Renting privately - It's a joke

This is a well-written account of what renting in the private sector is like, and fairly accurate depiction of the challenges tenants encounter - from a lying thieving landlord to a hapless hamstrung council and finally to a disinterested gullible tribunal.

We moved from Warwick to Caboolture in early March of 2008 after our first experience of a ratbag landlord. We lived in an old-style house with, as it would turn out, a large number of issues (which of course you don’t find out about until after you’ve moved in). Issues that came about after moving in included asbestos in the outside laundry, a dangerous taped up wire with a light-bulb at the end of it that was utilised as a light near the filthy stove, doors where the wind just blew through the frames, a hole in cheap stained glass window, an electrical system where you couldn’t use the heaters and teakettle at the same time. It was the sort of place where the owner/realtor only did about three inspections in the two years we were stuck there.  

"There should be a law that issues like this and other urgent issues are dealt with immediately by tradesmen regardless of whether the owner wants to or not."

We got away from there but lost a chunk of our bond for bogus reasons but moving to the coast I didn’t have the time or strength to fight (I’ve since learned it wouldn’t have made the slightest bit of difference if I had).So we moved Caboolture into a house where we were to stay from March 2008 to roughly September 2012. We didn’t have any problems with the real estate agent who was in charge of the property, most issues were fixed pretty quickly except for the flooding (the yard was to require drainage which was eventually put in after the 2010/11 floods). There should be a law that issues like this and other urgent issues are dealt with immediately by tradesmen regardless of whether the owner wants to or not.

 

The owners we got chatty with, they seemed like decent people, we did what we could like with new taps in the laundry and a small rose garden in the front, though there was so much wrong with the place I felt sorry for those who bought it. They were talking about getting married and how they couldn’t afford it so we made a few suggestions but unfortunately they sold the house, which caused us to move again. I will add during the time after being on the government housing list for approximately eight years, of course the rules were changed so we didn’t qualify anymore. It was from this point I began to suffer from stress and the fear of being homeless started, a feeling which goes on to this day. 

This house we moved into was honestly great. Plenty of room, the neighbours were the real deal, very friendly, etc. It was hard work cleaning up the trash from the trees that fell in the yard. We were only in this house a year because a realtor came to value the place, at the same time telling us it was being valued for sale which turned out to be a fallacy but we couldn’t hang around; so we moved again, this time into a house that was to prove to be the biggest nightmare ever (to date).

 "It was from this point I began to suffer from stress and the fear of being homeless started, a feeling which goes on to this day." 

The landlord and the realtor were friendly at first, with the realtor saying she was happy to see us get the house (don’t know why). Almost from the beginning things went wrong with the house. The toilet consistently blocking, the cement slab at the back shed dust like a big desert storm and covered everything in the house with the right wind gusts, the thermostat or something on the top of the stove went kaput which meant we couldn’t control the heat from low to high under the pans.

The roof of the back patio was tinfoil which was to cause a series of medical issues for us later on. As I said the toilet in the house kept blocking up, resulting us in using large bottles of caustic soda which sort of worked, we are sure the toilet is the size of a child’s toilet. A year and a half later the owner (who did most of if not all the repairs and wasn’t even a handyman by any stretch of the imagination) dug out the sewer pipe at the side of the house, we left him to do the work not thinking he was as big of a scumbag as he turned into. 

The day after we received a phone call from the second rental manager who took over this property, she told us that he had called her and said that the pipe was blocked thoroughly with sanitary pads and that we did it. There were several odd things about that, a plumber said that it was odd because he had never known water to flow uphill, completely against the laws of gravity, from the house (plus two of us didn’t use such things anymore). 

Maybe he thought he could put it over three women? Nobody knows. Despite all that we argued about how the pipes did not look to be a sufficient size for water sewage pipes and we’d built our own home in the past so we knew the standard size. The owner said “you can get a private plumber to check things and pay for it if you want”, so we thought the best way to do that, find out what the regulations were, was to contact the local Shire Council and we did. 

