Inspection reports GRRRR

Ok.. so a little background.

We have had heaps of problems with this real estate. Including them not passing on the repairs requests tot he owner and not giving us the copies of our inspection reports for the house.

So I called the real estate to ask for copies of these and the property manager infomed me that sicne they have changed thier computer system in the office...some of the files have been lost!! How convient!!!When I asked her to send me an email stating this, she asked if this was nesecary (sp)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I want copies of all these because i have a very stong suspicion that when we go to move out they are going to fight us on allot of the stuff in the house, including the falling down fence and state of the carpets which we have mentioned in all the inspectinios. And i'll want copies of these to take to the tribunral if needed. I honestly believe that they aren't writing down half the stuff we mention in our reports and thats why nothing is being fixed because nothing is being passed onto the owner of the house.

So... does anyone know... are we entitled to copies of inspection reports as tenants???

Of course you are entitled to any inspection report they do! Take lots of photos and document every time you contacted them or sent through a request for repair, i had to do that. The real estate were so bad we ended up breaking our lease tho, as the office was right down the street they were often sticking their heads over the fence so i just couldnt do it anymore! Maybe ask them to come and do another inspection as i assume property owner would want to see a report? So if he has a copy you should have one too.

You are not only entitled to a copy, but they are required to provide it to you. In NSW and ACT I am pretty sure that you are supposed to sign off on it with them - they should have a hard copy (the one they filled out while there) even if they are putting them on a computer system. Definitely keep your own record of everything, some of these REA are so dodgy and incompetent. Is there any way you can get in touch with the landlord directly - they probably have no idea what is going on, and it is as much to his detriment as it is yours (arguably more, as you have tenant rights to protect you). It is amazing how often REA rip of the landlords, not keeping them informed and charging them expenses that aren't occurring - and by not doing what they should for the landlord, the tenant is in turn disadvantaged.

Just thought I should add, maybe you should get in touch with the Tenants advocacy service (they are free), they should be able to provide you with advice. You should be able to find out about them with a google search or through the tenancy tribunal.