Feel blackmailed.

So as ive posted before our RE has been hard to deal with.
We recently were ment to have a rent inspection on the 19th of Dec. The re tried to change the date then decided to keep the date. Again just went with it. It was ment to be done between 9 and 1pm. We waited at home till 1:20pm she hadn't turned up so we went out. Only to get back and have DS tell us she turned up after 1:30pm. She didn't come inside the house as she had no key BUT she unlatched the side gate and walked around the back ect. We were pee'd off a bit as it was after 1pm so she had no right to be there,But figured like the other 3 times she didn't turn up we would get a new date for the inspection.

Well that didn't happen. The next day she finally sent someone out to fix the retic which the plumber broke back in may and we have told her this many times.So even after fertilizing the grass and hand watering when we could the grass was dry. Anyway the day he fixed the retic she sends us a RE INSPECTION letter!!!! It tells us we need to water the garden with the retic as the grass is dry and patchy, they recommend we do it on our watering days. Tells us to fertilize the grass too. Tells us to water the plants as they are browning and to remove the palm leaves from the back.

Im beyond mad! So I make some calls and we are right she is in breach for coming onto the property after said time.And that she can not re-inspect unless she has breached us which she hasn't and cant due to her being there after her time.

So I email her telling her we had got advice regarding her letter.And that she was in breach for coming onto the property after said time.Pointed out that the retic had only just been fixed and that she can not reinspect without breaching us for which she has no grounds. Also asked what plants she was talking about as there was only one that was brown and its a plant that browns off then grows back. Let her know that the palm leaves which are in fact placed in a neat pile ready for greens collection.

This is the reply we got back :

:

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Many thanks for your email.

Further to our email sent 17/12/2013 , we had court on the day of the 19th
of December 2013 and your inspection was carried out on my way back to the
office on this day.
The main concerns for this inspection was for the lawns and gardens to be
checked and have attached photos "ingoing ( for comparison) and inspection
photos carried out on the 19thof December ".

We have sent you a reinspection letter as apposed to a "formal breach
notice" as this does not cause a blemish on your tenant card. We feel now
that the reticulation has been repaired and you have fertilized we should
see a vast improvement for our next re inspection which is due on the 24th
of January 2014. We trust that by this date the greens collection will have
also occurred.

We look forward to seeing you on the 24th of January 2014.

Kind Regards,

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So she agrees the date was right but completely ignores the fact that she had passed her 1pm cut off.The photos she sent us are not dated and ar from way before we moved in as the lawn was dead and they asked us for our receipt from when we fertilized the lawns so they could use it against the ex tenants. She tells us she expects the greens to have been before she comes...yeah cause we can control that right?!?

Now we don't know if we should breach them like we were going to as she basically says she is doing us a favour by not breaching us on the grass, which she should be able to anyway as its her fault for not fixing the retic.And its most annoying that she has deliberately sent us the reinspect letter the day after the retic was fixed,not the day after she inspected.That was the 19th the letter we got is dated the 3rd of Jan!!

ere scared now that if we do or say anything to tick her off she will breach us on anything she can and that it will make it hard for us to find a new place...which we are doing right now as this is a joke!
They haven't fixed anything we have reported so far, We have power points we cant use as they zap you,same with the toilet light.We cant use out bedroom light as the rain has gone right through the roof and leaked out of the light above our bed so much so we had to place a pot on our bed to catch the water.This has been reported to them 4 times! The power box for a room fan is literally hanging by the power cord off the wall and they haven't fixed that as well. What are we ment to do.We tick her off then we will get a bad referral from them when we apply for a new place,or she will breach us on anything she can. We don't know what we can do.

And now were worried we will loose our bond for things that aren't our fault.I took pics of the whole home thankgoodness so I can prove what the inside was like but we forgot to take pics of the lawn and garden,which was dead when we moved in.
Freaking out!!!

That is all bs. I would personally cal her bluff. Get all your dtiff together. Have you got proof of when you reported everything? Proof of when things have been dealt with if they have?
Take them to the ...tennant place? Sorry I don't rent so don't know where you do take it. But yea fight it call her bluff.