We were put in contact with a plumbing inspector, we told him the story from start to finish and he asked if he could come around to have a look, which we accepted. He said he’d have to try and contact the owner and find out what the application number was for the second toilet the inspector said there was no record of it on their files, nor the sinks against the back wall of the house. They had been in the kitchen and were removed when “new” ones were put in. 

"A fair country is what Tony Abbott calls Australia, I don't know which Australia he lives in but it's not this one." 

 

The owner as it turned out did all the building work and the plumbing work himself (and this certainly shows). The council had trouble trying to get hold of the owner, much less getting him to do anything. A plumber was eventually called when we kept complaining, he dug open a ditch which exposed a sewer pipe and lid. In this pit and in the pipe were plastic bags that look relatively new-the owner no doubt put them there when you guess why. The second plumber used a spade to open the lid of the pipe and inside there was a rather large lump of something blue, the plumber said it was glue - no wonder the pipe gets clogged, the lump was large enough to block it.

Flooding of the back porch was to prove to be a significant problem during the times when we got any heavy rain. Onto the back porch and between the sinks and the wall of the back of the house/doors (photos available) was a drain which only served to trap water long after the rain had gone as it was built wrong (of course) and flooded into the garage. 

The shed also leaked so we had to keep everything on the porch, couldn’t leave anything on the rotary clothes line as it was under a large mango tree which the local bats loved. They would feed on the mangoes and then drop the leftovers, along with their faeces/droppings which could drop onto any washing on the line, the same with all the other birds that used to love the tree. 

Also because of the thieves in the neighbourhood (we think it was the neighbours but with the stuff the owner stole it could have been him who stole six of our best bath towels among other things). We complained about it for ages, nothing was done, then the rental manager came to look at the list of issues I had brought up. The owner said ages before this that he’d cut the tree back, at this inspection the realtor dissuaded him and out of moving the rotary line, instead building a temporary one which we declined because we doubted it would ever be built and if it was with the owner’s lack of ability as a handyman, that’s a scary thought. So we’d long since put up rope lines on the back porch under the tinfoil roof that also leaked when it rained. It was during the inspection that mum suggests a couple of alternative ways but the realtor just told her to “shut up”. 

We also had long since complained about how the windows didn’t lock, this was ignored too so we used dowelling rods in the runners it was only fixed not long before we moved out and after the owner had been given a Remedy Breach notice which he ignored until it ran out. The exhaust fan over the stove only went as far as the roof and began to rattle, but again that was ignored.  

The Tribunal we finally went to was useless, the owner was represented by the realtor but I as a tenant was on my own. We did finally get the chance to move out at least a few weeks early but that didn't prove easy. The exit inspection list included a dented fence that we didn't do and the realtor and owner walked past to enter the property for months and did nothing, a tatty old curtain that I'd love to have tested to see how old it is, a laundry sink that wasn't cracked till we moved out all of which we have to fix because we are responsible for everything that happens on the inside of the fence whether we were there when it happened or not. A fair country is what Tony Abbott calls Australia, I don't know which Australia he lives in but it's not this one.

I think the outrage tenants feel stems from the gap between their sense of fairness and current laws that so easily permit abuse. It is clear that some landlords, not all, know how to bilk the system. And it's our politicians that are letting tenants down. You can't tell me that the law strikes a fair balance between tenants and landlords.

 

Illegal boarding houses: Our young kids at risk

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 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).

 

 

 

 

Part 4: Two sides to every tale

This is the fourth part of a series we are running on Gartea Property Management. Alice has been dealing with Ms Van Beek, a property manager. She has asked us to publish her side of the story. We are happy to oblige.

The tenant has always paid her rent in a correct manner. Since she has moved in, the unit has a new dish washer, new sink, new dryer, cook-top and range hood. I believe she has been very well looked after in regards to her surroundings. The unit was clean, freshly painted and new carpet was laid prior to her moving furniture into the unit. The tenant checked off and signed an entry condition report. This happened in mid December 2013. Regarding allegations about the angles of photos, I have a large number taken prior to her moving in and these will stand up to any scrutiny.  

