A landlord, who owns two neighbouring smallholdings sourcing water from the same borehole, is having sleepless nights due to a troublesome tenant.
Her tenant lived on the adjacent property with his wife until their recent divorce, after which she moved out.
The landlord has suffered a number of problems with the tenant. He did not pay his rental initially and then refused to provide monthly meter readings, presumably for electricity, merely paying a nominal sum each month.
Subsequent to his wife vacating the property, the tenant has had another two adults, three teenagers and a younger child move in.
The sheer increase in the number of people on the property is problematic as water to both properties is sourced from the same borehole.
The landlord pays for all the costs associated with the use of the borehole and the water drawn from it.
The problem has escalated to such a degree that the landlord is often left without water, often not even being able to bath at night.
Water was initially included as part of the terms of the lease arrangement but, importantly, this is when the tenant and his wife were the only two people making use of this allowance.
The water issue is, however, not the only problem. The reader has taken pity on the tenant’s dog that he neglects and now has to feed the poor animal.
The tenant also neglected the swimming pool and it now looks like a dam; the pump also having been broken. The motorised gate to the property has also been ruined.
See the reader’s question here.
The reader did not specify if there is any formal lease in respect of the rental arrangement nor are we advised as to the agreed terms thereof, whether oral or written.
If the lease merely operates on a month-to-month basis, the reader may wish to consider giving the tenant notice to vacate the property.
Upon the tenant vacating the property, the deposit could be used to, at least, pay for some of the repairs.
If a written lease is in place recording an agreed period, the reader should examine the terms thereof to determine whether the lease contains any provisions specific to the use of the property.
It is, or should be, quite common to include a provision specifying the number of occupants permitted to reside in the rented property.
The lease should also address the other aspects such as the use of the borehole water, a provision of this nature often permitting reasonable use only.
In this instance, the anticipated reasonable use could be argued to have been the use of the initial two residents of the property rather than seven inhabitants.
The neglect of the animal should be reported to the NSPCA or the local SPCA. While the reader has taken it upon herself to care for and feed the dog, the neglect by the tenant should not be tolerated.
The aspects of neglect should be addressed in the lease. The tenant is often liable to care for and repair such items, particularly where he is responsible for the damage.
If the lease makes provision for placing the tenant on terms in respect of the various breaches, the landlord should follow the applicable provisions and immediately place the tenant on terms, potentially with a view to cancelling the lease.
Even if a formal lease is not in place, the landlord should consider placing the tenant on terms demanding that the issues be remedied within a specified but reasonable period of time.
With a difficult tenant, the reader may well have to institute eviction proceedings.
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