Renters rights RE repairs

I've looked online but can't seem to find a clear cut answer on this. When we moved in to our new place, there were some things that were already broken in the house, like a few window latches, fly screens and the bath plug. We put in a maintenance request, they REA took a little while to get back to us, and then said that the landlord himself will come and inspect/repair everything at 9am on Saturday. I'm not really happy about this. It feels very intrusive honestly, I feel like it's an inspection. Sunday is generally the day we do our main clean of the house, so by Saturday the floors are in need of a mop, it's just not the neatest the house could be. 9am is an awful time for us too, I need to use the bathroom around then and DD is just waking up or eating brekky. Is the actual landlord allowed to just come in and inspect/repair stuff? All I've been able to find online is guidelines for timeframes etc. The fact that the REA said that he'd be inspecting the damage feels like its insinuated we caused it, which isn't the case (and we mentioned all this stuff on the initial condition report anyway). So what's the deal, or do I just have to accept it?

The owner can choose who he wants to do the repairs so there isn't much you can do there but you can ask for him to come later as it isn't a good time explain to the agent that the bathroom will be in use etc.

hopefully they aren't going to blame the repairs on you, I know when we rented mil's house a few months ago dh had to go back and do repairs as it was little things we overlooked as it was only noticed when the house was lived in.

You have a right to 7 days notice so I would say that time isn't good for you. If the owner can do next Saturday then I'd go with it and at least you have more time to plan on a little cleaning through the week (I know how it gets!).

We had a landlord who liked to do all repairs himself. He was lovely, so don't fret. Perhaps he just means "inspect" as in see what materials he needs to fix it, then he'll come back with the stuff and do it.

Okay cool. I should add that it's all stuff we're happy to do ourselves, and we mentioned that. We just put the request in to basically let them know we were planning on fixing things, we're more than happy to get the materials from Bunnings and shoulder that cost, it's only small after all. But they insisted on him coming and first inspecting the damage and then repairing if he thinks it's necessary. I'm glad we were thorough in the condition report, because the really did leave this place a mess, oven filthy, smoke alarms don't work, toilet gross etc. I know they can't inspect the property in the first 3 months of tenancy, which is why I'm wondering what they meant by inspection.

Landlords only have to give 24 hours notice to enter a property and you cant refuse them. Their intent to enter the property must be in writing though.

http://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/resou...renting-rights

Yep, but only to do the following:

"carry out duties listed in the tenancy agreement or relevant laws
value the property
show prospective buyers or financial lenders through the premises
show prospective tenants through the premises (within 14 days of a current lease termination date)
verify a reasonable belief that the tenant has not met their duties as a tenant
make one general inspection in any six-month period, but not within the first three months of the tenancy."

And it says they can't stay longer than a reasonable amount of time to carry out the repairs. What I don't get is how he's supposed to repair the bath. We got what we were told by two big hardware shops was a generic version of the plug that's a universal fit, didn't fit so we were told we'd need to order it in from the supplier. So how is landlord going to fix it tomorrow? Oh well, it's long as he's not lingering and looking at things he doesn't need to, all is good. After our last experience with being screwed over by our landlord because we weren't aware of our rights, I thought I'd better make extra sure :) Thanks guys, I'll let you know how we go tomorrow.

I'm sure it will all be fine :). DH does all the repairs for our rental - he has built up a great friendships with our tenants over the last few years, we even got invited to the wedding of one couple who lived there lol! He's very quick to do repairs when asked (cheaper than paying someone else to do it) and does not care if the place is untidy.

Your landlord probably knows the house well and knows what needed to be fixed already. He'll probably realise it wasn't you who damaged things and just wants to get them fixed for you :).

Good luck!

Thanks Trish :) Hope our landlord is nice like you guys :lol:

Could work out to be a good thing too. We rented three houses and each time the agent was a real PITA. We met the landlords on two of the properties and from that point, whenever there was a problem, we'd call direct and they were fantastic. One even lifted the "no pets" policy and let us have a dog. They wanted good tenants as much as we wanted a good landlord. Hope it turns out this way for you.

I general I have found it a good thing that landlord is proactive in wanting to come and fix things, I would see it as something positive that it is being done promptly. Our last one was brilliant. Before us he had attempted many times to enter the property legitimately to do repairs, but was unable to due to the tenant. As he was unable to do so, some issues got quite bad and it cost him money. Honestly, if you need/want something fixed, then you need to be flexible with them in getting it done.

Oh good :) I think I've felt a bit jaded by our last landlord experience. I'm glad that it's a positive and people vouch for that approach. Thanks. Good to remember all landlords aren't one big monster like our last one was ;) I got a bit of a mop in today and feel much better about it lol

PZ - I'm with Trish. We are landlords too, and we cut out the agent and I deal with the tenants myself. Landlords can be nice people. Just want to get things fixed. I do it all by email!!

We also deal direct with our landlord here and if he needs to come over, we just make a time we mutually agree on. That's all you'd have to say. If your landlord is reasonable, then they'll understand and plan another time. Sometimes having an agent in the middle is more trouble than it's worth and if you can build a rapport direct with your landlord, any problems will probably be sorted a LOT sooner :)

Well, I called him and aske if it would e okay if he came a little later, as we have a toddler and mornings are a little hectic, and he said that was fine and was very nice :) Awesome.

I was a bit shocked when we moved into this place last year and our landlord wanted to come to fix things himself too, and I was a bit nervous, but they are awesome. If there's an issue we text/call them first as the RE as useless and prefer to arrange a tradie and bill the landlord when the landlord is quite capable of fixing most things, and for a fraction of the cost. Fair enough too I guess, and he does it promptly so no issue with me! Sounds like he's pretty flexible, you might find if the landlord gets to know you, they're more flexible as the lease goes on - that's what we've found anyway.

I'm another that deals with the landlord. We are also landlords that deal with stuff the same.
Hope yours is awesome too hun.

How did it go with the landlord hun? I hope it all went well


Sent from the land of "iSomethings" so forgive me for any spelking misstaks ;)

He was really lovely :) Very nice, his wife is due with their first in January so we had a good chat about that. Fears were all for nothing, he said just call him if we have a problem instead of the REA :)

Oh that's great! I bet you're so relieved now! :)


Sent from the land of "iSomethings" so forgive me for any spelking misstaks ;)