I'm fuming - stupid landlords....

[slim6y]

Hey people... I am going to vent just a little here, so be prepared.

Firstly I want to say - NEVER EVER EVER rent a property, buy a house, sell a house or allow O'Connor and Gay to manage your property. They're the most incompetent landlords I have ever come across!

1: I had a smashed window, kicked in front door, broken security gate, garage in a pig stye and their access report came back GLOWING! Saying the house was in pristine condition.

I found that hilarious.

I got other access reports - none were as glowing, but the same issues had still occured and no one mentioned anything.

The security gate was broken because it was crap and I had asked the landlords to repair it ages ago. They said ok... Door handles in the house had come off, they said they'd repair it. A return valve for a security screen was broken, you guessed it, they said they'd fix it. A toilet was leaking - it'll get fixed. But above all, an air conditioner unit was broken in a bedroom - ahhh - it'll get fixed...

None of that stuff ever got fixed - until...

Ahhhh the owner want to sell the house... So now they come around threaten to throw me out if I didn't fix all this stuff... I said... WOOOOOOOOOHA... Slow down there - what about your obligations... You've had 9 months to fix and done NOTHING! And you're saying I have 24 hours... I never ever paid my rent late - it was on time, in full, every fortnight!

Ok... So I gave them a list of things to fix and they did the same for me... I did mine in 3 days... it took them until NOW (end of lease) to fix the stuff I asked them to fix.

So finally I move out - I got exit cleaners to do a great job...

I get snotty emails from the landlords saying "leaves in the garage, greasy oven element, spots on the curtains... And a few other minor things...

They also said you owe us for Pest Control... WAIT ON THERE... pest control??? Where in my lease did it say pest control...? I was told, at time of signing, if I had a cat or a dog I would need to get the place pest controlled... but I never had a cat or a dog... So what's going on here???

Well, on my lease it said I have the 'propensity' to get such an animal... But i never did!

So why am I being charged for it?

Then they also said the curtains were dirty... they need cleaning. I cleaned them! They're in the same condition as when I got in to the house and they still want more????

You know - They never even did an entry report - I had to do it, and they never inspected the property within 10 days. They also inspected the property without adequate notice on several occassions recently. Also work was done on the house without my consent.

They broke many rules and now they want me to fund their little shimmy??? What's with them?

A cr@p company with cr@p attitude... Never ever in all my wildest dreams will i ever use O'Connor and Gay.

If (and when) I go to buy a house, i am going to look up all the houses i really really like at O'Connor and Gay and then I am going to get them to show them to me... etc etc... then - I am going to say to the owners - If I want the house - I will not buy it unless they remove O'Connor and Gay from the equation! (I can do that can't I?)

If they take this further I am going to get really annoyed - it will end up in court and I think i will win somehow.

I'm shocked at how bad companies, especially real estate agents can be.

Anyone else got horror stories about their landlords?

Any ideas what I shoudl do?

Any ideas on what I can do?

Hey - I'm happy - cause I have a great landlord now. Really cruisey.

 

[IsK67]

Just be careful they don't put you a the Tenants blacklist. Once you are there you are screwed.

IsK

 

[Magpie]

If (and when) I go to buy a house, i am going to look up all the houses i really really like at O'Connor and Gay and then I am going to get them to show them to me... etc etc... then - I am going to say to the owners - If I want the house - I will not buy it unless they remove O'Connor and Gay from the equation! (I can do that can't I?)

No, you can't unfortunately, it's in the contract the seller signs.
We had similar issues with a real estate agent up here, but no where near as bad.

 

[Adandiluvsmyreptiles]

Seek advice from the Residential Tenancy Authority (RTA) They'll give u all the assistance u need. U dont deserve that crap!

Teni

 

[Retic]

I'm not at all surprised by all that to be honest, when we did rent we didn't have any issues BUT we did hear plenty of horror stories. Part of the reason we bought a place, if something is broken I have to fix it but it gets fixed.

 

[spilota_variegata]

Funny name.

Seek advice from the Residential Tenancy Authority (RTA) They'll give u all the assistance u need. U dont deserve that crap!