In April she started asking for her bed bugs to be treated quoting it's the landlord's responsibility to treat of bedbugs. I obliged by sending in professional pest control in April, then May and early July, then late July. She has been given sixty day notice to vacate the premises, as she was breached in late September for the cleanliness of her unit. In September, we were suppose to carry out the inspection and termite inspection, we walked in and her unit was extremely dirty, Alice said we could not do it as she is not ready. The unit was still very dirty, inside the kitchen cupboards were very dirty, the garage was filled up with bags and bags of rubbish and clutter and old mattresses.

I also noticed one bedroom the mattress had no cover on it and the condition of the mattress is alarming, old and dirty looking and torn. The notice was served because the tiled floor was so dirty and greasy, a far cry from how clean it was from when she moved in. Eventually I issued her with a notice to leave without grounds rather than renewing her lease. So she has to vacate and find another accommodation by end of December. If they can’t keep a unit in some basic form of "liveability" you cannot expect things to run smooth.

Alice did not know there was to be an inspection on that day. This is a clear breach of right of entry laws that require notice to be given.

Ms Van Beek has supplied us with photos as proof of her claims. There's only one problem. They are photos of an entirely different house.

Compare this with photos of the house actually in question.

 

Ms Van Beek has probably been getting away with this for years. When you go to tribunal, always make sure that you view the photos given to the member. She has also supplied us with pictures of the house being cleaned. But we don't know if they are of Alice's house or if they were taken at that time. Time stamps can be faked.

 

 

Ms Van Beek has also supplied us with a photo of the garage. Compare it to what the garage actually looks like. I suspect most garages would probably look like this. There is nothing stopping property managers from trying to use old photos of the premises.

 

 

Ms Van Beek has also supplied before and after photos of the hallway carpet. She claims this is proof of new carpet being laid down. This is incorrect. The new carpets were installed AFTER Alice moved in and not BEFORE and that's why they got bedbugs.

 

 

 

Dearie me, whatever happened to wear and tear. After two years, any hallway would probably look like this.

This is a really serious issue. Fake photos can be used to cover up fraud. If the money isn't going to cleaning, where is it going? How does a tenant even know if funds have been applied to the property? In practice, the power to breach a tenant for lack of cleanliness can be abused. The real photos show that the premises are in good condition.

We will keep you updated on any developments.

Postscript. Ms Van Beek admits she made a mistake "accidentally" forwarding the wrong photos.

  

 

Part 3: Bedbugs

This is the third part of a series we are running on Gartea Property Management. Alice has been dealing with Bonnie Van Beek, the property manager. In the second part we looked at how property managers keep tenants browbeaten. In this part, we are reveal how property managers avoid their statutory duty to provide health and safe properties.

Under s 185 of the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld), landlords must ensure that premises are fit for tenants to live in, and not in breach of health and safety laws.

Here are some of the photos of how we have been affected by the bed bugs. These are the bites me and my baby received. This was the first time she paid for the Pest control professional to come in.

 

The landlord paid for the first few times for the pest control guy to come in but now refuses to pay for it anymore and says that it is my responsibility. The bed bugs have not completely gone and now my furniture is infected which I will have to get rid of when I move out. I have spoken to neighbours, who have said, the previous tenant before me complained of bedbugs. I also spoke to the previous tenants from the unit adjoined to us, and they also complained about bed bugs. The landlord refuses to believe it and said that I must have brought them here. I have never, ever had bed bugs. I have been told by the pest control professional that it definitely is bedbug excrement and I have the photo’s to prove that it.

 

She has also refused to pay the pest control guy again for taking care of the bed bug problem even though it was here before I moved in, and so now I will be put out of pocket because I am paying for a problem that was never mine. I will get the pest control guy to come in myself (because the landlord will not pay for it) and I will get him to write a statement to say that it is bed bugs. She also tried to say that it was my responsibility for all pest control because of the by-laws but she left out the parts where it says that it is only if it is in a pest free state before moving in.

