Access - Suzanna says Mr Davico has no regard for access laws. One time, he came
up to the cottage she rented off him and paced until she was off the phone. She
had workmen and electricians turning up to the property without notice many
times. She says, ‘Not once was I told they were coming, so access laws don't
exist for him’.
Abuse - Mr Davico seemed okay when Suzanna first moved in. He told her numerous
times to contact him if anything needed fixing. This changed rather quickly.
She says:
It only took him a couple of weeks to become
abusive when I indicated the dishwasher didn't work... Then he abused me about
not fixing the dishwasher, saying if he knew it didn't work he would have taken
it out prior to me moving in. That was the 1st time. He also abused me because
some delivery men, who were delivering a new fridge, took off a gate onto the
veranda. He didn't even give me a chance to say I was waiting for my tradie
boyfriend to come, who would screw it back on.
It ceases to surprise me as to how many women write in and complain
about being intimidated by their landlords. Suzanna no longer resides at the
property because she didn’t feel ‘safe or comfortable’ there.
Electricity
- Suzanna put her foot down when Mr Davico told her she had to pay for
electricity. When she moved in, he told her that it was included in the rent.
She shared a power supply with a unit down stairs and a bathroom reserved for
marina people.
According to Residential Tenancy Act 2010 (NSW), it is the
responsibility of the landlord to pay for a shared power supply. Section 38(1)
clearly states: A tenant must pay all charges for the supply of electricity at
the residential premises if the premises
are separately metered. Really, it couldn’t be clearer. We have an email trail because the Department of Fair Trade recommended that
she only communicate via email because of his abuse.
Suzanna caught Mr Davico out in a blatant lie. He told her his ‘mate’
had checked the wiring and the problem would be fixed. Mr Davico said:
Barry been and checked the wiring, Brett’s bed
sitter and the Ladies toilet does run to the power board on your house.
Originally it was only Brett’s place and the power points for your washing
machines went to the marina. We have ordered the materials so the Ladies toilet
and whatever else associated with it will run to the marina power board. This will
be commenced on Thursday/Friday.
Grammatical errors aside, the problem was that Suzanna had been at home all
day. No one had turned up to check the wiring. She says:
I have worked from home all day and I thought you
should know that your electrician didn’t show up at 2pm as you said. No one
came and asked me if they could turn off the power to check it all out, which I
presume they would have to do for a check. The independent electrician I used turned
the power off and tested the power point in the bathroom downstairs with a
device!
She says it took a lot for him to realise ‘he couldn't intimidate me
into paying for the shared power supply’. So, the moral of the story is don’t
trust your landlord when it comes to shared power supply. Don’t take anyone’s
word for it. Electricity is only going up, and paying someone else’s bill is an
unnecessary expense.
I have come across this issue before. One guy said his landlord’s
electrician friend had bodgied up the meters so that he didn’t have to pay for
his own bill. With electricity being expensive as it is – that is theft. Potential
tenants need to know what they are getting into. Even if tenants don’t have a
choice, at least they will be forewarned and forearmed.
Women in these kinds of situations can’t exactly make use of self-help
measures. It is true, female tenants can obtain restraining orders. But that’s
if you can get the police to listen to your side of the story. I suspect some
women are scared such orders might go against them.
Unfortunately, there is a public perception that all tenants are
ratbags. There is only one way to negative this stereotype. And that is to catch
them in the act. If you are having problems with your landlord or agent, get
your camera out and start filming. I’ll post it, don’t you worry.
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