Problems with PM - just my luck again

Cimbom,

Did the tenant go to OSR straight after final inspection and lodge the bond refund form themselves? DH and I did this twice here as it's the fastest way to get the bond back.

A copy of the final inspection has to be provided to the tenant when the inspection is completed and it's my understanding that no further inspections or amendments are allowed. Here's a link to the tenant's union website for the tenants perspective:
Tenancy Bond – Tenants' Union ACT Inc.

At this stage, and this is just my opinion and I'm not a solicitor, I don't think you have recourse on the tenant and will have to give them the money back if the agent hasn't already done so. Your only chance would be with the agent. Good luck with Fair Trading! The agent certainly hasn't worked in your best interest.

Kassy

 

Thanks for your reply. I still haven't received the bond inspection report. What happens in the event this final inspection did not occur or if the owner does not receive a report?

I have been quite busy in my new job so haven't had a chance to call Fair Trading yet. Will have to do this next week.

 

I' wish fair trading could do something against ******** agents .

I too am having a problem with an agent right now.

This agency a few years ago. The most senior manager signed me up to a smoke alarm service and refused to refund for 6 months with the stupid excuse we are looking after your best interest followed by oh we've seen so many insurance claims denied from burnt houses because the smoke alarms weren't checked.


And just recently. The same agency but different pm. Has gone and done a termite treatment on the property with no authroisation.

Their first excuse was you asked for it
Their latest excuse is. Yes you asked to get a quote . To get a quote means a treatment.


And whats actually happened is. They emailed me and said there might be termite.
My reply was "where about is it"

And that's the last I heard.

So now I'm starting paperwork to take the agent to tribunal


Feel sorry for you too cimbom

 

The PM replied to my last email on Thursday night saying they will scan the inspection report and email it to me (this was my fourth request). Still no email - you'd think this would be scanned already? i wouldn't want to be storing hard copies of all the paperwork I had. I wouldn't be surprised if the report, if it was completed at all, was based on a quick scan of the house. She would need to prepare the condition report if new tenants were entering the property but probably thought it wasn't worth the effort as we were taking possession ourselves.

She then also mentioned that she had previously given our keys to tradies to finish off jobs and had authorised one to leave a key in the mail box when he was done (which didn't occur) - lucky we changed the locks then!

 

Fair Trading suggested taking the PM to the tribunal to recover repair costs.

I'd be happy if she just refunded the overpaid rent to the tenants herself and we will just wear the cost of repairs given that we've already paid for the electrical work anyway

 

Confirming some earlier comments, unfortunately you can't hold that rent to cover costs.

There are some ambiguities in this case depending on what was organised with the tenant in regards to their early exit date, i.e. did agent pass on your instructions to tenant. For the purposes of here, we'll assume the instructions were never passed on and the tenant was advised they could vacate early without 'penalty'.

The management authority effectively gives the Agency an extension of your authority, meaning that the tenant has a right to the money you are holding because the items weren't picked up on the exit inspection and they paid to the 'agreed' vacate date. They will almost certainly succeed in their tribunal case.

You need to follow up these costs with the Agency, potentially taking them to court to recover the costs if necessary (and worth the time/effort/cost). Your agent is displaying frustratingly common avoidance behaviour, they know they've done the wrong thing.

 

So I've just been sent a condition report from the beginning of the lease where the tenants apparently mention the damage to the grill.

I am extremely suspicious about this as I used it pretty much weekly and would have known if that was the condition before leaving. I would have thought if this was actually the case it would be mentioned far earlier than now? There were no photos of this provided - the PM has asked the tenants for them again as she "lost" them.

She has also now said that no photos were taken during the bond inspection, she only "noted things down on a list". I have asked for this (6th time) and she has now gone quiet again.

 

It's good to hear that you're getting some movement- though it looks like you're only confirming the suspected negligence.

If the damage to the grill was mentioned on the entry condition report then you will likely have very little recompense, it becomes 'he said she said' instead of a failing of the agent to note it on the exit condition report as damage during the tenancy.

Can you take up these issues with the Director of this business? The negligence is bad enough but delays in receiving the information must be absolutely infuriating.

