Air Con not working for 2 months

Hello,

Just wondering what I can do I feel that I'm not getting what I am paying for, I asked agent nicely about discount in rent seeing I had a days like 38 degrees and the lease I signed was for a 2 x 2 with working air con.

I am happy with the unit and its location don't really want to move..

 

Notice to remedy breach and then go to tribunal is your best bet

 

Wow, 2 months, poor thing!
When one of our Units had their AC broke down, we convinced the Owners to buy a fan because we know the new AC would take a while. If its a top floor Unit, we might have hired a portable AC....
Have a think of what you really want then request for it. Else yeah, send Notice to Remedy....

 

You won't get anything from the agency out of thier own generosity.

For what its worth I know someone who recently got good compensation for an aircon that wasnt working (for a much shorter time period), but they already had the PM at the tribunal for other issues too.

The last unit I had replaced was held up with strata issues, but I agree two months is far too long. All things being equal is should be sorted within about a week I would have thought.

 

You are entitled to compensation for a non-working A/C unit for if not repaired in a reasonable period (2 months is unreasonable unless they have unavoidable delays). You can ask the agent, who will probably decline, then you'll need to attend tribunal.

Do they have the new unit booked to be installed or will your 2 months potentially drag out to be 3,4,etc months? If it's booked and ready to go in, you might not want to rock the boat?

 

Isn't AC/reverse cycle basically an essential service these days ?
Like water, power, heating, door/window security ?
If an essential service isn't repaired in a reasonable time (7-10 days) doesn't the tenant have the right to organise repairs and claim reimbursement ?

Sure, some may not have the funds to pay for repairs and wait to be refunded.
I would have lodged a formal complaint a week later and happily have gone to the tribunal.....

Pretty much anyone prepared to pay a call out fee can have an AC looked at within 2-3 days !!!
Or if not repairable, easily replaced within 10 days

 

Nope. I don't think so.
You can perfectly live in a place without A/C, which is why A/C is not a requirement for occupancy certificate (I believe water, electricity, doors and windows are. Unless there are provisions for "off grid").

A fan, a portable evaporative cooling fan, a central evaporative cooling or simple opening the window are all replacement for A/C.
A/C is a luxury and thinking it is essential "need" is huge sense of entitlement.

However, if the OP rented a place with working A/C and it stopped working, the LL has to fix it in a reasonable time. 2 months is NOT reasonable.

 

In NSW a faulty air conditioner would be considered an urgent repair according to the Residential Tenancies Act:

View - NSW legislation

62 Definitions
In this Division—
residential premises includes everything provided with the premises (whether under the residential tenancy agreement or not) for use by the tenant.
urgent repairs means any work needed to repair any one or more of the following—
(a) a burst water service,
(b) an appliance, fitting or fixture that uses water or is used to supply water that is broken or not functioning properly, so that a substantial amount of water is being wasted,
(c) a blocked or broken lavatory system,
(d) a serious roof leak,
(e) a gas leak,
(f) a dangerous electrical fault,
(g) flooding or serious flood damage,
(h) serious storm or fire damage,
(i) a failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply to the residential premises,
(j) a failure or breakdown of any essential service on the residential premises for hot water, cooking, heating, cooling or laundering,
(k) any fault or damage that causes the residential premises to be unsafe or insecure,
(l) any other damage prescribed by the regulations,
but does not include work needed to repair premises that are owned by a person other than the landlord or a person having superior title (such as a head landlord) to the landlord.

 

I don't think Heating and cooling is a luxury or sense of entitlement. Try being a shift worker trying to sleep during the day in 40+ heat

If the property is rented with such services the tenant has every right to have these functional thorough the tenancy so "luxury" or not doesn't matter, they are "entitled" to the service being functional and 2 months is unacceptable

Other states also list heating/cooling

 

In WA the test is less specific but may actually be aurgent repair. But if

Urgent repairs fall into two categories: essential services and other urgent repairs. A suitable repairer must be found within a reasonable timeframe. There are some times when a tenant may need to arrange for the repairer.

