r/shitrentals

Just moved into a new rental and the property was handed to me in an unacceptable state, unclean, dust and food scraps all over, greasy kitchen, shit all over the floors, and generally it wasn't up to a reasonable standard.

To make it worse, the agent strongly proposed sending the previous tenant to come and clean after I've taken possession of the unit because they wanted to clean to protect their bond, I imagine it is the agent friend. I refused, flat out.

Here’s where it gets messy with the agent:

• Agent initially offered $200 compensation for the cleaning issue

• Then dropped it to $150 unprompted

• Previous tenant refused to consent to any bond deduction

• Owner refunded previous tenant’s bond in full

• Again agent drops it to $150 same day

• The agent then dropped it to $100

• Agent then came back offering only $50 because the previous tenant “purchased cleaning products”

• I rejected this, citing Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic), and gave them a deadline to either pay $200 or arrange a professional clean

I’ve documented everything with timestamped photos, have the text chain showing the original $200 offer, and will lodge my ingoing condition report noting all issues.

My questions:

1. Is the agent liable to me for handing over an unclean property regardless of the bond situation.

2. How strong is my position going to Consumer Affairs Victoria given they’ve already offered $200 in writing?

Next step is Consumer Affairs if they don’t respond by my deadline. Any advice appreciated.

I just left a rental property. PM found a stain on the carpet that a professional carpet cleaner couldn’t remove. I caused the stain. Landlord got a quote for $1500 to re-carpet the room. The stain isn’t that bad, I wouldn’t bother replacing the carpet if it were me but whatever. The PM sent us an email asking for a ‘goodfaith’ contribution to the replacement without stating a figure. I replied saying “show me an invoice when the carpets were last replaced” as I suspect it’s more than ten years ago and therefore legally worth zero dollars. However in the circumstance they provide evidence they were replaced say 5 years ago I want to counter by saying you never fixed the broken TV that was included in our rent for ~12 months. What would be the monetary value of not having access to the TV? We replaced with our own and took it with us when we left.

Now the rant - We as tenants genuinely acted in “good faith” through the tenancy - fixed minor plumbing issues ourselves, didn’t complain when they refused to fix broken doors, endured weekly open homes for 9 months as the property is for sale (still unsold), always cleaning before the open homes. Seems goodfaith only applies to our behaviour, not theirs. So I’m loath to hand over money when they wont even replace the carpet and just sell the property with a stain.

Is there any way I can fight it? What’s the process I pay rent etc.

Has your rent gone up or down since the new budget dropped? Anyone due for renewal soon? Which way do you think it’s gonna go?

Hi all, just had a quick query. In Perth, W.A. Lease has come to an end. Keys handed back on the 19/5/26. Final bond inspection complete and all was mostly well. However today when I went back to fix the few minor issues listed after the inspection ( dust on outdoor light switch ) etc, I noticed a major water leak in the front yard, coming up through the pavers from a water main pipe underneath.

Anyways I reported this straight away to the agent, plumber came out, repaired it and so on. Just so happened that today I also got my water bill from the property manager. Nearly $700. Previous one was $88 for reference. Due to the major leak was over 7x higher than usual.

So the property manager has lodged a leak allowance application with water corp and informed me that it can take up to 20 business days to process. They Insist they must keep my bond until then, even tho the burst water pipe/ excessive water usage is nothing to do with me. Is this legal?

Also I think I’m just going to lodge my bond return application myself and get the ball rolling but wanted to ask for advice first. Sorry about the long post.

Cheers

Hey guys I am located in Sydney NSW. I have just paid a 2-week deposit to secure a rental. I am yet to sign anything.

If I pull out, the agent said that they will need to retain one week which is 50% of what I paid - is this legal?

How much money would I be able to get back ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi just after a little advice. My roommate handles most of the paperwork and calls with the real estate as they are home all day. We are having another smoke alarm check. These seem to be happening every 6 months minimum. I'm sure last year they were coming every 3 months. I decided to question the legalities of it and in doing so realised the entry notice is being emailed from the contractor themselves? I was under the understanding it was the real estate or landlord that could issue these notices?

Real estate did the usual scumbaggery
I.e. we went into a new rental.
2 months after its listed for sale.

Anyway they want a inspection for potential buyers next Friday.
But we have plans this Friday with guests over to celebrate a special occasion.

Can we refuse an inspection on a certain date?

Had a REA come to my rental lately to check the utility meters. I tell them that they arent allowed to do that without sending a form 19 and they act like its fine because they dont have to come inside the house. I guess if its that way I dont need to maintain the front or back yard because thats not in the house and therefore not part of the property. But I guess they'd like to have it both ways there.

Then sending me two lots of utility bills at once. 4 months of bills. Been dragging their feet to show me their actual bills, likely because they know ill hit them with the ole "well it took you over 30 days to alert me to this bill and invoice me, better luck next time"

Then showing up 1.5 hours early for a rent inspection to tell me 'oh we texted you the day before about moving it earlier' which i didnt even get, and even if i did thats not how it works chaps.

Its a shame too, I highly praised this REA, but its just gotten dodgier and dodgier.

Asking for a friend. What happens when the renter breaches the REA? Is there any reason to do it?

NSW tenant here looking for real experiences

Our rental property only has an 80L red bin for a household with 2 kids (including nappies). The council changed the bin structure at the end of last year and started implementing the beginning of this year. Originally when we moved in, it was 240l red bin.

The standard service for our council now is 140l and as you can see above our landlord downgraded to the smallest red bin 80L.

We fully utilise recycling and green bins, but we still regularly end up with overflow rubbish bags outside because the bin physically can’t fit normal household waste.

We requested a larger bin of 140l, twice and the landlord/property manager declined due to the additional annual cost (around $64/year).

I’ve documented everything and spoken to Fair Trading, but I’m hesitant to formally lodge the complaint because I’m worried it could affect lease renewal later this year.

Has anyone dealt with something similar in NSW?
Did making a Fair Trading complaint impact your renewal or relationship with the landlord?
What would you realistically do in this situation?

Why is not commonly understood that capital gains discounts & negative gearing are welfare handouts?

Particularly in the context of reducing competition between wages being used for housing purchases vs. buyers using government welfare through negative gearing. CG discounts are just a further uncompetitive handout when farming multiple houses.