Property managers seem to have their very own language and it is easy for us to forget that people who don’t work in our industry full time can sometimes have difficulty understanding what we might mean when we say certain things. One of the most common things that you will hear a property manager talk about is fair wear and tear. As a term it can be quite open to interpretation and we often see that this is an area where landlords and tenants can disagree quite strongly. I thought in this blog, I might clear the air regarding the definition of fair wear and tear. Fair wear and tear is the deterioration to a property and its inclusions from general and every day living, including natural elements, like sunlight and weather, as well as deterioration caused by a tenant living in the property. Therefore, we would consider a lace curtain that is damaged at a property as having fair wear and tear damage to it, if the damage was caused by the sun beating down on the lace all day for the last 7 years and there being tears in the lace. We would consider the same curtain as damaged by the tenant if it has been installed within the last 12 months and we find that it has been cut with a pair of scissors, or drawn on by a child with an errant texta! In the same way, we would consider fair wear and tear where there is a small mark on a wall where a piece of furniture has been pushed up against the paint, but we would claim damage if the same wall had a large hole from someone punching the plaster. This does not mean that people are able to just have their lounge rub away a large area of paint in a room, as it is reasonable to expect that they keep their furniture from causing large areas of damage, but a few small marks on walls happen when people live ordinarily in a property. Floorboards are a really tough issue. Scratches to floorboards happen from general walking on them, in the same way that putting furniture on floorboards can cause general scuffing, but if someone has worn stiletto heels on the floorboards and put indentations through them, this would be considered damage. The other thing that we tell tenants at outgoings all the time, is that if an item that is marked can be cleaned, then it is considered cleaning and not wear and tear. By ensuring that we have a good ingoing condition report that is very detailed and contains lots of photographs of the property, you are much more likely to be covered when any issue arises at an outgoing or a routine inspection. This is one of the most important documents that is included in your lease and is able to be used at tribunal if things ever get to that point. I hope that this has cleared up this tricky area of management for you, but if you do have questions, then give our office a call to discuss your concerns.
