A young woman in her teens has contacted Bad Landlord Australia with concerns about illegal boarding houses in Sydney's inner suburbs.
We can't tell you the name of the slumlord. He goes by the name of Jason but we are pretty sure that is a fake name. This is a strategy landlords use to avoid being sued. You can't go to tribunal if you don't know the name of your landlord. We do know the address of one boarding house and that is 16 Mary Street, Surrey Hills.
There are cockroaches, mice, rats and fleas with lead paint pealing off the walls. The slumlord stores things he's taken off the streets causing a major fire hazard and resells them for a profit. The guy either doesn't know or doesn't care about his legal obligations. He makes the residents sign an A4 document saying things like no visitors, no downloading, etc. When people question him, he forcibly evicts them using threats of violence.
We can't tell you the name of the slumlord. He goes by the name of Jason but we are pretty sure that is a fake name. This is a strategy landlords use to avoid being sued. You can't go to tribunal if you don't know the name of your landlord. We do know the address of one boarding house and that is 16 Mary Street, Surrey Hills.
There are cockroaches, mice, rats and fleas with lead paint pealing off the walls. The slumlord stores things he's taken off the streets causing a major fire hazard and resells them for a profit. The guy either doesn't know or doesn't care about his legal obligations. He makes the residents sign an A4 document saying things like no visitors, no downloading, etc. When people question him, he forcibly evicts them using threats of violence.
We also know Jason owns more than one property. The lass was shown five other rooming houses in a similar condition of disrepair. Knowing they are desperate, he lets to young kids and international students.
This is not good enough. At a bare minimum, we should have access to affordable housing without risks to health and safety. In coming weeks, I will take a look at the Boarding Houses Act 2012 (NSW).
