Lesson learned: Don't assume your agent is professional...

This is a story about a seemingly "professional" real estate agency, and I use the word loosely. A fan of Bad Landlord Australia wrote in wanting to share her parent's experience vacating a property down south.

My parents were tenants of a house in New South Wales through a Queensland-based real estate agent. My parents gave the real estate agent the required notice to end the tenancy, and subsequent to this, the real estate agent provided my parents with a detailed list of things that my parents were required to do upon ending the tenancy, with particular focus on professionally cleaning the carpet. Note that my parents did not own a pet. 

The tenancy notice issued to my parents insisted that my parents pay for the carpet to be professionally cleaned, and in addition informed them that dry cleaning was not acceptable, that self-cleaning by the hiring of a machine was not acceptable, and even named a particular carpet cleaning company that they did not regard as having an acceptable standard of cleaning. 

I did a little research on my parents’ behalf, and found that this request was in breach of the Residential Tenancy Act 2010. Section 19(2) prohibits the inclusion of terms requiring professional carpet cleaning at the end of a lease.

I informed my parents of their obligations under the Act, and my parents then mentioned the legislation regarding carpet cleaning to the agent. The agent quickly agreed that they did not need to have the carpet professionally cleaned. I think the agent may have been trying their luck, and counting on my parents not checking up on the current tenancy legislation.

I am concerned that this agent has other tenants who may not be aware of their rights. I suspect the agent may have asked other tenants to professionally clean their carpets at the end of their tenancies, and if the agent is flouting this part of the law, I assume there may be other sections of the law the agent is not adhering to.

What can be done to make sure that tenants are aware of their rights, and to ensure that real estate agents don't try and break the law? Some people just believe whatever the agent tells them, as they assume the agent is professional enough to know the legislation regarding tenancies.

The reality is that it is too easy for agents and landlords to get away with this sort of thing, without any repercussions even if they are caught out. Agencies such as this should be investigated and fined in cases like this to deter them from doing the same thing in the future.

It is also interesting that the real estate agency blacklisted a particular cleaning service. I have heard of cases where contractors who express concerns about unethical conduct have been blacklisted and are no longer given any work.

So what is the lesson learned? Know your rights and responsibilities and don't assume that your agent is telling the truth. They represent the rights and interests of landlords which do not necessarily coincide with yours. Be suspicious and prepared.