Can a licensee make claim in small claims court

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by Abooking, 3rd Mar, 2016.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
  1. Abooking

    Abooking Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    23rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    126
    Location:
    nsw
    Last year I changed P.M's due to 4 years of bad service and many errors.

    The new P.M took over the management mid month and I didnt receive a final rental statement from the sacked P.M. I put it down to them being annoyed with me.

    As it turns out I just found out that the old PM paid a quarterly rates payment but did not bill me for it. i.e. they didnt take it out of the rent.

    I presume that they haven't yet noticed the mistake and it might only be highlighted in their year end reconciliation (end of june?).

    If they email me at this time asking for the money back what happens if I ignore their request? Are they going to bother to take me to the small claims court for $600. I presume that the legal costs would be far in excess of this?... unless of course they represent themselves.

    They treated me quite badly towards the end and a year ago the licensee failed to reply to an email from me where I was asking about a recent sale in the same street as my I.P. He later apologised but it confirmed to me that most agents are 'full of bull'.

    I still might give the money back but interested to know some opinions on this issue.

    many thanks
     
  2. Terry_w

    Terry_w Lawyer, Tax Adviser and Mortgage broker in Sydney Business Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    41,666
    Location:
    Australia wide
    Yes they can take you to court over this. But whether they will or not is a different question. You could also be liable for their costs up to a limit.
     
  3. Scott No Mates

    Scott No Mates Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    27,094
    Location:
    Sydney or NSW or Australia
    Have you claimed the cost in your tax return? (Guilt trip)
     
  4. Propertunity

    Propertunity Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,476
    Location:
    NSW
    Given that they likely paid this bill out of their Trust Account, they may well pursue the debt. The Trust Acct will get looked at and signed off by an auditor each 12 months.
     
  5. Abooking

    Abooking Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    23rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    126
    Location:
    nsw
    I investigated a little further into this. It turns out that it might not have been the old agent. The payment was made by a credit card. I presume someone keyed in the incorrect details- maybe the council. Its weird that no one has contacted me as the other person will surely be receiving arrears letters by now. I think its time to man up and get the council to investigate