Thanks TT40. That's what I did in my email.I used so much detail referred to emails with dates that I had made complaints of ect, and that's why she replied with her email the way she did. I have spoken to consumer protection many times,the last being 20mins ago.And they have said that yes while she is in the wrong at the end of the day if we wish to fight anything we have to go to court to do so.And that yes in most case's she can say things to other re's that we apply to,and if we dispute it again its down to going to court with our proof ect.But if we do that we will never get a home :(

They advised us to maybe "play nice" and sign a lease else where before this one is up and then breach them on everything at once. Whats the point is us having rights if to keep them we have to go to court and may end up with a bad ref and no home to move to anyway! So much for tenants rights, I just want to cry

That's sounds so stressful and unfair. I have heard so many similar stories to yours from friends who are all decent great tenants who I'd be more than happy to leave my house to, and yet they get screwed by RE like its a hobby.
It's sucks that you have to play nice.
Is there even the remotest possibility you can contact the house owner. Most of them would be surprised to hear their property is being neglected by the RE.

Hi, that is ridiculous. Not sure what state you are in but we are in Victoria and we rented out our home for 18 months and while tenants did mow, they did not weed and pulled out numerous plants they said had died. Basically all they did was mow and our RE told us the upkeep of gardens Is very unclear in tenancy act. (but our re was hopeless as they let the tenants wreck the place) It sounds like you are doing all the right things and RE is being over zealous!!!!

To contact the owner we would have to do so via the re :(

Well thats it DH has a green thumb so has always taken care of the garden,he was hand watering on the days we could front and back which took over an hour. They have never ever had a complaint about how we care dor the home. DH replaced all the sprinkler tops from the retic when we moved in out of our pocket as well.
I think rather than admit to the owner she forgot to fix the retic she is placing the blame on us.

It makes us feel like poo as we really do take care of the home as we would expect it to be if it were our own. I could completly understand if we were not taking care of it but thats not the case.

Fingers crossed when we get a new place they appreciate us looking after the home.

Are you in NSW? If so she cannot legally put anything against your name without an order if her favour from the Tenancy Tribunal, she also has to provide you with a copy of what she intends to write you up for and give you 14 days to respond..

If you are in NSW I can give you plenty of advice regarding the above.. I work in law and more particularly property law..

Thamks emmalee, but were in WA

Can you both have a meeting with her and the manager, hoping she is not the manager.

Let the manager know that you have reported all the things that need repairing and that there are many things that are making the house unsafe. Having unsafe electrics should be their first priority as if you get shocked it will go against them

Aren't the owner's details on the lease docs? We're in WA as well, and our deets are on the lease doc.

No there not all they have is c/o and they re address i think....will go re check.

I have reported all issues to the manager who owns the re months ago too,all he said was he would let the owner know.

For WA titles, you can do an online search through Landgate (the WA). It's $24. Landgate - WA Government website

If the property is owned by a company, you can do another online search through ASIC to find out who the directors and shareholders are (and the address of their their registered office) for about $15.

I would just do the searches, and contact the owner(s) directly.

I gather from this and previous posts that you have tried a number of times to resolve these apparently personal issues with this particular RE and her boss, and nothing has happened from their end to fix things - between the professional relationship, or to do with the house.

Even this response given is passive aggressive - she's still coming when she wants to, she's ignoring her having come at the wrong time, and the fact that the grass didn't have a chance to recover following the fixing of the doodad, and adding more sins to her list, despite the fact that you can't use some electrical outlets because you'll get zapped! It's a bit ridiculous, isn't it?

Is it even your job to do stuff to do with garden maintenance, other than mowing the lawn? At a place we used to rent, we weren't allowed to plant veggies, because we weren't allowed to do anything to the garden except mowing it (but at least it went both ways - we didn't have to do pruning or mulching or anything like that either).

If I was the landlord, while I would prefer everything to go through the RE (I mean, that's why you pay them, right?) if my RE agents were being asshats and there were enormous issues jeopardising the health and safety of my tenants (let alone the insurance / liability issues) I would want to know asap - whether via the RE or from the tenant directly.

And if I was the tenant, I'd be calling up the retail tenancy board (or whatever you have in WA) and checking that if I've given adequate written notice, I can get a sparky in to fix the wiring. I'd probably get 2 or 3 quotes so I could show that it was a market value fix, but I'd sure be getting a reimbursement for it. That's not just a zapping hazard, it's a fire hazard if the wiring isn't working properly. I'd be getting to that immediately.

Get the searches. Contact the owner. Be straightforward, unemotive, and stick to facts. Keep copies of all your letters.