Teni

Sorry to go off on a tangent but I found the name Residential Tenancy Authority (RTA) amusing. If you called the RTA in Victoria you would get the Road Traffic Authority. They would do a better job than O'Connor and Gay by the sound of things

 

[Slateman]

On the other hand you hear plenty of stories about tenants fro hell also.
I bought house and because repayments was to high I could not afford to live there. I rent the house to help me with payments and lost another 50 thousand because this people ruin the house. They did not paid last 6 months rent and vanished. I guess you have bad landlords and bad tenants also. I would newer rent to anybody again ewer after this experience. We could not get this people out of property for half year and after that all was destroyed.
Funy part is that we rented cheap unit to save money for our payments to bank.

 

[Adandiluvsmyreptiles]

On the other hand you hear plenty of stories about tenants fro hell also.
I bought house and because repayments was to high I could not afford to live there. I rent the house to help me with rent and lost another 50 thousand because this people ruin the house did not paid last 6 months rent and vanished. I guess you have bad landlords and bad tenants also. I would newer rent to anybody again ewer after this experience. We could not get this people out of property for half year and after that all was destroyed.

Holy Cow!!!

 

[jeramie85]

ive ehard lots of places do that

as i was growing up mum got so many bills for things she supposably broke or whatever
even the funniest hing was when she got given a bill flor the carpets to be steam cleaned because they were covered in mud and stuff and the house only had wooden floor boards

however from that we learnt to take photos of every little mark in the house when we moved in dated and sent a copy to the people we were leasing from also had written up paper work of every little mark and problem and sent a copy to them so thaty there was evidence that we didnt do it

i even used it for where im now living and the landlord wasnt to happy that everything was photographed and written down for some reason im guessing he wanted to bill me at the end of the lease for it

 

[slim6y]

Yeah... Photos photos photos... I don't think I can be blacklisted for not having done anything wrong (I hope) - but even I am - surely I can get out of such... It would be defaming me (not that i am famous) in an untrue manner.

Slateman - I know of tenants from hell... but I was a tenenat from middle earth (not heaven not hell) - i paid my rent and the house is left in a slightly better condition than when I entered. Did I get thanks for that? Nup!

I am now phoning the RTA in Voctoria so I can bulldoze O'Connor and Gay's offices... hehe... oh cr@p - imagine if their office on Aumuller Street is bulldozed, now all fingers are going to point to me

 

[tempest]

Magpie is right, you can't say you'll buy the property but not through that agent if the vendor has signed a sole agency agreement for them to sell the property. You'd have to wait for the sole agency to expire and by that time the house could very well be sold. What you could do would be to appoint a real estate agent on your behalf to approach O'Connor and Gay saying they have a buyer (you) and that you'd only deal through them and then they'd have to work in conjunction with whoever you appoint and split the commission. Well, that is if the scenario ever plays out that you want to buy a house they are selling

As for what's gone on with the rental property, that truly sucks. I was a property manager here in SA for many years and yes, you should call the Residential Tenancy Tribunal. Do you have anything in writing about the state of the property when you moved in? You said they didn't do an inbound inspection report... they are required by law and provide it to you for you to amend and sign off against. They can't make you pay for pest control if you didn't have a dog or cat either. Definitely give the RTT a call, they are a branch of Office & Consumer Affairs, so you should even be able to go to their website and apply for a hearing from there or at least speak to someone to find out what course of action you can take, because I know the laws here are different to QLD.

Good luck mate.

 

[Dragoness]

When we moved out of our last rental house, I told my OH that if we were ever renting again, when we move in and fill out the report thingy, we are going to tick that everything is dirty etc. We were getting to the point with our last landlords that we were on our way to kick in their windows! They NEVER fixed anything. When we first moved in they had repainted, but done a really bad job, when we moved out they told us it was our problem and we had to get some parts repainted (***???) The carpet when we moved in was old carpet that had been removed from another house and laid in this one, only they hadnt actually fixed it to the floor, so the first time I vacuumed, the carpet came up! The gardens were all dirt, we plants lovely plants in all the gardens. I cleaned the gardens up before we left, but because they were dirt when we moved in, they expect dirt when we moved out (as if thats not being ridiculous!!!) Our brand new AC broke in Jan (maitland summers of 45 degrees plus in a west facing house....) they stuffed around and stuffed around (they wanted to fix it themselves to save $$$ even though it was under warranty...) then they showed up on MY WEDDING DAY and expected us to let them wander through the house all morning, I THINK NOT and told them in no uncertain terms what we thought of them! So we finally bought our own place, got someone in to do a professional clean, carpets and all, plus a pest spray, total of about $500, then the real estate comes back with "there is a spot on inside of the linen closet door, there is a cobweb on the back side of the garage" and just other pathetic stuff like that. We would ahve been better to let them keep the bond and leave it as it was! Made me feel better though that the owners had to replace the carpet again and all the blinds (no fault of ours) so would have cost them over $2000. (they actually came in to my husbands carpet store to purchase the new carpet, dopey things, he upped the price a little for them, lol)

I talked to the tribunal people about the AC in our place as I thought 3 months through summer was very unreasonable, we even offered to pay, but they said they would evict us if we did as it would void the warranty. the tribunal were pretty unhelpful, basically there to help the owners, not the tenants and told us there wasnt anything they could do....

