urgent help with PM in QLD

[goldstar77]

Hello all

​

Long time reader, first post...
We have an IP in Melbourne but have move to Bris for work/lifestyle
Decided the 'smart' thing to do was rent for a year or so until we 'sussed out' where we wanted to be and then buy.
However....we have had a nightmareof a time with the property we have leased...turns out the place which looked good on inspection turned out to have so many issues, mostly from lack of maitenence over a number of years/previous tenants....

All of which it seems that the LL and PM knew about previously; according to the tradies that have come out to quote to 'fix things'.
We have reported everything that has gone wrong to the PM in writing, as well as verbally, with no response until we served a breach notice. After the notice, we did actually get calls back and the PM maitenence person came through the property to look, agreed with us on what needed to be done but nothing actually was done to remedy the situation.

Please note that the PM has never disputed anything we asked for her to fix. The PM has also not once asked to inspect the property, which would be one of the first things I would do in the situation.

The next step after waiting two more weeks was applying to the RTA for 3 way telephone mediation. The PM at that stage then promised repairs would get done, and sure enough we had over 10 different tradies come through the property in just over a week to 'have a look'- but no actual work done. One tradie came on a sat morning equipped with a key when we had not recieved any entry notice The PM when confronted tried to say she had posted one the previous Thurs but it has never turned up and she could not produce a copy either.

A few days after the tele conference the RTA mediator called back for an update. By this stage, all we wanted to do was leave the property due to lack of action by the PM. The stress has been considerable, and we are not getting what we are paying for. The mediator agreed to put it to the PM that we would like to be released from the lease without penalty (eg reletting fees for breaking lease) to which the PM seems to have agreed.

We have given a date for exit and served the Pm with the relevant notice, however yesterday we received what we thought was a standard letter detailing what our responsibilities were on exiting the property, no problems there, but attached to that was an entry notice for the PM (and owner?) to inspect the property just 5 days before we exit.

We are thoroughly confused here...why would they inspect when we are in the middle of moving? Especially since I assume they will be inspecting again when we have exited? Why inspect now, and not when we raised all the issues weeks ago?

We have lived here for less than 3 months. In that time we have been unable to use alot of the house, I won't detail all the issues right now but basically they relate to bad mould and moisture issues in the property which were not apparent when we initially inspected. The whole time we have been here we have paid the entire amount of rent on time without question, even when we were getting no responses to our complaints. We did send a letter asking for a rent decrease 2 weeks ago, if no repairs were going to be done, to which PM acknowledged receiving, but to which she has not responded . So we are still paying the full amount.

To be honest we are stunned by the way the PM has 'managed' the situation...we took the house in good faith, have paid the rent, accommodated all the various tradies/repairers and now have choice but to move costing considerable amounts of money and stress.
We are now so angry at the way things have been handled that we are considering taking the PM/LL to QCAT to seek compensation . We didn't want to move. We already moved this year! My kids are settled in schools they may now have to leave.

As an owner myself I am in shock over the behaviour of the PM, her LL had a good employed paying tenant and they have basically chased us away.
Any advice on what we should do from the wise folks at somersoft?
So sorry for the long first post...all advice most gratefully taken on board!
Many thanks,
Goldstar77

 

[Fudge]

Doesn't soound very good at all.

If you can break the lease then good on you.

Landlords need to ensure that they offer the place for rent to be 'liveable or habitable'. Without knowing all your issues, cannot make any comments.

The PM however sounds pretty bad. I don't know why they didn't go out and investigate property after your initial concerns.

Maybe if you have written diary entries for all phonecalls and letters to the PM, may stand you in good stead to seek compensation (or better still) do not pay any break fees.

If the PM is so bad, how do you know that the Landlord is aware of your problems?

I would try and get out. Hopefully, you have done some research into where you want to live.

Let us know result.

Good Luck.

Cheers

F

 

[Medine]

Hi Goldstar,

Having the LL visit is a great opportunity!
Maybe they haven't been aware at all of the problems?

I have one property that an ex PM inspected one month. She reported it was all good, nothing to do. Then the tenants asked for the ceiling to be painted the next month. The paint was peeling off in sheets!! I can't see how it could have been okay a month earlier?? Even if the tenants weren't bothered it was easy maintenance that could cost a lot to fix in a few years after the raw plaster was exposed!

Anyway, maybe the LL is in the dark, and maybe not.
I'd approach the scheduled inspection as if they are.
Hopefully they'll be open to fixing your list of issues.
Hopefully they'll be open to changing PMs for you.
Then you'll be able to stay!

If not, you've lost nothing and fingers crossed that you find something else to rent close by. With a different PM!

Good luck.

Cheers, Medine

 

[schweedy]

I'd have a list of the issues and times they arose/were brought to the pm's attention and be asking the LL why these things haven't been fixed.
This is when you find out who is at fault, and then other options may come into play.

Something tells me if you have already taken them to rta (is the LL notified when this happens?) They may already know there are problems and it could be the landlord holding out.

I'd be taking them to qcat for compensation as these things shouldn't be happening

If its the pm, things may finally get fixed and the LL will probably change property managers.

 

[JennyP]

Hello all

​

Long time reader, first post...
We have an IP in Melbourne but have move to Bris for work/lifestyle
Decided the 'smart' thing to do was rent for a year or so until we 'sussed out' where we wanted to be and then buy.
However....we have had a nightmareof a time with the property we have leased...turns out the place which looked good on inspection turned out to have so many issues, mostly from lack of maitenence over a number of years/previous tenants....

