Interesting . Some tenants are really slack at reporting things such as water leaks , particularly it they appear minor . Unfortunately , by the time it's really evident , serious damage may be done .
A property inspection may not pick this up , particularly if the shower hasn't been used for a couple of hours .
This is the grey area where the tenant plays dumb regarding reporting the leak . Or in some cases of my experience where they just are dumb . That's not a slight against tenants in general , just that some people are really like that .
That said , if there are ' big gaping holes ' in the floorboards , that is something that the rental management inspection should pick up for sure . With out knowing all the details , I'd be having a go at the rental manager for not reporting this on the premise that the tenant could have been hurt . This would direct responsibility to the manager imo . A landlord has a duty of care to the health and well being of the tenant so I would be reminding them of that .
As to getting the tenant out to do the repairs , depending on which state you are in , you would be liable to pay rent for the tenant in another house until the lease is up . Obviously , if you can wait till the lease is up it will be cheaper .
A comment on rental manager inspections . I've used a lot of managers over the years and while some are far worse than others , I have found that they really only give the place a general look over . Even the good ones do rely on the tenant reporting the stuff that they can't know about .
If you are interstate , it may be worth paying an independent person to do it once a year . I reckon it will pay for itself .
I always do an inspection myself at least once a year and I speak to the tenant . It's amazing what you can find out if you have a conversation with them and it can save you a lot of money in the long run .
