Hi first time poster here so forgive me for any errors
I had an end of lease inspection for a unit I had been living in for 7 years. I spent about a month of going back and forth moving and cleaning. This included a weekend where my mum and aunty came and helped me deep clean every over a weekend, I also hired cleaners and a gardener for last weekend.
I’ve gotten an email from the property manager accusing me of leaving the property in worse condition than when I got it, including implying I’ve broken the air conditioner, stolen a mirror and smoked inside (all which are categorically false). She’s also wanting to know what caused “gray matter” on the walls. I have my theory about this which is that due to the cornices being constantly separated from the walls (unit built in the 70s), dust has consistently fallen through cracks in the ceiling- which has been exacerbated by possum and mice living in the roof. She has also NEVER raised this as an issue after 7 years worth of inspections.
I’m not really sure what to do here. Any advice would be really appreciated
Thanks.
Edit: Will also add that the property is already up for rent online for $50 a week more and is apparently available to rent from tomorrow. Photos I know she took from the inspection have been used in the advertisement.

I thought I would share my absurd story for entertainment. Unfortunately it’s my reality.

So today my landlord (owns the building, doesn’t live far from me) starts banging on my door saying his wife is sick and needs a lift home. I don’t have a car, so I offer to call her an Uber. He says can’t my parents come get her instead?? Sir, no.

Offer an Uber or an ambulance again, both refused. Then he asks if she can just… lie down in my apartment. For context it was 11am and their son “can’t” pick her up until 7pm because he’s working. So the plan was for a woman I barely know to occupy my living room for EIGHT HOURS.

I said absolutely not, I have things to do today. Somehow she still ends up on my sofa (with her shoes on, on my sofa) while this gets sorted, and I am dry heaving from the smell in my own apartment. I call the son myself since the husband is asking me to. Son flatly refuses to leave work to get his own mother. The husband has to negotiate with son on the phone in front of me while I’m standing in my own home like a hostage negotiator for a family drama I did not sign up for.

End result: she gets moved along eventually and lands on my elderly neighbour instead, who is currently unwell herself. So a sick old woman ends up looking after another sick woman because two grown men couldn’t be bothered.

This unfortunately is not a one off boundary crossing.

I just wanted to change and do some uni work. Instead I became an unpaid, unwilling nurse/negotiator for my own landlord’s family. Send help, or at least send tissues for my sofa.

I hope you have all been thoroughly entertained.

Hey all.

My wife and I recently finished up a 2 year lease that was terminated because the homeowners wanted to move back into the property.

We asked the REA for their reccommended cleaner and paid just over $1000 to have the property cleaned for end of lease. We also paid around $800 for a gardener (also previously recommended by the REA) to get the property looking good for our exit.

We handed the keys in yesterday morning (Tuesday) and claimed our bond. Yesterday evening at about 6pm, we received the exit report from the REA and an accompanying message that identified issues needed to be "urgently" addressed because the owners are moving back in on Thursday or Friday.

The list of issues relate to both the cleaning work and gardening work done and are all pretty minor. Some examples include food crumbs in a drawer, some cat litter caught in the grout in a bathroom, and weeds in a veggie patch.

I've let the REA know that the cleaners will go back around to address issues and gave them permission to receive a copy of our exit report to ensure everything is taken care of. I've also asked the REA to get some quotes from gardeners/handymen to address anything in the gardens (e.g. weeds, removal of some green waste).

My question: Is it reasonable for the REA to expect us to get everything done by Thursday afternoon (tomorrow)? My wife and I both work full time and I'm also still recovering from a broken shoulder; it's really not feasible that we can rush to get this done for them ourselves. We've captured via email that we're both happy to get the issues rectified, but that the provided timeline is unrealistic given our circumstances.

My gut feeling is that these issues are "urgent" for the REA because they messed up in giving the owners a move-in date so close to our exit date. But I've not really had an experience like this so would love some input.

Thanks!

Hi,

So suddenly the hot water in my building is going cold/lukewarm at night so we emailed the building manager who told me to speak to my PM, then after I've emailed the PM he comes back and says one of the buildings hot water pump is broken so during peak times it's not pumping the water around properly and leading to lukewarm showers at night. So obviously this is an urgent matter they are going to fix right away right? Wrong it took them 3 weeks to fix and the building managers advice to me? Take earlier showers to avoid peak times. I have a 2 year old who showers at 7:30 before bed every night so it's just not possible for him to get in the bath at 5. He also is telling me because it's going to cost $12k to fix they have to get 3 quotes and the last one is taking a long time to come. He kept saying the $12k thing repeated the price a bunch of times, like "annnnnd? I need hot water bro I don't give a fuck how much it costs the owners, our rent is $2500 a month for a fucking shoe box and amenities are part of what I pay for"

Anyway apparently it's getting replaced on Thursday so that's good, but I've pretty much had to send an email every few days to find out when it was going to be and why its taking so long. I even emailed the PM again and he emailed the owners courp too.