 

Residents are usually unable to contact former tenants to confirm whether the bedbug infestation existed before they moved in. Property managers are unlikely to provide contact details to tenants because this would support their case. Alice was lucky because the previous tenants had spoken to their neighbours. Including special contractual clauses making pests the tenant's responsibility is a deliberate strategy. It often confuses tenants who might be unaware of their rights under the Act.

Postscript. Ms Van Beek claims this photos is evidence that the bedbugs came from the tenant's furniture. Somehow we doubt that very much. All we see is an old torn mattress.

 

Part 2: Keeping tenants browbeaten

This is the second part of a series we are running on Gartea Property Management. Alice has been dealing with Bonnie Van Beek, the property manager. In the first part, we looked at how condition reports are used to exploit tenants. Now we are going to look at what property managers do to keep tenants browbeaten.

Alice contacted Ms Van Beek and raised concerns as to the misleading and deceptive nature of the condition report. But no reply. No response. This is a strategy. Property managers know written communications can be produced as evidence at tribunal. This is very upsetting for already stressed and distressed tenants. If you're dealing with someone dodgy, record phone calls and keep text messages.

Ms Van Beek went on the attack and issued a notice to remedy breach. And again, this is a very deliberate strategy. It's called throwing mud. If you throw enough mud at someone, sometimes it sticks. And some unwary tribunal members fall for this trick even though they really should know better. Property managers know that tenants are unlikely to respond to these notices.

Property managers try to get around the rule that notice be given for inspections. Ms Van Beek falsely alleged that the house was not in a clean state. But she didn't even view the house. She spoke to the repair man and the pest control dude. This is just another loophole that needs closing. This is what Alice has to say:

I also received a notice to remedy breach today which was dated the 30/09/2014 which said "please clean up unit as it is in extremely dirty condition" (her exact words). Now this is a lie. She had not even come on to the property and seen the house and there was no routine inspection scheduled. I tried to ring her phone but she never answered and I tried to go to the office but she wasn't there. So my brother rang off his phone and she answered. She said that the maintenance guy and the pest control guy reported this to her which is why I got the notice. My house was not extremely dirty and I am deeply offended by the accusations. She never came to inspect the property herself nor does she have any supporting evidence.

Oh and by the way I rang the pest control guy and he denied saying anything to her about the state of my house, all he can say, is if there were obstacles in the way that blocked him having access to certain areas and completing his job, nothing about the cleanliness. I have yet to speak to the maintenance guy about the issue. So I also spoke about this to the RTA and they said that she can report a notice to remedy breach for pretty much anything but I do have a right to dispute it, which I am doing at the moment. I am so shocked at my treatment and it is unbelievable the lengths this landlord is willing to go to make me look bad. I pay $370 for this house and I keep it well looked after others pay $390-$400 a week for the same house.

Ms Van Beek has also issued a "no-grounds" notice and failed to specify the correct dates according to the law.

And also, the notice to remedy breach form that was issued to me on the 31st of October 2014, except my lease runs out on the 18th of December 2014. She has put the dates from the 31st of October 2014 to the 31st of December because she knows that you have to give at least 2 months notice to issue a Notice to leave without grounds. However the real notice period she has given me is 6 weeks and 5 days. It also has to be agreed to by both parties (because it is a fixed term agreement), yet I did not agree to it.

Alice also received a letter advising her that the rent would go up $30 per week if she decided to renew the lease. The lesson here is to check all notices you receive carefully against the Act.

 

Alice is firmly of the view she has been targeted because she stood up for her rights. In the next part, we will look at how property managers dodge the duty to provide safe and healthy premises. Stay tuned, it's a doozy.