 

Unfortunately the PM is the director of the business.

I think the condition report is pretty worthless without photos - anyone can write anything on a document IMO. The value is in the photos that verify the comments so I will wait to see if they have any.

 

The PM and Tenant can agree or disagree with things, if nothing is said & it is on there, then that is what they will go by, as that is the official document.

 

Amazingly with today's technology, the written report tends to be seen as the gospel, while the photography is secondary. As @dabbler said, if there are no photos to the contrary, the comment will be seen as sufficient evidence of the pre-existence of said damage.

 

I hope I don't sound crazy but the written report can easily be doctored - I have a feeling the PM is trying to cover their ass and hoping I don't pursue it (given that it's their negligence in question). A photo is unquestionable evidence that the said damage existed.

If such a report existed, wouldn't the tenants immediately point this out to the PM? Why would it take two weeks for this piece of information to be discovered? It's not like a small generic scratch or something that may be easily forgotten.

If I moved into a property with damage to a major appliance (and was only there for a year), I would not forget about it. If the landlord/PM brought it up in an email, I would respond within a matter of hours. It seems extremely fishy to me - especially following on from the other questionable conduct such losing keys (giving them to tradies who don't return them), not picking up on the state of the front yard, not completing and providing a final inspection report, not replying to emails properly, etc.

Apologies to the few people who have sent me PMs about this incident and I haven't responded. I am waiting to see how this pans out in the coming days before deciding how much information I want to share.

 

I'm not really sure how bad the damage is so I can't comment specifically, but as long as the damage was cosmetic and didn't affect the function of the grill, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for them to note it down and move on.

That said, given your other concerns and sureness that the grill was not damaged in that way before the tenants moved in- I think your suspicions have merit.

 

We'll see what happens I guess. I have sent the PM a final email with an offer to settle this and will see what she says. She has been very defensive and avoiding issues so I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out that way as well.

I just find it very hard to believe that the tenants wouldn't have immediately mentioned that the damage was pre-existing when she first contacted but then just realised two weeks later.

 

@Cimbom did you get a copy of the entry report before the tenant moved in? If make it a lesson for next time... This way you can agree or disagree at the time with what they have put on there and if they said damage to the grill and there was no photos you would ask them to go take photos of it for the future.

I know it seems silly that you pay someone to do a job and still have to manage them but this is the fact of running a business and the entrance is a report same as my manager sees my sales report each day/week.

 

Yes that is another lesson unfortunately. I didn't even think to ask for it at the beginning. Will definitely do so from now on

 

Ok so just when I thought this was over, we received notification of the tribunal hearing date yesterday.

We had reached an agreement with the PM that we would wear the cost of the repairs if she agreed to pay the amount of rent to the tenants herself. This was our offer to avoid taking her to the tribunal (as the advice we got was we'd need to do this to recover the repair costs) which she reluctantly agreed to. She sent us an email stating this and a day or two later sent us a financial statement showing this to be paid.

I sent an email to the tribunal with this statement attached yesterday asking the hearing to be cancelled as the matter is resolved. They forwarded this to the tenant who claims "this has no bearing on our application" which is just bizarre. The hearing is still going ahead. I have no idea which party is lying or what to do next. Can they deny receiving the funds and get the money paid to them again? Is the proof I have enough?

 

Are the tenants claiming for the missing rent or something more? Will the agent represent you? Do they have mediation before the hearing here in the ACT or does it goes straight to a hearing?

Good luck! I hope this is resolved for your soon.

 

Just the rent. We will have to represent ourselves. I have no idea about mediation - will have to look it up. This is the first time we are involved in a hearing ourselves. I'm just baffled that they are continuing this after having received the money.

 

Sorry I cannot recall the whole thread but is the PM still around?

If so they should represent you as they will likely have more experience and have access to lawyers which wont cost you.

You can still attend the meeting if you wish but one of the reason why I pay a PM is so I don't have to keep up with legislation and have them to represent me.

RE: Statement - if your statement says you paid them and their accounts say they don't have money both people feel their information is correct.