So I'm wondering if I should emai my PM and ask for a rent reduction for the month. How much is fair if so? 3 weeks of unreliable hot water was fucking shit but the building manager is kinda acting like I'm the only one who cares and have therefore cost the owners heaps of money or something. I suffer from thinking everything is my fault but also having an intense need for fairness so I struggle to let things like this go because 3 weeks? Seriously wtf.

Thoughts?

I privately (no real estate involved) rent a two bedroom unit in NSW and recently my roommate moved out. However, a week before she moved she broke the Landlord's washing machine. It filled with black water, locked the doors and would get stuck in the middle of a cycle and wouldn't spin out the excess water from the clothes so it leaves you with soaking wet, dripping clothes.

My landlord has said that he is going to make me and my ex-roommate pay for the repairs (even though I wasn't the one who broke it) as he said "I'm not Santa, I not spending money on fixing everything" but I don't even know if he will be able to contact her for the money as she moved out of state and I'm scared the repair invoice will fall on me to pay...

My lease doesn't mention any of the appliances and only mentions how much rent I need to pay (which covers my wifi and utilities) and an agreement to have my pet lizard in the unit.

Is this legal for him to do? I'm scared I will be saddled with a big bill I don't have the money to pay for. This is my first rental experience and so far it's been terrible...

My previous post

https://www.reddit.com/r/shitrentals/s/JpeHxykDQa

So we are moving out early and organising a lease transfer to make it easier for ourselves. That way we are not hostages of their final inspection and claiming our bond over stupid things.

However, the agent insists that because all renters are moving out, this won't be a transfer but a lease break, subject to final inspection and fees.

I already emailed her the exact legislation and sent her screenshots of my live chat with Tenants Vic where they literally said "your REA is wrong*.

We had 2 applicants and the agent called me yesterday to say they were both rejected because of visa expiring too soon and not being able to afford rent.

Ok... So I do more inspections and find another 3 applicants, one of them I know meets all the affordability criteria, and they applied straight away. My move out date aligns perfectly with their move in date, happy days!!

The agent is insisting on making this a lease break and giving new renters a 12 month lease, no doubt so they can charge more rent (even though I'm advertising the house at my current rent amount) and so they can take my bond.

I spoke to CAV and was hoping they could intervene but all they did was give me the same legislation Tenants Vic gave me, and told me to email the agency's OEC. And if that doesn't work, apply for a VCAT order to force the transfer.

Who's to say the new renter would be willing to wait until a VCAT decision and miss out on other rentals, besides they would get the clear message this REA is cooked so they would give up.

I sent the email to OEC today saying we would rather not have to apply for vcat and if we do we will lodge a formal complaint against the agency at CAV and Estate Agents Resolution Services.

Honestly I'm not sure why I'm posting this, I'm just so tired and stressed and bloody sick of REAs being this scummy.

Has anyone been taken to NCAT for what they believe is a retaliatory bond claim? My agent claimed my entire bond with no receipts 11 days ago. The 7 day mandatory time to provide the receipts passed and I emailed today (4 days post the mandatory time) asking for the receipts and noting I’ll be going to NCAT if they weren’t provided.

2 hours later, the agent lodged a case through NCAT for my bond + $2000 extra. Two of the receipts she has provided are dated today (11 days post bond claim) and 2 more receipts are dated 4 days after the bond claim was made.

I am more than happy to pay what was/is fair but now I believe this isn’t right. Would love to hear other experiences?

Hi guys, my landlord is trying to say me not washing the dishes clean enough, not vacuuming the floor well enough and apparently causing a minor scratch (he has no evidence) in his oven will amount to my entire bond. I was going to report him to the ATO as he obviously didn't lodge the bond, but on the Tasmanian government website it says it is illegal for a tenant to pay a bond in cash. Will I be penalized as well if I report him?

I’m so fucking pissed off.

My REA had a routine inspection booked for today. I’m literally one week into a new job, and because I don’t want these people coming into my home when I’m not there, I organised to take the day off work unpaid so I could be home for it.

Then, on the fucking morning of the inspection, they cancel it.

So now I’ve lost income, taken time off from a brand new job where I obviously don’t want to be asking for unnecessary time off, and I’m presumably going to have to organise another day off whenever they decide to reschedule it.

I genuinely cannot fucking stand dealing with REAs.

Forget the rent for a second.
For me, some of the biggest red flags would be:
• Hidden charges
• Owner constantly interfering
• Bad water pressure
• No proper parking
• Poor maintenance
• Security issues
• Photos that look nothing like the actual place
• “Family only / No friends / No guests” type restrictions
Sometimes a slightly more expensive place with a hassle-free owner is actually cheaper mentally.
What’s the #1 red flag that makes you walk away from a rental?