Im just glad to be in my own house where I can do as I like!

Good luck mate.

Cheers

 

[slim6y]

Thanks for all your comments - spesh the last two (Dragoness and tempest) both helpful and informative comments - I knew I wouldn't be the only one with this prediciment. And I know there's a solution. But what a bunch of cr@p is all i can say.

Realestate agents and lawyers can be bundled together as the biggest, selfish, burn in hell type crooks on earth IMO (sorry for any lovely REA on here - obviously it's the select few that just can't commit to a decent and honest living).

I'm just going to keep at them - and if they take me to court I think I have a very good case against them. Including the 11 months of no air conditioning in a property that was rented with "Air conditioning in bedrooms"

 

[tempest]

I'm just going to keep at them - and if they take me to court I think I have a very good case against them. Including the 11 months of no air conditioning in a property that was rented with "Air conditioning in bedrooms"

slim6y, you'd have a good case because here the Residential Tenancy Act states that everything in the house must be in working order, so that is another thing (or at least grounds for a rent concession). It's also law in SA that they give you a copy of the Residential Tenancy Act upon moving in to make you aware of everyone's rights and obligations and contact details for the RTT should there be problems.

 

[Dragoness]

Definately keep at them, I think what they want is for you to forget about it. After we spent all the money on cleaning and they told us it wasnt good enough, they offered (so very kind of them) to have their own cleaner go in and do it again and they would just take the money out of the bond. I actually said to the girl at the real estate "Do you really think we are that stupid to let you organise a cleaner and maybe just wack an extra $100 on the bill for your own pocket" I then told her I had the list of things they found wrong, and that their cleaner can do it so they couldnt whinge, but that the money was NOT coming from our bond and we expected an itemised bill accounting for every second. After everything the owner went in and said he wasnt happy with the state of the house and wanted to keep our bond to go towards the carpets. I threatened legal action, we had done everything that we legally had to do when we moved out and he had no right to keep the bond. As soon as we said that, he backed down and we got our bond back in full.

Slim6y, fight for everything, dont let them take anything from you, specially since they have been so slack (the tribunal did tell us that if you are renting an ACed house and it breaks and they dont fix it that you can take them to the tribunal and claim suffering and they have to refund UP TO $10 per week of your rent (ours was $5 a week, and with the cost of the hearing it wouldnt have been worth it, but maybe for you it would be??)
Let them take you to court, I bet if you continue they will back down, most real estates wouldnt want to be dragged into court, specially when they know they will lose. As long as you have done everything it says to do on your lease, then there is nothing they can do.

Keep us updated, Id like to know how you get on.

Cheers

 

[slim6y]

It's just got easy again... they're already conceding because of the over-whelming evidence against them. Their last message:

Hello Paul,

Thank you for finding the garage door key, we look forward to having this returned to the office at 5pm today or early tomorrow.

Upon a second inspection of the curtains, they have been found to have:
- gecko droppings still stuck on the backs of the curtains
- some curtains stuck together by rubber backing and still grimey.
This indicates that they have not been cleaned.

Once these things are completed we will finalise the return of your bond.

Regards
Robyn & Michael

They've backed down on everything else now... Which is looking very promising for me.

My reply was:

Thanks for the Email...

When was this 'second inspection' done?

I think you will find, and without the sound of repeating myself over and over and over again, that the curtains are in IDENTICAL condition, if not slightly improved, to the time when I moved in. The house does have geckoes, and the chances of geckoes deficating from the time they're cleaned till the time inspected is extremely high. The rubber backing has always been sticky. I recall the day I moved in and tried to close the curtains, they were stuck together like sweaty legs on a vinyl seat. Hence, the curtains are in the same condition as when I entered the property December 16 last year.

