Bond Money

h4zey on 15/07/2015 - 12:08

Hi OzBargainers,

Hope everyone is well, I'm having a problem with my agent regarding the unit I'm renting in. Long story short, I made a hole in the carpet, I let the agent know and I also told them that I wouldn't mind paying the repair with my bond money, however the problem arise when the agent told me that the owner intend to replace the floor with either timber laminate or wool carpet (original carpet is synthetic based on Bunnings and Harvey Norman reps).
Now please don't get me wrong, I made a mistake and I would like to pay for it, but if the owner want to fix it or replace it with something of a higher of quality than the original, do I have to pay for that as well? I since it's taken out of my bond money in which I don't have a control of, what can I possibly do?

Thanks for the help.

Home & Garden

Comments

    • mskeggs on 15/07/2015 - 13:01
      +2

      This is the right course. Get some quotes and tell the agent you will be a good guy and agree to have the lowest taken from your bond.
      You are within your rights to just pay to get the carpet fixed.
      If the agent disputes, you have all the info necessary to defend it at the tribunal.

  • npc on 15/07/2015 - 13:35

    You are only obliged to pay the cost of the exact same carpet less depreciation.

    If things go in the way you described - tell the agent that you have changed your mind reviewed your position and now think that it is not your fault and therefore are not going to pay anything.

    Fancy carpet will quickly disappear from his too excited brain.

  • Paul Atreides on 15/07/2015 - 14:56
    +2

    confirm with the agent what this means first. do they actually intend on taking the cost of the new flooring from your bond, or is it more like theyve spoken with the owner, and they owner have said not to worry about it as they intended on replacing the flooring anyway

  • pinchies on 15/07/2015 - 15:00

    Sounds like you need to seek some more clarification from the agent, thats what it sounds like…

  • misu p on 15/07/2015 - 15:28
    +1

    "the agent told me that the owner intend to replace the floor with either timber laminate or wool carpet"

    Tell them you would be happy to pay for 1sqm of it.

  • h4zey on 15/07/2015 - 16:24

    Thanks for reply guys, spoke to the agent on the phone and they said, because of the nature of the carpet, it will be hard to find a matching carpet and so they have to redo the whole floor and the total will be taken out of my bond money.
    I'm not sure if this info can help in any way but I think the carpet is more than 5 years old, because I have been living there for almost 3 years and they haven't change it since the previous tenants who lived there for more than 2 years.
    I got the quote from the Harvey Norman around 500ish (include the minimum charges), I tried to get a quote from Bunnings but they said because the area affected is pretty small, they suggested me to do it myself (typical DIY bunnings lol).

    • Paul Atreides on 16/07/2015 - 10:33

      I'd definitely question this.

      The logic behind is stupid. If you crashed into someones 2010 yaris, and they say that you now have to pay for a 2015 camry because the 2010 model yaris isnt sold brand new anymore.

      have they had a professional come in and inspect it? are they saying it needs to be replaced without seeing the damage in person?

      • h4zey on 16/07/2015 - 15:54

        Thanks for the input, that's my thought exactly, however since they got my bond money, there is not much that I can do, hence why I'm asking for an advice here.
        I let the agent know when they came for a routine inspection so yes they have seen the damage

  • Natt on 15/07/2015 - 19:48

    get some advice from a tennats union. no doubt they get this question all the time.

  • DarkOz on 16/07/2015 - 17:58

    Get a few quotes yourself especially check if it could be repaired.

    • h4zey on 16/07/2015 - 18:35

      I did but the guy at HN advise me to consult with the agents/owner because they can't get the exact same carpet to replace the missing part, I could risk having to pay again if the owner isn't satisfy with the end result.

      • DarkOz on 16/07/2015 - 19:36

        In that case get a quote to replace the carpet in full for the same cheap quality. I think that's what you owe the landlord and possibly less depreciation of the carpet over the years.

        How much is the bond and how much to you think it would cost to replace the carpet in full with simular quality?

        • h4zey on 16/07/2015 - 22:48

          I really need to proof read before posting :(
          anyway yeah, I don't have a problem with that, I even told the agent that I don't mind covering for the damage, the problem that I'm having now is that, the owner/landlord seems to want a better quality carpet installed and disregard the depreciation. So whatever the cost to install the new carpet will be deducted from my bond (around 2.1k)

          The carpet is more than 5 years old, could be much older than that, but I'm not sure about this since the agent won't told me about the age of the carpet, but I know it's more than 5 years old because I have lived there for almost 3 years and the previous tenants lived there for 2 years and the carpet hasn't been changed since then.

          Does it make any different if the carpet is older much older than 5 years old?

          Thanks for your reply, I really appreciate all your help and others too.

        • DarkOz on 17/07/2015 - 07:05

          @h4zey:
          I don't think you owe any more than what the old carpet is worth. So finding out how much the old carpet is worth will be what's going to be deducted from your bond or if you have to top it up when your bond is less than the replacement cost.

          If the landlord wants an upgrade the landlord can pay for it. It's not your responsibility nor liability. If I crash someone's shitbox they can't make me pay for a Rolls Royce upgrade as a replacement car. I will pay for what the shitbox is worth and they can pay the rest.

          Take Natt's advice below. Make official contacts to the departments/unions that could assist you. In the mean time get the quotes and negotiate with the agent. Remember to inform the agent that you are talking to the departments/unions.

  • Natt on 16/07/2015 - 23:27

    oh for goodness sake.

    http://www.tenants.org.au/factsheet-03-bond

    OP why would you not have bothered to call a tennants union by now and asked them? sigh

    By all means rely on information from some guy at HN or random people on the internet. Because picking up the phone is very hard.

    • h4zey on 17/07/2015 - 15:54
      +1

      Hi Natt,

      Sorry, I appreciate your advice and actually thinking about it as the last resort, because at the end of the day I don't really want to escalate the situation to the unions. I'm hoping the situation can be solved peacefully. I'm currently in the middle of the negotiation between the agents/landlord.

      The reason why I'm asking people on this forum is because I simply want to know if anyone ever got into the similar situation as mine and how they actually solve theirs, rest assure, I'm not just relying on one piece of information.

      That being said, thank you for taking your time writing the reply.

      P.S. don't worry about the sarcasm, I enjoy it, Chandler is one of my favorite TV character :)

  • Natt on 17/07/2015 - 00:44

    sorry h4zey that was a bit mean being so sarcastic. You seem an OK person so it annoys me the landlord seems to be taking advantage of the situation. But you need to get some decent advice.

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