The landlord never gave rent receipts to his tenants because his didn’t want Centrelink to find out about the extra income. If there were a database of rental properties, the agency would be able to link in and check these things.
This is what the tenant had to say:
I am in Adelaide and currently having an issue with
an ex-landlord in Torrensville who is taking me to court about bond he claims I
need to pay him back for - he never lodged the bond with anyone.
This was a lodging arrangement (6 years tenancy)
and he never gave me rent receipts and is attempting to claim money back for
various ridiculous items including doing improvements and repairs on his own property. Incidentally,
there was never a written lease, just a verbal agreement.
At present it is a monumental waste of my time (I
will have my third court directions hearing in Feb) but I concede I have
learned a significant amount about the legal process and the depths that some
people will stoop for money. This guy is an invalid pensioner and has tenants
in his house that he doesn't declare to Centrelink (hence he also doesn't
provide receipts). It is surprising that he would make himself open to scrutiny
in this way, but I suspect his comeuppance is about to occur.
The landlord failed in his duty to provide receipts
for rent for the entire period of tenancy (as is stipulated by Section 58 of
the Residential Tenancy Act). He insisted that all rent be paid in cash and did
not allow me to pay by cheque or deposit as he did not want Centrelink to be
able to trace his income.
of the
Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) was breached. In most states and territories,
tenants have a right to rent receipts to prove they paid if the landlord claims
they did not. Pretty common sense. It’s there to protect tenants. But strictly speaking, if the judge had found that the tenant had boarded with the landlord and had not entered into a lease she would not have won. Under section 5(b) of the Act, boarding and lodging arrangements are not covered by the Act.
Accordingly, people in this situation do not have the protection of the Act including the right to rental receipts. And there is no reason in principle why boarders and lodgers should not be entitled to rental receipts. This is very bad law.
Also note that
landlords can be fined a maximum of $2,500 for failing to provide rent receipts
in South Australia. I would really like to know what is going on because I have
not heard of any landlord getting a fine of this magnitude.
The tenant also explained how the landlord made his tenants pay for electricity as a way of hiding income. She continues:
The plaintiff’s initial claim for $1200 for rent in
arrears on the 16/12/12 (and again on 7/1/13) was paid by the defendant on
22/1/13 (minus bond) with no mention of other monies owing (including
electricity and withholding of bond) until 21/8/13.
Without explanation, the amount ‘owed’ for
electricity has risen from $150 in the original claim to $188 in the most
recent claim. The plaintiff obliges his tenants to pay the entire electricity
bill without contributing monies himself as a way of hiding income and avoiding
the loss of benefits from Centrelink.
Although never formally agreeing to comply, and at
times spending little time at the residence, the defendant estimates over $5000
was paid in electricity during her six-year tenancy and is reluctant to
contribute further.
The defendant spent very little time in the
residence in the three month period of the bill in question, with ten days
spent in China in late November and days spent away from the residence due to
fear of the plaintiff from early December.
This is blatantly unfair. Tenants are being exploited because they need somewhere to live.
In the next instalment, we will explore how this landlord threatened and intimidated his tenants.
No comments:
Post a Comment