Part 1: When Agents Screw Up

Lucan and his family live in a rental property in Western Australia. One day, they decided to get a portable pool because of the blistering heat. I totally get this. 

Lucan did the right thing and checked with the property manager first. In response to the request, Kim Webster said, ‘The owner would not have a problem with this...’ It seems pretty clear to me that the property manager provided permission for Lucan to install a pool.

Lucan and his family lived in peace for over a year. And all of a sudden, the portable pool became a huge problem. Centurion Real Estate (previously trading as Raine and Horne Maida Vale) took the view that the email did not constitute written permission from the owner. Emily Harris said, ‘This is not written permission from the owner, only from the property manager, the Act clearly states it has to be written notice from the owner’. By this point, Kim Webster had left Raine and Horne.

Hold on a moment. Is this actually true? Section 47 of the Residential Tenancies Act provides a tenant ‘may affix fixtures or make additions to the premises with the owner’s consent. First point of doubt. Is a property manager not an agent of the landlord? An agent usually has an authority to act in the landlord’s shoes. Second point of doubt. It is highly doubtful that a portable pool is a fixture as it can be removed with relative ease. Third point of doubt. There has to be some kind of limit on additions, otherwise tenants would have to get permission to put in swing sets for their kids!

But really, Centurion Real Estate have engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct by intimating that Lucan was permitted to install a pool. Nor does it matter that the Kim Webster is no longer an employee of Centurion Real Estate. She was a representative of their business while in their employment.

Lucan is understandably upset. He spent thousands of dollars making sure his family does not roast in the heat of the outback. He is no fool. He sought legal advice. The contract actually stated, ‘Any reference in this lease to the ‘owner’ doing anything shall mean and include it being done by the owner’s agent’ and further that ‘the tenant shall not without the owner’s prior permission install any water bed, swimming pool on the premises’.

Michelle Heta gets involved at this point. She says ‘the lease clearly states written permission from the owner’. And proceeds to threaten Lucan with eviction if he does not drop his complaint. But Lucan wants to stay. It is his home. He wants to stay there with his family for many more years.

Centurion Real Estate try to pin the whole debacle on council regulations. At the beginning, Emily Harris said the council had to provide approval for the installation of a pool and erection of a fence. I have a problem with this approach. How is it the business of  Centurion Real Estate as to whether Lucan has complied with council regulations? Is Centurion Real Estate paid to enforce council regulations?

Lucan tried to be reasonable. He installed a fence even though technically he was not required to because the pool did not have a ladder. But this wasn’t good enough. Michelle Heta later turns around and demands that the fence be removed because Lucan did not obtain permission to install a fence. This is totally inconsistent with their demand that the Lucan comply with council regulations.

But really, Centurion Real Estate is acting under express instructions of the landlord. The landlord ‘has clearly stated she wants the pool removed and the fence’. Michelle says, ‘at the end of the day, the property belongs to the owner and they have every right to ask you to remove the pool from the garden’. Well actually no, Lucan is paying rent for the right to live on the property. One would think that the longer a person lives in a rental property, the greater their rights to make changes.

Michelle’s true character comes out when she says, ‘Sorry I won’t be told what to do by a tenant’. She is a bully. Unfortunately, I have been told that this kind of behaviour is fairly typical in the industry. At the end of the day, tenants are deserving of respect as any other person. They should not be treated like second-class citizens.

In the next instalment, I will look at how Michelle exploits the law for strategic advantage and commercial gain.

Post Script. Ms Hetta says: Being a Property Manager is a tough job. There are days when you love it and deal with some lovely tenants and owners and there are days when you deal with some unreasonable people. Just like any other normal job that you do dealing with the public. I am actually a very empathetic compassionate person and very rarely loose my rag.