Landlord from HELL in Melbourne

Pisco Sour

I am living in Melbourne at the moment and in late december signed a 3 month lease which could then be extended after. The place is a dump and the 2 landlords are get rich quick chancers and I complained about a good few things but I was prepared to let a lot go as I liked the location and got quite settled here.

So everything was going fine until last friday when flash floods hit Melbourne and surprise surprise my room got drenched. The rain pelted through the dogey roof while I was at work soaking my carpet and bed. Thankfully my housemates kindly moved all my stuff so none of my valuables got destroyed.

I informed them about this and they sent somebody around to fix the roof.

However nothing was done about the wet carpet which was very quickly beginning to smell like mould was forming underneath it.

So I suggested yesterday morning to them that they take up the carpet, wash and dry it properly, and remove all mould underneath the carpet and if needs be replace the carpet as mould is a health hazzard especially to somebody who suffers from asthma and alergies like myself.

The following is the dialogue I had with the landlord. This is quite shocking: Just a quick background, the owner he refers to are the guys who own the property and rent it to these chancers who then act as landlords and let it on to us:

Hi, one of the guys who came over yesterday (to fix the roof) was the owner and said to leave it 4 a few days to see if it dries naturally

I have lost the message I replied back but it was something along the lines of it not just being an inconvenience but also a health hazard with all the mould growing especially to somebody with asthma like myself.

I have a room at **** ***** . You can stay there until the room is dry again.

That doesn’t solve the problem of mould growing. What causes the mould is the underlying concrete or wood beneath the carpet staying wet long after the carpet has dried. If the underlay is not dried you will end up with mould, bacteria and odour problems. This is not something that should be taken lightly.

The owner wants the room left 4 a few days. If the problems persist then we’ll deal with them.

The owner hasn’t a clue quite frankly. That room will be hard to rent in the future if something isn’t done. I am not paying the owner 695 for this room, I am paying YOU 695 for this room so I expect u to fix this problem otherwise I expect a significant reduction in the rent.

If the full rent is not paid on time you will be given an eviction notice (illegal by the way as this cant be done unless a tenant is 14 days in arrears). Give the carpet a few days to dry and if problems persist I will deal with them. I have a PHD in microbiology so there is no need to lecture me on mould and bacteria.

If that’s the case then you should know the health risks. I’d be pretty certain this would be illegal under landlord and tenant law but I’m sure neither of us want to go down that road.

Then this morning I went into Consumer Affairs Victoria to find out my rights and they said that the mould would be be kind of in between Urgent Repairs and Non Urgent Repairs and she told me to fill out a non urgent repair form and hand it to them giving them 14 days to make necessary repairs. They also said that my deposit (bond) should have been lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria, something which they obviously didn't do.

So here is this mornings dialogue with the landlord:

I have spoken with Consumer Affairs Victoria and will be presenting you with a written request to have my room properly repaired. I would also like a receipt stating that my bond has been lodged with Consumer Affairs Victoria. Thank you.

Just to let you know that your contract will not be renewed after 27/3. I will be happy to lodge your bond with RTBA however the process will take 2 weeks to lodge and approximately 3 weeks to refund so you will receive your bond back well after your eviction. Please let me know if you would like me to proceed. As mentioned earlier, the room will be attended to if it has not dried in the next few days.

Reasons your landlord can ask you to vacate but not before the tenancy agreement ends: 120 days notice for no specified reason, but not just because you, as the tenant have been exercising your rights or saying you will do so. 60 days notice if it is at the end of a fixed term tenancy agreement of fewer than 6 months. The laws are there for a reason. Also it is not just the wet carpet I have problems with but primarily the mould which is being let grow in my room while you leave the carpet to dry naturally.

You have signed a contract with us that allows us to give u 28 days notice if we require u to vacate prior to the end of the lease. I was being nice and left it until 27/3. As it stands I am now giving u 28 days notice to vacate which means you will need to be out by 8/3.

Tomorrow I plan to go into Consumer Affairs Victoria to show them my lease and this dialogue and see if what they are doing is legal, which I suspect probably isn't. I have genuinely never been so furious in my life. I don't particularly want to live here anymore now but I refuse to let them feel like they have won and am going to be the biggest pain in the ass I can be and keep stating my rights. They basically are kicking me out because I wont accept the crap they provide me and they know I am not worth the hassle so they would rather find some strapped for cash backpacker who would accept any oul crap to replace me.

The room absolutely stinks at this stage, 5 days on from the flood. Not a sign of the carept drying also!

What are peoples thoughts on all of this?

drunkmonkey

04072511 wrote: »

What are peoples thoughts on all of this?

Mini Van, Some hot Germans and head for the west. Your there for a good time not a long time gtfo.

Fremen

Keep a log of every interaction you have with them, written or otherwise. Read the lease you signed. They're pissed off with you, and the guy you've been dealing with sounds like a bit of a hothead, so be prepared to fight for your bond. If I were you, I'd make damn sure they lodge it with the third party before you escalate this any more.

Take a step back and ask yourself what you want out of this situation. Do you just want the carpet cleaned? Do you want to move out and get your bond refunded? Do you want to screw over the agency for being a bunch of jerks? Whatever you do, you need to come up with a rational plan now, and try to stick to it.