All of which it seems that the LL and PM knew about previously; according to the tradies that have come out to quote to 'fix things'.
We have reported everything that has gone wrong to the PM in writing, as well as verbally, with no response until we served a breach notice. After the notice, we did actually get calls back and the PM maitenence person came through the property to look, agreed with us on what needed to be done but nothing actually was done to remedy the situation.

Please note that the PM has never disputed anything we asked for her to fix. The PM has also not once asked to inspect the property, which would be one of the first things I would do in the situation.

The next step after waiting two more weeks was applying to the RTA for 3 way telephone mediation. The PM at that stage then promised repairs would get done, and sure enough we had over 10 different tradies come through the property in just over a week to 'have a look'- but no actual work done. One tradie came on a sat morning equipped with a key when we had not recieved any entry notice The PM when confronted tried to say she had posted one the previous Thurs but it has never turned up and she could not produce a copy either.

A few days after the tele conference the RTA mediator called back for an update. By this stage, all we wanted to do was leave the property due to lack of action by the PM. The stress has been considerable, and we are not getting what we are paying for. The mediator agreed to put it to the PM that we would like to be released from the lease without penalty (eg reletting fees for breaking lease) to which the PM seems to have agreed.

We have given a date for exit and served the Pm with the relevant notice, however yesterday we received what we thought was a standard letter detailing what our responsibilities were on exiting the property, no problems there, but attached to that was an entry notice for the PM (and owner?) to inspect the property just 5 days before we exit.

We are thoroughly confused here...why would they inspect when we are in the middle of moving? Especially since I assume they will be inspecting again when we have exited? Why inspect now, and not when we raised all the issues weeks ago?

We have lived here for less than 3 months. In that time we have been unable to use alot of the house, I won't detail all the issues right now but basically they relate to bad mould and moisture issues in the property which were not apparent when we initially inspected. The whole time we have been here we have paid the entire amount of rent on time without question, even when we were getting no responses to our complaints. We did send a letter asking for a rent decrease 2 weeks ago, if no repairs were going to be done, to which PM acknowledged receiving, but to which she has not responded . So we are still paying the full amount.

To be honest we are stunned by the way the PM has 'managed' the situation...we took the house in good faith, have paid the rent, accommodated all the various tradies/repairers and now have choice but to move costing considerable amounts of money and stress.
We are now so angry at the way things have been handled that we are considering taking the PM/LL to QCAT to seek compensation . We didn't want to move. We already moved this year! My kids are settled in schools they may now have to leave.

As an owner myself I am in shock over the behaviour of the PM, her LL had a good employed paying tenant and they have basically chased us away.
Any advice on what we should do from the wise folks at somersoft?
So sorry for the long first post...all advice most gratefully taken on board!
Many thanks,
Goldstar77

Has it occurred to you that maybe it is just a climate thing? You have come from Melbourne to tropical Queensland and mould is a problem in the tropics.

 

[mrsdawnrazor]

Its Brisbane, not the tropics. Mould should should not be an issue unless there are problems with the ventilation in wet areas. If it is in the wet areas then I would suggest the landlord would know about it and should have installed some sort of extractor fan as you cant expect tenants to always ensure windows are open to clear steam. I had a mould issue in my place in Toowoomba and installed a fan linked to the light switch to make sure it always came on.

 

[goldstar77]

Thanks so much for your replies so far....
JennyP- yes we are aware that Bris had a different climate to VIC, when I say 'mould and moisture issue'; it's not like mould hanging off the ceiling that is the issue here.
Let me explain.
The house is 2 storey, was advertised as 5/6 bed 3 bath. 3 beds and study and 2 bath up, 2 beds and living area and 1 bath down.

When we first inspected the property the place smelt musty and dank. It was enough to make us comment on it to the PM who told us that it was only from the carpets being steam cleaned and then the house was vacant and shut up. She told us it just needed 'airing out' and it would be fine. Okay.

We got approved for the property but didn't move in for a week after; however we did go there immediately and open ALL the windows and doors to 'air out', and switched on fans for several hrs per day AND the air con in the master.

On the day we moved in properly we walked into the bathroom and saw that a large patch of dark green mould had appeared on the bathroom wall near the ceiling cornice. We cleaned it off. It came back. We also noticed that the house still stunk. Downstairs was particularly dank. This was all just after Bris. had some of the heaviest rain and worst humidity in years. We worried that the roof had leaked or something and the place was going mouldy. My kids were meant to sleep downstairs. So we called in a mould inspector to have a look ASAP.
We didn't hassle the PM about this. We paid for it ourselves, over $200. And we have not asked for reimbursment at any stage. To be honest we thought maybe the smell was in our heads and it just smelled to us because like JennyP says, it was a different climate.

But the mould inspector came out with a moisture reader which found much higher levels of moisture in the downstairs areas, the garage adjacent, and the master ensuite upstairs. He found evidence that the shower in the master ens had leaked in the recent past, and that water had seeped underneath it to the downstairs. The leak had been repaired, but the water damage had not been cleaned , hence the moisture and the smell. He also told us there was inadequate ventilation downstairs The house is built on a slope with the downstairs part 'cut into' the earth. It also has water drainage issues. He recommended that a dehumidifier be temporarily put in to help with the moisture, that the water damage be remedied, and that in the longer term an air con be place downstairs to ventilate and dry out the air. We have his written report, the PM has seen it.

He also told us verbally that he personally would not put children down there to sleep until it was fixed. So we have not been using half the house we are paying for.
This is just one of the issues I am talking about.