Takeaways

• Keep texts or save as images on your phone for use in legal proceedings
• Record conversations when talking about legal obligations

Postscript. Alice spoke with the maintenance guy and told him that Bonnie alleged her house was not clean. He said he never wrote a report and that Bonnie had asked him what her house looked like.

Part 1: Fraudulent Condition Reports

This is the first part of a series we are running on Gartea Property Management. Alice has been dealing with Bonnie Van Beek, the complex manager. Bonnie owns a few of the houses and is a member of the body corporate. We are going to explore how condition reports are used to exploit tenants.

 

When Alice moved in, her landlord made her sign the condition report without letting her make comments:

The day that I signed the lease, I came to inspect the property again so that I could complete the entry report (take photos; write down comments, record any damages, marks, etc). My landlord approached me and told me not to worry about the Condition Report because everything that needed to be noted had been done so, and I believed her. She then made me sign the Condition Report and off she left, without giving me a copy. Little to her knowledge I had already taken a few pictures when I initially came to the viewing (unfortunately they are not as detailed as they would have been had I taken photos for the entry report, but I have them). Nine months later, I remembered that I never received a copy of the Condition Report.

This is a clear breach of Queensland’s tenancy law. Tenants must be provided with a signed copy of the condition report before they move in so they can protect themselves legally by noting any issues.  Alice did the right thing taking photos when she first looked at the property. If you think you are dealing with someone dodgy, and you have the time and the inclination, it's worth doing.  

Here are the photos Alice took when she first inspected the property:

 

 

 

 

The plot thickens. When Alice eventually received a copy of the condition report, she realised there were many inconsistencies:

The house looks okay, its looks clean, there does not appear to be any problems. But there are no close-up pictures of marks on the walls, and it seems the camera was angled purposely to insure that any marks or damages cannot be seen. You can clearly see that the Entry Report was falsely filled out on purpose.

 

Here are the photos taken by the agent:

 

 

Alice has listed all the differences between the condition report and photos and the actual condition of the house and yards:

• Almost everything in the report had been checked off as clean and undamaged. A lot of issues, such as marks on the wall, aren’t even mentioned.  
• The photos that the landlord supplied are few and not in detail (no close-ups). They are printed onto paper with each photo being small in size and not very clear. It is almost impossible to see any traces of smudges, marks or damage due to the poor quality of the photos. It is also noticeable that the areas where I HAVE found there to be problems, have been purposely avoided.
• There are also photos missing of the back yard, where there are large dirt patches from the previous tenant. 
• In Bedroom 2 there are cigarette burns on the window sill. The blinds were deliberately closed in the photos so they could not be seen.
• There are four blinds missing in Bedroom 3. There is no mention of this in the Condition Report.
• The Condition Report also refers to “New Carpets”. There were no new carpets when we first moved in, although landlord did mention that she might put in new carpets. I sent an email requesting receipts to which she never replied.
• The place wasn't in the best state when I moved in and I know it wasn't professionally cleaned either. When I asked for a receipt from the cleaners I was ignored. There were marks on the walls which I had to scrub off before moving in (unfortunately they can't be seen in my photos) and when I told my landlord, she said that the house was newly painted before I moved in. When I requested a receipt from the painter and the date I was again ignored.

 

 

1.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is definitely a difference between misleading the tribunal and presenting your case in a favourable light. I looked at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009 (Qld). Under section 216, a person must not state or prove a document to the tribunal that is "false or misleading" in a material particular. In this instance, the evidence shows that the claims are factually incorrect.

 

This is not a trifling matter. A few blinds, some tiles, a paint job, and new carpet - and you're definitely losing your bond. If you don't get your bond back, you've got to come up with all that money to pay for the new place. If estimated damages are more than the bond, then you could easily end up on a tenant database. And you could end up homeless. In exchange, the landlord gets a windfall and a free renovation. The worst thing is you don't even know if the money goes to repairs (unless you're friendly with the neighbours). This is probably why the housing stock in Australia is of such poor quality.