You probably don't want to get drawn into a legal battle here unless you're in the county long-term.

Pisco Sour

Fremen wrote: »

be prepared to fight for your bond.

I have done not one single thing to warrant not receiving my bond back so legally they can't try to keep it. All I have done was try to exercise my rights in getting a room in good condition, something which a landlord is responsible for.

drunkmonkey

04072511 wrote: »

I have done not one single thing to warrant not receiving my bond back so legally they can't try to keep it. All I have done was try to exercise my rights in getting a room in good condition, something which a landlord is responsible for.

Are you there for a few years or just passing through, lot more to Australia than melbourne, if your head is wrecked anywhere just move on to the next adventure. Get your bond back and go.

Fremen

04072511 wrote: »

I have done not one single thing to warrant not receiving my bond back so legally they can't try to keep it. All I have done was try to exercise my rights in getting a room in good condition, something which a landlord is responsible for.

Still, be prepared to fight for it. They'll try to take a chunk of it - that's what landlords do.

s.c

Firstly your bond should be held by the bond agency and if there is any dispute about returning of the bond they will sort it out.

Whether your bond is being held by the bond agency or not, you should get onto Consumer Affairs.

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/CA256EB5000644CE/HomePage?ReadForm&1=Home~&2=~&3=~

This is the guide for tenants and the landlord is legally supposed to give you a copy when you move in. It explains very clearly what are urgent and non urgent repairs and the time frame the landlord has to fix it.

Either way consumer affairs will be able to tell you your rights and will point you in the right direction.

Edit: Page 18 of that guide is what you need to look at. Storm and flood damage is considered urgent repairs. It also outlines the procedure if the landlord isn't willing to carry out the repairs.

markymark21

The cheek of some landlords..

That reminds me when I was living in London and three days before I was meant to be leaving the landlord tells me he is going to Italy and will post my deposit back to me when he gets home i.e. after I've left.. what a chancer! I told him I wasn't going any where until he gave it to me in person and in cash.

Anyway dude I'd fight tooth and fail for your money. If you let this guy rip you off he try and rip off the next poor unfortunate who rents with him. Don't let him get away with it, the only reason he is doing it is because your not an aussie and he thinks he can get away with it.

Any chance of providing his name? I'm moving to Melbourne next September and won't like to avoid this prick

ballooba

This sounds like a bit of a disaster and the landlords may be pricks but it seems like you're not entirely blameless. How did you end up in this place if it's such a dump? How on earth did you end up negotiating via text message about a dispute? The latter seems to be half the problem and the former should have been apparent at inspection. It seems like you need to extract yourself from this situation now and learn from it.

Pisco Sour

Continueing on from yesterdays post here is todays dialogue after I went into Consumer Affairs Victoria:

I have had a meeting with consumer affairs victoria and they said it is illegal under the residential tenancy act to shorten the notice to vacate to 28 days. aIt is unenforceable even with a signature. You will need to provide me 60 days notice. They said that the bond can be lodged by the landlord or tenant in person at their head office and will take 48 hours to be lodged into my account when I leave the premises, not 3 weeks like you said. I will be filling out a bond lodgement form for you to sign. I will also be providing you with a written request to have my room fully repaired and if that is not done in 14 days it goes to VCAT.

Under s272 of the residential tenancy agreement, if the room is unfit for human habitation then for your safety I have the right to ask you to leave immediately. All remaining rent and bond will be returned. I will have the letter delivered to you shortly. Clearly changing his tune once again when he realised his last effort to get rid of me wouldnt work!

I have spoken to the representative about your text and she said that if you do that then I will have to go to VCAT.

Go to VCAT



So the nice woman at Consumer Affairs decided that this was worthy of skipping the long complaint process and put me straight through to one of the guys who deals with complaints rather than me having to fill out a complaint form. I told him everything and gave him all their details.

He rang me back later to tell them the conversation he had with them.

He said that the landlord was basically shocked and sh1tting it on the phone. He told him that and inspector will be out to analyse the my room soon and that they will have to arrange repairs if necessary from a proper carpet cleaning company and not some random Joe Soap. The landlord then asked him where could he find somebody good and the consumer affairs agent said to him that it wasnt his job to tell him that and that he should know himself.

He also told him something along the lines of "you and me both know you cant evict him like you have threatened to do" and the landlord responds by saying "yeh i know I was just really angry when I sent him that text". He then actually asked how can he kick me out. He actually asked the agent for advice on how to kick me out legally! Amazing! The landlord was told that if he tries to evict me illegally it will go to VCAT and he will lose and it will look bad for him.

With regards the bond he told the landlord that it is an offense to hold the bond and not lodge it with Consumer Affairs. The landlord started stuttering saying he thought he didnt have to do that if it was a short contract of less than 6 months.

The agent basically told me that pretty much everything they were saying and doing was illegal and they didnt have a leg to stand on and that he has told the landlord that he has to lodged all his tenants bonds immediately. He said that he didnt seem to know much about the residential tenancy act and was asking him loads of questions that a landlord should know.

