Do I have a choice?

[Netix]

On Feb 12 we had a rental inspection. You know the ones, just to make sure you haven't trashed the place and such. Our house was fairly clean, but very untidy, and the backyard had not been mowed for ages. Just before our inspection, I was in hospital, and after coming out, I was in no shape to tidy up. The real estate lady said she was happy with everything, while she was at our house.

However, a couple of days later, we received a letter saying:

Thank you for the opportunity to carry out a routine inspection at the above property today.

I advise that I was very disappointed in the cleanliness and overall untidiness of the house, especially as you knew I was coming to do the inspection. I was also disappointed in the lack of maintenance to the lawns and gardens in the rear yard.

Therefore, I now request you have a good "spring clean" throughout the house, the lawns are mowed, overgrown plants are trimmed and weeds are pulled from the gardens.

I will be attending the property in 2 weeks time on Monday the 28th February at 3.00pm to check if this has been carried out.

There is no requirement for you to be in attendance and should we not hear from you it would be deemed that the above specified date and time is acceptable. We will enter via the spare key held at our office.

We would appreciate you contacting the office should you wish to discuss the above matter.

Now, let me also say this, in the backyard, there is no gardens with overgrown plants or weeds. There is grass, and at the back, a very large evergreen tree. But no weeds or any other plants. There are some weeds in the front yard, but nothing "offensively large".

We house-proud women always want our homes to look their best, but if we are unwell, busy, or even just have the CBF's, everyone will tell us that how our homes look isn't important. And I have slowly come to terms with this. Combined with depression, I think that's pretty hard to do. I have even stopped 'cleaning up' for when my Mum comes. And so, the people who I care the least about what they think of my house, are the people who are causing me the most grief about it.

I don't have the concentration to look through the Residential Tenancies Act regarding this, and took the time to type out the letter so that I could get as much feedback (yes, and moral support hopefully) about it from all of you.

I disagree with this letter, and having the real estate come back to "check". They have a gate key (supposedly), but still broke the handle and lock on the gate when they came a few weeks ago to leave a card in my door. And then at the inspection, the Man mentioned it to them (two of them came to do the inspection), and they claimed it wasn't them. Well, it certainly wouldn't have broken if they (or anyone else) had just tried to turn the handle and found it to be locked. They forced their way in.

When I received the letter, I certainly did not expect it to be this. It has made me very upset, to the point that I have cried about it. I haven't done anything wrong. We haven't broken anything. And it shouldn't matter how untidy the house is. There isn't broken doors hanging off hinges, s*** on the walls, gouges in the polished timber floors, or broken windows. Nor was there a stack of dirty dishes on the sink (that day's breakfast dishes only), nor a stench of nappies. I have two small children and a teenager that live here. The dogs live outside, not in. WTF do they want me to do? Since I knew they were coming, not have a seizure that put a question mark over the rest of my life?

[Catastrophic]

When i was in hospital just before a inspection I rang them up and explained told them it wasn't a good time and they'll have to choose another date, they were quite happy to oblige knowing i was sick.
With that being said, I never "spring clean" my house for an inspeaction, I tidy it up, clean the bathrooms, any noticable marks on the walls i get rid of (but i try to do that anytime i see one) and do a quick mop and vacumme before they come. Thats all.
I believe thats all you have to do, it shouldnt be show room standard, It's your home and you + others live in it!

I think it's quite rude of them personally.

[Netix]

Thanks MummeNurse.

Also, the beds were made, the bathrooms were clean, there wasn't dirty laundry all over the house (or even in the laundry). Grr. I'm going to ring Consumer Affairs now, see what they say. Hopefully something nice...

[Phteven]

Do we have the same landlord?!

We're in ACT so different rules but I assume that the using their key is a no-no and that they have to arrange a mutually agreeable time.

[Bumperstump Cummerbund]

Maybe take some pics of the backyard, so if necessary you can show what state it is in. I certainly think she should've said something while she was there if she had a problem, it's pretty unprofessional to spring it on you later. If you're feeling up to it, I would just ring and say no, that time is not suitable for you, and as there is no damage to the property there shouldn't be any need for an additional inspection. You could tell her, if you wanna reveal it, that you were in hospital just before the last inspection, but all they need to do is refer back to your previous inspection reports to realise that this one is out of character.

