An Agent’s Perspective: Return of the Swimming Pool

Fairness is really important. The way we go about things is really important. A reader wrote in and told me about what happened to a friend of his. We shall call him Little John. Little John lived in an apartment. The neighbours shared a backyard. Little John was a bit simple. From all accounts, he was a bit of a gentle giant.

One day, he took a neighbour’s clothes off the line. He thought he was doing something really nice for her. The neighbour was highly offended. She called the real estate agency and put in a complaint. The property manager turned up and proceeded to evict Little John. He was upset and angry. He didn’t want to leave his home. It was Christmas and he didn’t have anywhere to go. He slammed the door when the property manager left. The property manager thought she heard a shotgun go off. Within minutes, Little John’s apartment was surrounded by police. And well, you can imagine the rest...

In many situations, tenants are not afforded procedural fairness. I have even heard of cases where tenants turn up at tribunal with reams of evidence and members hand down decisions without even reviewing the paperwork. But I have even been accused of being one-sided and biased. I have been told there are always two sides to a story.

But I am an advocate for tenants. I don’t feel any real need to tell the stories of landlords and their agents. Other organisations fill this space. There are so many organisations out there that represent landlords and property managers. This includes, but is not limited to, Landlords Australia, Property Observer, Real Estate Institute of Australia, Property Council of Australia, etc. I think many people feel uncomfortable about telling stories from the perspective of tenants. Well, too bad. That is what we are doing. In the media, stories are usually told from the perspective of landlords. I am challenging the ideology that underpins these narratives.
 

If tenants are asking for a better deal, then landlords and agents should be given a fair go. This year, we awarded the Rotten Realtor Award to Michelle Hetta from Centurion Real Estate. We were genuinely shocked by what we saw on the footage. And we certainly didn’t expect any media coverage. But we are definitely not backing down from anything we said.

However, the rotten realtor recipient has requested that we even up the score a little bit. And we are happy to do that. Here is what she had to say:

Lucan wrote to Kim Webster the then Property Manager asking if he could put up a "portable pool" Kim advised that the owner would not have a problem with this. Kim unfortunately did not ask the owner and therefore written permission to confirm this was never given to Lucan. He went ahead though putting up a "swimming pool" thinking he had been given permission.

Another property manager did an inspection at the property and took photos off the pool and this was sent to the owner. The owner was mortified when she received her inspection report to see a swimming pool on the back lawn along with a metal fence that had been concreted into the lawn. She contacted us to ask what had happened so I contacted Lucan who informed me Kim had given him permission. He forwarded the email that Kim has sent him and I advised the owner.

The owner then asked us to ask Lucan to take the pool down and the fence as it was destroying the lawn. I asked Lucan to take it down and the fence but he refused. I also informed him that the fence did not have council approval nor was any written approval sought from the previous property manager or the owner.

As the tenant did not remove the pool as instructed by the owner we were under an obligation under the Residential Tenancy Act to send a breach to have it removed due to the damage it was causing the lawn. By this time the lawn was now dead and just sand. Lucan refused to remove the pool and he in turn breached the owner. This went to court 3 times and each time the magistrate dismissed the case as the owner had not breached anything.

And this is what I have to say. Cry me a river. A little dead grass. Seriously. I haven’t visited Western Australia as an adult, but I surely know it gets hot as hell there. I live on the other side of the continent and I just endured four days over forty degrees without air-conditioning. And, I am seriously concerned about the judgement of some magistrates. Anyway, if you want further details - just watch the ACA segment.

Naming and shaming is a legitimate and powerful tool. Consumer agencies around Australia, and reputable consumer advocacy groups, such as Choice, use naming and shaming to influence the behaviour of businesses. Occupational health and safety regulators also use adverse publicity, amongst other things, to punish offenders. Landlords and real estate agencies are running a business. Their decisions impact on the lives of tenants and their families.

Michelle Hetta feels that she has been victimised. But the reality is that individuals such as Michelle are working in a service industry. I have seen cameras stuck in tenant’s faces many times, and no-one has been worried about their right to privacy. If agents and landlords are doing the wrong thing, shouldn’t the public a right to know? Consider this. Commercial media, such as A Current Affair and Today Tonight, investigate dodgy tradies. How are landlords and agents any different?

She goes on to say:

I am not in the habit of "strategic moves" to get out tenants and have always worked 100% under the Residential Tenancy Act... I have worked in this industry for 13 years and never ever come across a situation like this. You have to remember as a property manager we are acting in our lessor’s best interest at all times, we are also under instruction from the owner at all times...one-sided story and a witch hunt against myself. I was doing my job, but had been pushed to the limit with the whole thing.

I found this quite interesting. It is true that property managers are agents, and they are required to act in the best interests of the principal i.e. the landlord. But that’s not the whole story. As an agent ‘acts in the shoes’ of the principal, a realtor is responsible for ensuring that the landlord complies with legal obligations.

In most states and territories, realtors are required to exercise reasonable skill and diligence, act with honesty and fairness, and refrain from harassment and unconscionable conduct. Tribunals usually don’t handle complaints against landlords and property managers together. A different body altogether usually handles complaints about property managers. This makes things very difficult. And also, most schemes put the onus on the tenant to pursue complaints. But most tenants are happy to drop their complaint once they are able to move on.

So anyway, I won’t be writing any more posts on the rotten realtor award. I’ve got about a dozen stories waiting for my attention. Watch this space.

See more:

• Part 1 - When Agents Screw up
• Part 2 - Tactics Agents Use to Screw Tenants