I would also be making a formal written complaint to the RE, which I would send to the manager of that office, and forward to any headquarters, if it's a franchise. It again would be straightforward in terms of facts - dates, times, issues with the property, breaches of the lease, etc - not getting into personality issues, and ask for their written response, and their ETA of when the issues are going to be fixed. I would also ask that someone else managed my client relationship going forwards.

Maybe I'm a bit tired and intolerant tonight, but that's what I'd be thinking.

While I'm thinking of it, the zappy sockets alone are a lease breaking offence, as you've given them repeated notice and they've not done anything. Maybe it's time to look for a new place, and breach them?

:

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For WA titles, you can do an online search through Landgate (the WA). It's $24. Landgate - WA Government website

If the property is owned by a company, you can do another online search through ASIC to find out who the directors and shareholders are (and the address of their their registered office) for about $15.

I would just do the searches, and contact the owner(s) directly.

I gather from this and previous posts that you have tried a number of times to resolve these apparently personal issues with this particular RE and her boss, and nothing has happened from their end to fix things - between the professional relationship, or to do with the house.

Even this response given is passive aggressive - she's still coming when she wants to, she's ignoring her having come at the wrong time, and the fact that the grass didn't have a chance to recover following the fixing of the doodad, and adding more sins to her list, despite the fact that you can't use some electrical outlets because you'll get zapped! It's a bit ridiculous, isn't it?

Is it even your job to do stuff to do with garden maintenance, other than mowing the lawn? At a place we used to rent, we weren't allowed to plant veggies, because we weren't allowed to do anything to the garden except mowing it (but at least it went both ways - we didn't have to do pruning or mulching or anything like that either).

If I was the landlord, while I would prefer everything to go through the RE (I mean, that's why you pay them, right?) if my RE agents were being asshats and there were enormous issues jeopardising the health and safety of my tenants (let alone the insurance / liability issues) I would want to know asap - whether via the RE or from the tenant directly.

And if I was the tenant, I'd be calling up the retail tenancy board (or whatever you have in WA) and checking that if I've given adequate written notice, I can get a sparky in to fix the wiring. I'd probably get 2 or 3 quotes so I could show that it was a market value fix, but I'd sure be getting a reimbursement for it. That's not just a zapping hazard, it's a fire hazard if the wiring isn't working properly. I'd be getting to that immediately.

Get the searches. Contact the owner. Be straightforward, unemotive, and stick to facts. Keep copies of all your letters.

I would also be making a formal written complaint to the RE, which I would send to the manager of that office, and forward to any headquarters, if it's a franchise. It again would be straightforward in terms of facts - dates, times, issues with the property, breaches of the lease, etc - not getting into personality issues, and ask for their written response, and their ETA of when the issues are going to be fixed. I would also ask that someone else managed my client relationship going forwards.

Maybe I'm a bit tired and intolerant tonight, but that's what I'd be thinking.

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Thanks Peanutter. Yep going to contact landgate today. Ive re-checked the lease and it has a first name but then c/ and a po box for the re pfft

As for the garden we do have to fertilize but we don't have to fix sprinklers ect but DH did it as when we moved in most wernt working and he wanted to fix the dead grass. Guess we kinda set our selves up for them to expect that from us always huh Being our first rental we moved in thinking if this were our home how would we like it to be looked after? And then treated it accordingly,Maybe that's our mistake.

We have contacted consumer protection about all issues, but it again has come down to we only have a month left and we want out and if we annoy her she can harm our chance of getting a new rental. We haven't paid anyone to fix things as we were told it can be rather hard to get your money back of the re and we just don't have that money to waste.

:

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While I'm thinking of it, the zappy sockets alone are a lease breaking offence, as you've given them repeated notice and they've not done anything. Maybe it's time to look for a new place, and breach them?

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Thanks Bumperstump. That's our plan now. We DH and I had a chat and have decided we will do what we need to keep the re happy for now.Find a new home even if we need to leave here sooner than the month we have left and once we have a new lease signed we are going to send ALL the breaches to the re and place to complaints too. We will also contact the owner to let them know what has been going on as it may be an idea for them to address it with the re, seen as they are paying them to look after things and their not doing their job.

