it. If it's above it then the landlord (if a good one) pays.

If Millhouse's estimates are correct then quibbling over a few hundred AED is probably not worth the inconvenience versus going without hot water for three months.

scrubbedexpat141

If it were me I'd just pay for it and send the Landlord the bill and argue a bit if needed.

I've paid for new AC controls, a new actuator (I think) and other bits that I might have got the LL to do as they were either shit or broken. Not bothered claiming any of it because I'm lazy, my names not on the agreement (it's the Mrs and I know asking her to do it will result in her just offering to pay instead of fussing the LL who's an absolute gem of a bloke) and I don't mind spending a bit of cash because it's ammo at the end to get the full deposit back.

iggle

That literally makes ZERO sense, i am guessing your deposits is 5k. Lets say you spent 1,000, whats the point.

I will spend money to get my money back. You are a complete weapon!

scrubbedexpat141

Fine. I'll bite.

Typical commercial type attitude. Can't see beyond the numbers and can't read properly.

I don't mind spending money to keep the place I live in a decent state of repair. If it's north of 1,000 we won't pay it.

If it's south of 1,000 I can handle that for a number of reasons.
One reason is that it's useful when negotiating because it demonstrates that I'm a rational, normal human being who has the capacity to understand that looking after the apartment not owned by me. When negotiating rent each year if you can wave 1,000 bill to make the rent rise by 2,000 instead of 3,000 for example it helps. If you can demonstrate the maintenance at the end of tenancy then it certainly can help your claim to a full deposit back.

Anyway, that's all intangible and sensible and based on the experiences I've had with landlords here who are reasonable and sensible human beings.

Millhouse

I've always tried to rent places where the building owner and management company is all the same person. Never deal with private landlords here, it's too much of a mixed bag of shit.

Meow

Then you have had bad landlords and have rolled over. No question that this kind of thing is the landlord's responsibility.