NSW need help to deal with Dodgy pm

Discussion in 'Property Management' started by qq83, 1st Nov, 2018.

Join Australia's most dynamic and respected property investment community
Tags:
  1. qq83

    qq83 Member

    Joined:
    1st Nov, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    sydney
    Just received my rental statement agent charged 850 for damaged gargage panel replacement and 180 exit service fee from the last tenant. The garage panels are damaged by last tenant and I thought it should be paid by the tenant? Also the exit cleaning service should be paid by the tenant as well? The pm is not responding to my calls and email anything I can do guys?
     
  2. qq83

    qq83 Member

    Joined:
    1st Nov, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    sydney
    I am a newbie but am I wrong in thinking that the previous tenant should pay for both?
     
  3. ellejay

    ellejay Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    2,192
    Location:
    Kimberley and NZ
    Ring their manager if you can't get the pm.
     
  4. wylie

    wylie Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    13,932
    Location:
    Brisbane
    I self manage and have never had this type of issue except once when a tenant removed the clothesline and drilled a big hole in a VJ wall to run a power cord through.

    We asked him to pay for a new clothesline and my hubby patched the wall and the tenant paid for that wall to be painted.

    I would think the tenant should be paying and your PM should be picking up the phone and talking to you. Why not call the owner of the PM business and also email so you have a paper trail.
     
    Michael Mitchell likes this.
  5. Phoenix Pete

    Phoenix Pete Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2016
    Posts:
    346
    Location:
    PM - Sydney NSW
    You may find that the agent has paid the tradespeople from the rental funds and has also submitted a claim on the tenant's bond.... and when the refund is received by the agency then you will be reimbursed.
     
    Tom Rivera, qak, mikey7 and 2 others like this.
  6. Propertunity

    Propertunity Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    19th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    3,476
    Location:
    NSW
    It is probably this ^ ^. I've experienced the same transactions in a rental statement. Expenses can be deducted this month while income from the rental bond board can take 4-6 weeks to arrive next month or the month after's statement.
     
    Tom Rivera and Scott No Mates like this.
  7. qq83

    qq83 Member

    Joined:
    1st Nov, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    sydney
    Thanks guys for all the suggestions. The previous tenant moved out in July and the pm just invoiced me after 4 months. Does it take this long to deduct funds from the bond?
     
  8. mikey7

    mikey7 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    30th Mar, 2016
    Posts:
    1,173
    Location:
    Sydney, Brisbane
    You need to ask the PM about the bond. I have a feeling it was forgotten about.
    I had a somewhat similar situation.. the PM didn't take any bond from the tenant as they left, left me out of pocket $300 odd for months.
    I finally got the director involved and they paid me back in 2 days.
     
    Tom Rivera likes this.
  9. qq83

    qq83 Member

    Joined:
    1st Nov, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    sydney
    Thanks guys for all the advice. I just got off the phone with the PM (Finally). So here is the thing, according to her, they sent a bond release form the the relevant bond authority with the instruction to deduct cleaning cost and the repair cost out of the bond. However, the bond authority failed to follow the instruction and instead released the full amount back to the tenant(I cant believe this happens!!!) So what the PM is trying to do now is to call the tenant to pay the cost and the PM also advised me that in the case that the tenant does not pay, they will take the tenant to tribunal.

    Now my question is:
    1. Does this really happen or its just PM playing their games. I can hardly believe that an authority will fail to follow the instruction.
    2. In case things start to turn ugly and has to be brought to the tribunal, who is responsible to pay the cost associated with going through the legal process? Could i expect the PM to cover such cost?

    Thanks again guys for all the advice.

    Cheers
     
  10. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    9,189
    Location:
    Adelaide and Gold Coast
    It could happen. You know what govt depts are like.
    Depends if it was their fault or not.
    ^ This is the most common scenario
     
  11. Lil Skater

    Lil Skater Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,109
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Not from NSW, but I've never had that mistake with the RTBA. In NSW though the tenant can pay for a release of the bond and it's auto refunded if the agent doesn't respond, so it's possible the agent was actually too late if the tenant claimed and they didn't respond.
     