Finally he told me that I should think about contacting my local council to see if the landlord has registered his house with them as a shared accomodation of over 4 people. If he hasnt (which is probable) he will be in serious trouble.

You may wonder why I am bothering with this and why dont I just move and save the hassle, but if I don't do something somebody else will be messed around. I am sick of money grabbing chancers and these guys deserve to be found out for the illegal practices they have been undertaking.

They really are targeting the people who are too afraid to complain and will accept any oul lies and crap. They really have fu*ked with the wrong person here!!!

Nick Diamond

04072511 wrote: »

Continueing on from yesterdays post here is todays dialogue after I went into Consumer Affairs Victoria:

I have had a meeting with consumer affairs victoria and they said it is illegal under the residential tenancy act to shorten the notice to vacate to 28 days. aIt is unenforceable even with a signature. You will need to provide me 60 days notice. They said that the bond can be lodged by the landlord or tenant in person at their head office and will take 48 hours to be lodged into my account when I leave the premises, not 3 weeks like you said. I will be filling out a bond lodgement form for you to sign. I will also be providing you with a written request to have my room fully repaired and if that is not done in 14 days it goes to VCAT.

Under s272 of the residential tenancy agreement, if the room is unfit for human habitation then for your safety I have the right to ask you to leave immediately. All remaining rent and bond will be returned. I will have the letter delivered to you shortly. Clearly changing his tune once again when he realised his last effort to get rid of me wouldnt work!

I have spoken to the representative about your text and she said that if you do that then I will have to go to VCAT.

Go to VCAT



So the nice woman at Consumer Affairs decided that this was worthy of skipping the long complaint process and put me straight through to one of the guys who deals with complaints rather than me having to fill out a complaint form. I told him everything and gave him all their details.

He rang me back later to tell them the conversation he had with them.

He said that the landlord was basically shocked and sh1tting it on the phone. He told him that and inspector will be out to analyse the my room soon and that they will have to arrange repairs if necessary from a proper carpet cleaning company and not some random Joe Soap. The landlord then asked him where could he find somebody good and the consumer affairs agent said to him that it wasnt his job to tell him that and that he should know himself.

He also told him something along the lines of "you and me both know you cant evict him like you have threatened to do" and the landlord responds by saying "yeh i know I was just really angry when I sent him that text". He then actually asked how can he kick me out. He actually asked the agent for advice on how to kick me out legally! Amazing! The landlord was told that if he tries to evict me illegally it will go to VCAT and he will lose and it will look bad for him.

With regards the bond he told the landlord that it is an offense to hold the bond and not lodge it with Consumer Affairs. The landlord started stuttering saying he thought he didnt have to do that if it was a short contract of less than 6 months.

The agent basically told me that pretty much everything they were saying and doing was illegal and they didnt have a leg to stand on and that he has told the landlord that he has to lodged all his tenants bonds immediately. He said that he didnt seem to know much about the residential tenancy act and was asking him loads of questions that a landlord should know.

Finally he told me that I should think about contacting my local council to see if the landlord has registered his house with them as a shared accomodation of over 4 people. If he hasnt (which is probable) he will be in serious trouble.

You may wonder why I am bothering with this and why dont I just move and save the hassle, but if I don't do something somebody else will be messed around. I am sick of money grabbing chancers and these guys deserve to be found out for the illegal practices they have been undertaking.

They really are targeting the people who are too afraid to complain and will accept any oul lies and crap. They really have fu*ked with the wrong person here!!!

Mate, great work. I had a similar problem with bed bugs that I brought up with consumer affairs, but the house was reclaimed and i wasn't arsed fighting with the landlord too long.

I'm delighted the lad is ****d, make sure you go all the way and see if the place is registered. Make this lads life a living hell, that'll teach em that just cause we're backpackin doesn't mean we can be treat with less respect...

Doc

Well done 04072511. Good to hear people standing up to pricks like that!

markymark21

Fair play to ye mate

Y'know most Irish people would just put up with it or just move and then bitch about it later to their mates. But fair play to you for sticking to your guns

It goes to show anybody that is planning to go over i.e. me, its essential you know the tenacy laws fairly well and know who to contact when the $hit hits the fan

ballooba

It's one thing standing up for yourself and it's another to knowingly engage in a bad contract and then start complaining. Also, it seems from other threads that there is more to this story and the deterioration in the relationship pre-dates the floods.

Vorsprung

ballooba wrote: »

It's one thing standing up for yourself and it's another to knowingly engage in a bad contract and then start complaining.

I agree.

OP, honestly I'm delighted that you stood up for your rights and won (victory is sweeter when it's against a knob), but you were running into trouble from the moment you moved in. It sounds like that was a chance you were willing to take.

At the end of the day, if you're renting a place, you need to know your rights before you move in. Australia is relatively well set up that way - the QLD RTA has a form that you've got to submit 3 days after moving in, which lists the condition of pretty much everything in the place your renting. If you take 30 minutes to have a quick read of your state's RTA, document exactly what the place was like at the start of the tenancy and even go and take photos, you can't go wrong when it comes to moving out time. When I get a chance I'll do a proper post on this.