Essential services
Essential services are listed in the Residential Tenancies Regulations 1989 and include repairs to:

• a burst water service,
• gas leaks,
• broken hot water system,
• sewerage leaks or
• dangerous electrical faults.

Other urgent repairs
Other urgent repairs are not an essential service, but if not fixed might cause damage to the premises, injure a person or cause undue hardship or inconvenience to the tenant/s.

I would push the claim with the PM. 2 months is too long. Problem in WA is the need to go to a magistrates court hearing. No tribunal

 

And then there is this : Straight from WA website (Govt) https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/urgent-repairs-rental-home

If the landlord/lessor fails to ensure the repairs are carried out as soon as practicable once the tenant has notified them about it, the tenant can arrange for the repairs to be done to the minimum extent necessary. The tenant must also use a suitably qualified repairer. The landlord/lessor is required to reimburse the tenant for any reasonable expense incurred for the tenant to arrange the repairs to be carried out and paying for those repairs. If the landlord/lessor does not pay the tenant back, the tenant can apply to the Magistrates Court to obtain an order requiring the landlord/lessor to reimburse them. The tenant should keep receipts and a record of contact with the landlord/lessor in case the matter goes to Court.

So let the PM know you will exercise that right unless a repairer is booked in 24 hours as they ahve beeen derelict in their resposibility a s PM and as landlord to effect timely repairs. Also caution PM that legal costs would be additional. They will act.

 

We had a problem with a seven year old Mitsubishi AC and the part to replace the dead bit was going to take about six weeks to get here from China. The repair took two months altogether from the time we were notified, a repairman attended and discovered what the problem was, and a solution was accessed. Do you all think it is reasonable to spend $2500 replacing a 7 year old system when only one $900 part has been destroyed - not mechanical failure but an insect nest.

Having done a business management course myself, I find it amazing that you all think the spare parts are just lying around in a local shed somewhere and they can be accessed within a few days. Are ACs so much cheaper in other states that you go out and buy a brand new one to replace something that is only a few years old if it is "previous model"?

Otherwise this is just another nail in the coffin of private landlords providing high-quality accommodation to Australian households.

 

As far as I know, importers are under an obligation to keep enough spare parts for the goods they are selling.
In some cases - for many many years.

I've bought some stuff from a closing down TV repair shop.
He was also the importer for few brands. The back of his store was filled to the brim with drawers filled with every little part for every TV that was ever sold in Australia.
He told me he had to keep those for about 20 years or so.

I bought full cabinets with stuff in it. For me it was Xmas mixed with landing on the moon
I threw out most, but kept bits and pieces, for the day I'd build something out of it...

Regrading A/C units, I tend to install only single head split systems.
They cost anything from $1,500 to $2,500 and if a 7 years old system died - I'll replace the whole thing with new one. Why spending $900 on system that might die any moment?
Add the technician visit that you pay anyway - just throw the damn thing and start again with clear head.

 

Sometimes owner-occupiers also have to wait very long periods of time to get a trades person to come and remedy a problem - it can depend on the demand for the trade, previously booked appointments etc.

It can't always be a case of an immediate remedy, regardless of the problem. Anyone trying to find a solution would have to wait - being a tenant doesn't always mean that you'll go to the top of the list. Sorry.

 

As someone who's been on the trade point on this.

Two things usually happen
It either gets booked in Quickly and site visit within 3 days and quote to fix. Wait ages sometimes to hear back.

Sometimes it got missed in the office and parts aren't ordered so the "no parts in stock" excuse.

Genuinely it can be the parts are out of the country but if you want it you can get pretty much anything within 10 business days to the client.

Today I drove around so many places trying to get gear for an urgent project and that was the option rather than waiting for the couriers/trucks to deliver next week.

Generally RE work is low pay and low priority. So cheapest slowest solutions were opted for.

I would always recommend to tennant to ask about rent adjustment if there was going to be more than a 2 week delay. Some got it others didn't.