Question: Our body corporate repaired $6000 in water damage after a tenant’s bath overflowed into the unit below, but the landlord is now denying any liability. How do we recover the debt?
Our body corporate repaired water damage to a unit after the tenant above overflowed the bath. We stepped in so the owner wouldn’t be unduly inconvenienced. The landlord arranged fans to dry out the unit. The landlords have been denied their landlord insurance claim and now deny owing us $6000 for the repairs, saying it’s not their responsibility.
The tenant has since moved overseas, and no claim was made through the Residential Tenancies Authority for recompense. How do we recover this debt without having the other unit owners cover it?
Answer: The body corporate’s liability depends on whether the damage resulted from a failure to maintain, and if not, the tenant or their insurer may be responsible.
Under the body corporate legislation, the body corporate will generally only be responsible to repair damage caused to property if that damage occurred because of a failure to maintain something that the body corporate had an obligation to maintain. While the event was an overflowing bath, it is not clear from the question whether the damage to the unit below was the result of any failure of the body corporate to maintain property. If the body corporate performed the repairs thinking it was responsible, there could be a claim for a mistaken payment against the responsible tenant. Another option is for the owner/occupier of the downstairs unit to make a claim on their insurance policy for the cost of the repair work. There may be some other options that would need to be explored after reviewing material relevant to the issue and giving legal advice.
This post appears in Strata News #792.
Brendan Pitman
Grace Lawyers
E: brendan.pitman@gracelawyers.com.au
P: 07 5554 8560
Brendan… many thanks for this.
While I cannot comment on the history of this particular case, your response hilights the risk of Cmttees stepping up to the plate in good conscience and making precipitate decisions with BC funds without asking themselves the threshold Q…Is this a BC matter, or a private matter ie the owner’s responsibility?
This should be a standard, Pavlovian Q every time a Cmttee is thinking of spending BC funds.