Landlord trying to claim new carpet costs on 30 yr carpet and prior damage on our rental of 9 years before sale of property.
Hi everyone,
First time posting. Just recently asked to leave our rental of 9 years due to the homeowner selling.
Bit of quick background - originally leased through a REA in Brisbane but after a year, homeowner wanted us to rent privately from her, so she didn't have to pay the REA fees. We agreed and continued renting privately from her for the next 8 years.
Fast forward - now she's trying to claim our bond after already asking us to pay arbitrary costs without providing official quotes or invoices, (which we paid) but now trying to blame us for damage that was here prior to us moving in. I took photos of these things back in 2017, when we picked up the keys but I'm unsure I can still retrieve the photos from 9 yrs and 3 phones ago. The issue is the REA missed these few things and didn't note them on their Entry report, so automatically we are getting the blame for them.
We weren't able to do our own Entry report as we moved from Sydney and had to agree to take the place sight unseen and accept their Entry report. I absolutely took photos though. Even after 9 yrs of inspections and what I thought was a good relationship even though she could sometimes be difficult to deal with, I went out of my way to accommodate all her requests, did lots of small maintenance and replaced things at our cost just to help her. We never asked her to reimburse us for small amounts etc.
Now it's our fault there's chips in the glass, a dent in the garage wall and 2 lots of carpet she's trying to claim the costs of. None of the damage was from us. The carpet in the master is 30 yr old, was threadbare in places and so old, our carpet cleaner on entry wouldn't put his machine over it. The other bedroom carpet she's claiming was damaged by my cats peeing on it, which was physically impossible. I had a treadmill in there which I had put carpet tile underneath to protect the floor from the weight of the treadmill. Once the removalists moved my treadmill to load onto the truck, it was evident under the carpet tile, the carpet was damaged with mould growth. These are old wool carpets and the house has had a history of moisture coming up through the cracks in the slap and flooding along the side of the house. Previously the same mould growth had occurred in the next room we were using as an office. Under the plastic mats to roll my office chair on. Mould grew twice in that room. Reported it. Our dogs got blamed. Happened again. They asked us to pull the carpet up and they used a sealant product on the floor. It didn't work. We bought $300 of carpet tile to use so we had an office floor to work from home in. They only offered a rug, which does not meet minimum housing standards for 'Permanent and Safe flooring'.
So we are being blamed for 2 lots of carpet, chips in the glass, a dent in the garage etc. None of which we're to blame for. Excellent rental record and never had any tribunal or claims of dispute before. So disappointed after looking after her home for 9 years. If I'd genuinely been responsible for the damages, I would have replaced without question. I feel like we are being used to pay for her preparation for sale. Also, she got upset I wouldn't ask my bond Cleaners to postpone their clean for 2 weeks after our lease ended, so that she could use them to clean up after her tradesmen doing work before sale.
Any perspectives appreciated.