Now.....fingers and toes crossed we find a new place soon and that there better than this silly re. I doubt they will be around too long its a small re and they only have 2 office's here in WA. There quite a new re too and now after doing some looking their main thing is selling.......so may explain a few things huh

Also wanted to add, we found a fb page for them.....where they have comments bagging tenants too. So I don't think complaining to the manager would do a dang thing. I took screen shots of the page so I can take that to consumer protection too,dont know if I can do anything with it but it just doesn't sit right with us.

Wow. Not doing themselves any favours, are they?

Good luck finding somewhere great :)

Thanks. Woo going to view a home tomorrow may it be nice and if we go for it fingers crossed we get it ;)

Make sure you have your bond back before doing anything.

......then throw the book at them. :)

Hmmm i also have no idea how the whole bond thing works hahaha

WA is very different with their tenancy laws, it's very much sided with the owners. As long as you have kept record of all your communications etc you should be fine and you should be able to get your bond back. It sounds like you've got a particularly biased property manager :( if you live south of the river I can recommend a couple of good agencies to rent through.

Thanks. Yeah ive made aure ive kept copies of everything. Were NOR

Ok so we have our supposed reinspection today HA. And as I normally do I type up a letter which is dated, and I note all the things that need to be looked at or repaired. I also add in if I have reported that issue before and the dates I reported them.
I added that we have fertilized the lawns and gardens twice as well as added wetta soil and now that the reticulation is working after being broken for seven months, we hope to see an improvement.

She is ment to come between 9 and 1....lets see if she turns up late if she turns up at all.

I don't think she should have reason to pick on anything. As normal everything is clean. The carpets have been cleaned too, which they were done a few months ago too. DH has as normal got the yard all done the only thing not yet completed is there are some stray grass runners going into a garden bed (which is sectioned off by concrete kerbing stuff and the garden beds are empty as they always have been). BUT we have sprayed them with round up and once dead will be pulled out. As we tried to pull it out first but was so hard haha.

I have no idea what she could pick on, but we are expecting something. We have always got the place nice clean and tidy, lawns mowed, hedges trimmed, weeds pulled. Paving is always swept, outside toys put away in their places neatly. And she has never had an issue before, and we thought we do a good job at looking after the place. Not sure why she doesn't see it that way anymore :S Anyway fingers crossed

How did the inspection go?

She came at the last min haha. Then came in went straight to the backyard. Then went out the front with me and said...looks much better. The retic has really helped huh.

Then said its looks great,not a prob. And went on her way. She was in and out in less than 5mins. She didnt even check the grass runs. Or the inside which im assuming is because its always clean anyway :D

Bahahahahaha!!!!! I just had a phone call from a diff re. Apparently the owners are so unhappy they have a new re to sell the house.
Had a good chat to her and 98% of the things we have been reporting to them the owners have no idea about. Gee big shocker. Sadly our lease is still with the same re but the new one said she will let the owners know about the things we have reported.

The power points are dangerous and would be classified as needing an urgent repair. DH is an electrician, we have rented and he has worked for REs before. That needs to be fixed and pronto. Check your tenancy agreement (or whatever it is in WA) - as to what circumstances you can call your own trades person. The fact that it is unsafe, danger of shocks and a fire hazard would have me screaming down the phone because they certainly wouldn't have a leg to stand on as far as evicting you goes.

Secondly, I've had advice about gardens before. We rented in three separate houses, three different REs. I got advice from a director of a RE who was unrelated to the properties. She told me that if the owner/re expected any more than the minimal weeding and mowing of the garden, then if they expected the garden to be in a specific condition, they were to organise a gardener at the owner's cost. So while I understand that your DH enjoys doing it (I did to), you'll probably find that you are not responsible for anything other than the basics.

Sounds like this RE is a complete twat and if you don't want to ruffle feathers, then I'd be getting the hell out of there.

Thanks MissS. The new re that's selling the house called the owners and then called me back. The owners are supper pee'd off. The re there using for us to rent through haven't told them of ANY of the things we have reported! There not happy at all. They have asked the re who's selling the home to look at the things we have reported and get back to them so they can have them fix asap.

The new re is on the ball. She only called yesterday and their sale sign went up today.......the old re's one is still up too haha. The new re so far has been good in regards to the home opens.She said the weekend she would like to hold one BUT asked us what times would be best for us and then went with that.The old one just told us a week before and that was that. So we shall see how it goes. But we were honest and said due to the other re's treatment of us we may not be re-newing the lease.