You can not continually ask me to go back and compete work on the property that is not required.

The curtains were cleaned down again today, a second time. If geckoes have deficated from the time cleaned till the time inspected when I called to have you INSPECT the house while a representative was there, and you "refused" to go to the house while someone was there, I can not be blamed for this.

I will expect my bond returned, in full, after I have returned the garage door key.

hehe... Seeing as they backed down everywhere else - the only thing they have left is these curtains. they're clinging on to nothing.

I admit the curtains were in poor state when I entered the property and they're in the exact same state when i am leaving!

The other things they seem to have neglected to talk about - ie pest control, door fittings etc...

Well - I will tell you how it goes soon...I am dropping off the key this avo...

I like fights that i know I can win... Cause now I feel much more on top of things.

 

[falconboy]

Good on ya slim6y! Stick it up their chocolate hole!

 

[tempest]

Woohoo, excellent stuff!

 

[slim6y]

It continues:

Hello Paul,

The fact of the matter is that they are not properly cleaned and must be done. The pest control is required and carpets cleaned and have been completed.

As advised on a previous email, the owner has instructed that you are required to pay rent up until the date the keys are handed back to the office.

Regards
Robyn and Michael


My reply as follows: (I think I am over stepping legal lines here - but still.... )

Hello,

The matter of fact is - the curtains are cleaned in exactly the same way they were when I moved in, and if this tooing and froing of emails is going to continue I would expect STRONG evidence to suggest otherwise - and that evidence needs to be from time of inspection, not at some later stage. And we're now at a later stage.

The pest control will NOT be paid for from my money in any-way-whatsoever shape or form. And you may not legally do so. I have consulted lawyers on this already and I am happy for you to make proceedings against me if you wish to extract that money from me. the evidence strongly suggests that the contract between Val and myself is binding.

I have paid rent up until the time that was EASILY able to ge the keys into your office. If you are suggesting I have to pay more rent, again, you will need to take this through court.

Your house inspection was done PRIOR to vacating. I had till Friday Midnight. Your inspection was done earlier.

I know my rights, and I have dealt with the RTA and made several comments on the above. You can not order me to pay that rent from Saturday till today - as no final inspection was done UNTIL today! The initial final inspection was done before vacating the premises.

The keys WILL be returned today.

The house did NOT meet the standards as advertised. I am entitled to request re-imbursement for this. It was ADVERTISED as a three bedroom house with Air Conditioning in the rooms. Only ONE room had air conditioning. Two thirds of the house DID NOT!

Not only does this contradict your advert, but is infact illegal advertising.

There was NO inspection done at time I moved in to the property. This is also illegal and you have NO rights now to request the curtains be renovated to any way that they weren't already in. It is not my fault that your inspection failed to occur at the time when a representative was in the house. The curtains are in the EXACT same state - if we're talking matter of fact, then you will need to take this up with the district courts and not with me.

Do these emails really have to continue?

Can you not just admit it - the house is in the exact same state, if not better, than when I first rented the property. The property inspection was never done until about 9 months into the lease when the house was sold. My initial inspection has been completed and many things were noted there. One of those things notes the curtain conditions - and they're in that SAME condition now.

There is no need to continue this corrospondence at all - it is obvious that the house is in better condition than when I first moved in, and you can not complain about that.

Please only Email me when you have a constructive attitude that involves settling this matter. Right now, all you're requesting is something I am not entitled to pay for. I expect the next email will say:

I do not have to clean the curtains any further, they have been found to be in satisfactory condition similar to the time when the property was first rented.

I do not have to pay for pest control as it has been found that the contract between Val and I is binding, equally as much as the fact I had no pets at the property ever.

I do not have to replace the door return valve, manhole cover and any other miscillaneous items you have metioned.

It is ok to actually thank me for my tenancy as well - seeing as I paid rent ontime, actually, over paying by a week, had the property in exact same condition if not better when vacated and have been very attentive to the detail of making sure the house is in perfect condition.

I look forward to a more complimentative and positive Email in the future.

Regards


Not as commical as the last one - but tell me - When I went into their office to sign the lease on December 16 2005, the leaser stated, in her words, that if we didn't get a cat then we wouldn't need to have the house pest controlled. Her word is a verbal contract and is EQUALLY binding - is that correct isn't it? Well I was told it was!

It's borderline so STUPID - that it's not even funny anymore!

 

[Dragoness]

Excellent!!!

Cheers