 

But Alice is going to fight this injustice. In the next instalment, we are going to look at strategies property managers use to keep tenants browbeaten.

 

Takeaways

• Don't trust your agent to do the right thing
• Remember to take photos of the property when you move in
• Make sure the photos are time-stamped
• Note every tiny little issue on the condition report

 

Are you serious?

A very serious matter has been brought to my attention. A tenant at her wit’s end contacted me with concerns about a tribunal decision. Since I started the blog, I have heard many shockers. This is a prime example of bad treatment, not only by landlords and property managers, but the justice system as well.

Rosalie’s landlord was stealing her electricity. He was tapping into it while building a new unit in the backyard area. Believe it or not, this is a big problem. I have heard complaints of this nature before. Everyone knows the cost of power has gone through the roof. Pensioners are rugging up because they can’t afford to pay their bills. The Grattan Institute has been doing some really interesting work on this subject. In their view, Aussies are paying too much for power. In the last five years, the average bill has risen by about 70%. This has been attributed to the Gillard’s carbon pricing reforms, when really it’s the price-gouging operators. So basically, it’s really important that tenants are charged fairly and accurately for their power consumption.

So Rosalie went to her property manager and complained. The property manager proposed that the bill be split with the landlord. She says to Rosalie, ‘Just give me the bills, I know how to work it out. I do it all the time’. Do they take tenants for fools? Rosalie knows her rights. The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) is very clear. In cases like this, the landlord is to take full financial responsibility. There is a very clear policy reason. It is unfair on tenants to pay when their exact power usage can’t be determined. With respect to rented premises, there must be a separate meter. Section 52 states:

A tenant is liable for all charges in respect of the supply or use of electricity, gas or oil in respect of the tenant's occupation of rented premises that are separately metered...

This is what Rosalie has to say:

They have no right asking to look at the bills but they do and I imagine tenants not fully knowing their rights just hand over their private bills. It’s bullying. I spoke to a lot of electrical technicians, AGL, sparkies, engineers, and REIV - they all said that there is no way that anyone can work the bills out or split them accurately, that’s why the owner has to take it over. I didn't hand over my bills; I just wanted the owner to comply with the Act from the day the connection was made.

The plot thickens. Rosalie decided to go to tribunal. The tribunal member tells Rosalie’s landlord to credit her bill. So the landlord has turned around and evicted her.

...when the member at VCAT also tried to work it out I nearly died. So the tribunal member tells the owner to credit me $500 for the first 3 months and then to credit me $100 per month after that until the construction is finished. But get this one - Now I’ve been given notice to vacate - 'owner to renovate' - which means that I won’t get to make good use of the credits. Now the owner is using my power to run a cement mixer because he's putting up the new fence. So now he’s just taking all the power he wants and I feel helpless to do anything about it.

It’s not like he’s living next door, he’s building a bloody house! I am seriously concerned about how VCAT treats tenants. Out of all the states and territories, Victoria is notorious for its treatment of tenants. The President of VCAT agrees that there is a problem. In a 2009 report, he says there are “serious deficiencies” in the accessibility of justice to the Victorian community, particularly tenants. He says:

In the residential tenancies jurisdiction, the tribunal has been very successful in delivering access to justice to landlords, but tenants are not exercising their rights to the same extent. About 95% of applications are initiated by landlords, most of them online. About 80% of those go ahead undefended without the tenant appearing at the hearing.

On our Facebook page, there are tenants, property managers, and some landlords. The tenants say the tribunal is biased in favour of landlords, the landlords say tenants have all the rights. Well, this is a very real and concrete example of unfair treatment. The law is not protecting tenants from exploitation. It’s not only the law; it’s also the way the tribunals and courts deal with matters.

There is this thing called the rule of law. Everyone is supposed to be treated equally. And I don’t think tenants are treated equally. So stay tuned, we will bring you more on this saga. We might even name and shame...

See more:

• Grattan Report, Fair Pricing for Power (2014)
• VCAT, President’s Review (2009)