Rental Issues - tennants perspective, advice wanted

[radelaide]

Moved into a place about 2 months ago and have had ongoing issues from day 1. Here are some (but not all of them)

I am about 99% sure the issue is because the real estate agent handling it is totally incompetent, can people please tell me what my rights are as a tenant?

1. Was told pool would be ready the day I moved in, but nobody organised pool guy to come around, took about 2 weeks after I had moved in. I had been calling RE agent 2 weeks prior to moving in (as I was already paying rent to secure property) about getting this done.

2. Pool was checked and things wrong with it, chlorine filter thing needs to be changed, that was four weeks ago and still nothing been done. Countless emails and phone calls to RE agent to fix it.

3. Coffee machine in Kitchen still broken

4. Aircon in main bedroom leaking, leaves 1m x 1m water on floor of bedroom, reported to RE agent 2 weeks ago, no action so far.

5. Aircon in second bedroom started leaking today, leaked all over queen mattress and mattress is now stuffed. Huge water stain on wall now as well.

These things identified as not working PRIOR to me moving in, noted on sign off of property:

1. Fan switch in laundry broken - still not fixed
2. 3 x aircon remotes missing - still not fixed
3. rocks in front garden missing - still not fixed
4. light under oven not working - still not fixed

While I dont necessarily expect all the little things to get fixed I would have thought the RE agent might let me know what they want to do.

Considering this place is only 12 MONTHS OLD, and the RE never gets back to me what are my options? I dont particularly want to live in a property where most the stuff doesnt work.

What do people advise I do? If I complain to the RE agent she will just make my life hard when I had to renew my lease in 12 months, then again maybe I am better off moving out into somewhere else anyway.

 

[Stangman]

The person who complains loudest gets the fastest service. ie - ring, ring and ring again until you get some service.

I once rang a business every 10 minutes when there was no response to a problem i had advised them of. Only took a couple of hours for them to sort it out.

In any case, if the airconditioning is leaking that badly it is an urgent matter.

Not sure about the Coffee Machine? They come supplied in homes now? Bloody heck - what have we come to?!

Stangman.

 

[Macca]

Always best to put all this in writing IMO

Emails are a wonderful invention for records of complaints, print them out after sending and keep in nice big fat file.

I would suggest you apply a dead line to have your complaints fixed then contact the tenants rights board in SA, look it up on Google.

There will be a Govt dept as well no doubt so time to get active, particularly on those leaking AC. In NSW they are considered an urgent repair which means after a short period of notice you can get it done and send the bill to the LL.

Find and learn your rights and go from there.

 

[Scott No Mates]

As the house is basically new, most of these things would be covered under warranty. so it may be the builder that is unresponsive or the agent is
out of their depth.

 

[fokas]

Keep hassling and keep the records of all communication. If they agreed to have it fixed, you're entitled to have it fixed - hopefully you have records of this agreement though.

Don't assume it's the PM. I know we had issues with intercoms not working and leaking which were strata issues which were not attended to for weeks, and after hassling the PM repeatedly, finally found the hold up was the pathetic strata, so changed the tactic to hassle them instead to get some action.

 

[mattysavager]

Most of the issues that you have talked about should be builder warranties.

I have NEVER dealt with a builder who is happy to go back and repair things. They are always working on a new project. It is always an uphill struggle.

Also - when the PM tells the owner of the issues, the owner is just as annoyed as you are, and does not want to spend any money fixing something that should not be broken in a 12 month old property.

The PM is powerless when it comes to maintenance. They cannot spend money without the approval of the owner. They are paid by the owner, and must act as instructed. Having said that, in QLD a tenant can breach the landlord/PM for failing to address maintenance issues. Make sure it is documented, and call the tenant advisory group in your state for clarification. Once the owner has been breached, the owner will either have to pay for the repairs themselves, or risk having you end the lease for their failure to satisfy the contract.

the small issues like broken oven lights - there's not much you can do. But anything major - air-con leaking, pool unusable, coffee machine - you do have a right to have these things operable.

Matt

 

[Lil Skater]

Sounds like builders responsibility too.

I managed a few brand new apartments and it would take 3 weeks of constant calls and emails to the builders to get things done.

The PM should've told you (or at least I would've) that the issues need to be fixed by the builder and that to let her know after a couple of days if no one has attended - this is what I did with my tenants and it allowed me to keep a track record and get the items fixed.

 

[radelaide]

One problem is its a builder/owner so I dont think that helps.

After chasing on the phone all day have had some success.

Pool is now fixed
Aircon is now fixed

I changed 14 down light bulbs today, so that is fixed.

Getting there,.

thanks for the advise.

 

[Deltaberry]

Your landlord supplies you with a coffee machine?

Gee whizzzzzzz

 

[radelaide]

If you knew what I pay in rent every week you would think its made of gold.........Darwin is so expensive at the moment - just moved up from radelaide.

 

[DistinctPM]

Hi Radelaide,

Regardless of whose needs to fix what the responsibility falls on the Lessor (Landlord). If you are not getting any love from the RA then I suggest you lodge a Notice to Remedy Breach (Landlord) and if the matter still isn't resolved you can seek a determination from the Commissioner (Application to the Commissioner) to get things moving and to have a rent reduction applied while you are waiting for them to be completed. If the issue the Landlord is having is getting the builder to make the repairs then the Landlord may seek compensation from the Builder for any lost/deminished rental as a result of the delay in repairs.

The forms you need to get things rolling are found at http://www.nt.gov.au/justice/consaffairs/res_tenancies.shtml

I hope this information is useful.

 

[jaycee]

As the house is basically new, most of these things would be covered under warranty. so it may be the builder that is unresponsive or the agent is
out of their depth.

So in both cases, it's the PM's fault ?

Surely a decent person would still communicate to the tenant, not leave them in the dark ?