I'm sorry this crap keeps getting piled on you

[toomanyshoes]

Oh I feel your pain!!!!

When we were in Brisbane our RE complained because the lawn wasn't mowed, mind you there was a foot of water from the floods in the back yard! THEN they complained when we were moving out because there were boxes everywhere when they were showing people though.

Some people are just complete twats hope you get it sorted!

[~Lashes~]

consumers should be on your side.
what they have outlined is no reason for you to worry.
after you have called consumers, i would call your agent, let them know you have spoke to consumers and find out exactly why she is worried about the state of the yard ect, seing as it is not a "permanent" problem and easily rectified. i hope they are easy on you and understand.
one owner i had came to the inspection and after being told by the agent that she was more then happy with it, i later recived a letter stating i had so many days to
1, cease riding of motorbikes in the yard (he assumed as there was 2 motorbikes infront of the garage that they were being riden on the property)
2, remove dog from property, (she WAS on the lease so shouldnt hae been mentioned)
3, maintain the growth of fruit trees and maintain the grass ( it was winter and his fruit trees were out of season, the grass i had a pool set up for the kids over summer that killed a patch of the grass, but i was re-growing it and was already half repaired at the inspection)

Sometimes they find the smallest things to pick on, and altho it dose stress you out, as a tenant you have lots of rights. they seem like very minute thingsto be pulling you up on, they are in no way a reason to be taken any further then another inspection, wich dosent even sound warrented.

ETA: with the "will enter via spare key held at the office" i would be calling them and letting them know that it is not ok to do so. im realy uncomfortable with people being in my house while im there, and i certainly dont want them being there while i am not. you can tell them that it is either when you are home or not at all. (i like to add in my dog is not friendly while i am out)

[Netix]

Well, the two... um, let's just say, nice rental ladies, just left after my inspection re-inspection. Again, they said they were happy with everything. Uh-huh. Right. Let's see if I get another letter in a few days...

I spent the day vac'ing the house, doing washing and trying to clean and tidy around the kids. I think I feel like that little cleaning bot from that robot movie. Yeah, making lots of sense there Netix! ..... Wall-e! Sorry, that took me ten minutes to figure out! I couldn't even find it on Google. Anyway, you know that little cleaning bot that follows Wall-e's dirty tracks around? I feel like that! I didn't feel like I got much "tidy", until about twenty minutes before the inspection, when I got a box and stacked almost all of the papers from our kitchen bench into it. I managed to separate the junk mail as I went, which went straight into the recycling box for me to make sure there's no letters or anything important before I turf it out. SO much better! I actually have a bench!

Oh! Except for all the little boxes of garbage (can't say the 'cr' word) that I stashed in the pantry. Very . Oh the shame! I could leave the papers in the box and sort them out (file, shred, and recycle), but the boxes have to come back out of the pantry now! Oh well. I was just starting to get used to the idea of having a usable bench again.


I did call Consumer Affairs, and they said there isn't anywhere in the Act that says I need to have a clean and tidy house. It doesn't matter how tidy it is, because I'm the one living there, and "everyone lives differently" (that's what the guy on the phone actually said). He also said I'm entitled to "quiet enjoyment" which I am not getting due to them (the RE) wanting my house to be tidy to their standards. I didn't bother causing a fuss, as mentally, I just couldn't do it atm, and secondly, because we are behind in the rent. If I caused too much of a fuss (ie, making references to the Act), then they could just turn around and give us a notice to vacate. That would more than likely tip me over the edge. In the Act it does say that the place has to be "reasonably clean", which I believe my house was for the first inspection.

Lastly, I'm glad that I was home, as when they left, they left the front gate open. They pulled it to, but didn't actually put the latch down, so it would have swung open in a small breeze. Thanks guys! I'll bet that you would pay ALL the fines for getting my dogs out of the pound, especially as one of them is a restricted breed! Real smart.

Onyx; Here the RE can use their key, as long as the time is agreed upon (their definition of agreeance is me not responding to their letter, but they do give a phone call half an hour before the appointment time to see if I was going to be home to "check if they needed to bring the key from the office".)

Keike; I did tell them I was in hospital. Their care could not have been less.

Sarah; I have told them that the dogs do not like people if we are not home. They either don't care, or don't believe us. And I didn't think the second inspection was warranted, but I let it go, as I said why above.

Thanks for the everyone. I needed them.