  12. qq83

    qq83 Member

    Joined:
    1st Nov, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    sydney
    Hi guys, just want to provide some updates and seek your advice.
    I received a copy of the rental property release form from the agent last friday,
    Apparently, on the release form, the agent did put 1000 being deducted from the bonds to pay for damages and cleaning. However, Fairtrading NSW failed to act correctly on the release form and instead, release the whole amount back to the tenant.

    Now I guess i will have to deal with FairTrading NSW now (which i hope is easier to deal with).

    My questions are:

    1. Do things like this happen often? i am a new landlord
    2. Should i just call the customer service number to ask them to resolve it or there is another channels that i can explore to get it resolved quick.
    3. Is this something that FairTrading NSW would need to pay by themselves? if not, then what happens if the tenants refuse to pay?

    Regards
     
  13. mikey7

    mikey7 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    30th Mar, 2016
    Posts:
    1,173
    Location:
    Sydney, Brisbane
    Get a copy of the form from Fair Trading too.. see if they match.
     
  14. qq83

    qq83 Member

    Joined:
    1st Nov, 2018
    Posts:
    11
    Location:
    sydney
    Thank you for reminding me this!!! i did what you suggested and guess what!! Fair Trading cant find a form at all!!!!! now i am ****** but i also received an email from the agent suggesting that they are taking the tenants to Tribunal. now i dont want to spook the agent yet as the entire story is still not clear and i need them to go to the Tribunal. However, i never had any experience in situation like this and would like to get some ideas from you guys!..

    Many thanks
     
  15. Phoenix Pete

    Phoenix Pete Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2016
    Posts:
    346
    Location:
    PM - Sydney NSW
    Sounds like your agent is playing games with your and has straight out lied to you about lodging the bond claim.. and now is trying to make up for their stuff up by taking the tenant to the tribunal.

    I'd ask the agent to give you a copy of the full tribunal application which includes their explanation as to why they are seeking the orders against the tenant.(in NSW the applications can get lodged on NCAT Online.. and NCAT will give the hearing date, time and location pretty much instantly).

    I'd also ask the agent for a copy of the NCAT Notice of Hearing to see that the agent has indeed lodged the tribunal application and then double check the details of the hearing here:

    Hearing lists
     
    Michael Mitchell likes this.
  16. D.T.

    D.T. Specialist Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    3rd Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    9,189
    Location:
    Adelaide and Gold Coast
    Wow, can they teach SACAT how to do that please?
     
    Michael Mitchell likes this.
  17. Lil Skater

    Lil Skater Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    1,109
    Location:
    Melbourne
    Same in Vic ;) (unless VCAT is inundated)


    I agree sounds like agent is doing a dodgy.
     
  18. Tom Rivera

    Tom Rivera Property Manager Business Member

    Joined:
    1st Jul, 2015
    Posts:
    2,718
    Location:
    South East Queensland
    Although it sounds like the agent may be being dodgy, this DOES happen. Almost every Property Manager I know has been in a situation at some stage where our RTA (QLD equivalent bond authority) has incorrectly refunded bond to tenants.

    The Property Manager should be able to show evidence that they submitted the correct form to the relevant authority. There will be a procedure in place for these situations that allow you to recover those funds without proceeding to tribunal.
     
    Michael Mitchell likes this.
  19. dabbler

    dabbler Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    18th Jun, 2015
    Posts:
    8,572
    Location:
    Sid en e - olympic city
    Sounds like it is tenants cost.

    If the PM was dragging the chain & the tenant acted quickly to get bond back, they may have out maneuvered you both.

    I bet your going to have to fight them on this one, I suspect it was a calculated move.
     
  20. Michael Mitchell

    Michael Mitchell Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    17th Sep, 2018
    Posts:
    1,378
    Location:
    Brisbane (Nundah)
    Vaguely remember hearing somewhere I *think* the RTA has powers to take it from a persons bank account through the banking system eg. reversing a transaction type of thing even if protracted periods of time have elapsed and even if said bank account as insufficient funds, if they're incorrectly paid money out and the recipient won't voluntarily pay it back.