Hi fellow Ozbargainers.
I need some help, and I am sure that a few of you can do just that. I am asking, because quite frankly,I am beyond angry and need to do something to fix this. I think I need advice from people who have no emotional investments tied into this, have (possibly) been through the same, or are in the industry and can set me onto the right path.
So, long story short (as much as I can).
We bought an investment property about 6 years ago on the Central Coast, and leased it through the same agent we bought it from (so want to name them, but let's not be hasty…YET).
He seemed like such a nice old bloke…very helpful, gave us great advice. Helped us through the whole "investment property" minefield,and became sort of like a "Dad" figure in relation to all this (yes, I know…"it's business, not a bonding session, they are there to get commission..NOT be your bestie"), but at the time,we really needed someone,and he was it.
Fast forward to now -that real estate agent and his pointless property manager, (to my mind),seriously failed in their duties, and allowed each and every tenant (we have had several come and go over the years) to breach the tenancy agreement in every way possible…from having animals in the house (a violation of what is in the lease, and the results of which were obvious when the "property manager" did her "inspections"..but hey,"I didn't notice anything") to not paying rent (not just a few weeks…try MONTHS for the last tenant) and the excuse from the real estate owner being "you have to expect some damage, and that's why you have insurance").
The last tenant was the end of it for me…and the reason I find myself writing this. Over the course of about a year (give or take),these people came in (with the agent KNOWING that the person signing the lease was getting government help to pay this rent (not an issue being a single parent,BUT be able to pay the rent),was unable to pay otherwise AND had no previous rental history checked..something i thought ALL agents do prior to lease signing). This ended earlier this year after hubby finally told me (he kept some things quiet i think,to stop me getting angry or worried. Something I know is not great,and I wished he had dealt with this better as well, but what is done is done and now i need to fix this) and I told the agent to give these people the notice required to evict (90 days) due to months of rent not being paid ,and the agent not working with us to fix that)
After we told the tenants that,the hell began:
No further rent was paid at all (but a promise of "we'll pay $50 each pay to get back on track" was apparently offered at a later time…that remains unpaid,and no means of recouping seems to be possible). The insurance company has said,that due to the way the lease was written up, only two weeks of lost rental income is possible to be paid out…a $500 excess to recoup $800 in rent? Yep,sure I'll do that.How was it that the agent did not perhaps mention this to us (I didn't know that their are so many ways to write a lease…and that not all leases are as clear cut as you might think)
Damage on such a huge scale was caused that the house became uninhabitable for months after they left (think new bathroom needed,every door in the house being broken,the front door being unable to be locked anymore due to damage,the built in wardrobes all being smashed and the runners broken, the house being turned into a zoo…with something like 4 dogs, unknown amount of cats and God only knows what else being inside and outside (both neighbours saw this and told us about it later)..causing the carpet to become a giant toilet (and chew toy),the cupboards in the kitchen ripped from their hinges,and then there was the outside…since when does a backyard become your own private tip,whereby you can dig huge holes,bury rubbish,set it all alight and then leave massive smoking holes in replacement of the once beautiful lawn ("I never saw any holes" was the property manager's response when we asked her about it after one inspection (I mean seriously,you never saw THAT ? )and mould from one corner of the house to the other (that required a professional clean that took two days to complete. Yep,that bond really helped with all this).
Then, to make all this even more enjoyable,this week we got a water bill from the property (they should have been paying water bills -they never did, the agent was to get copies, pay what was required legally by us, and pass them to us if any issues arose…no such notification).It came to a total of $1800.
Mind you,no tenants have been in their since February,(we had a plumber come in last year to check on a possible leak,due to massive excess water bill. No leaks at all where found,leaving me with only one thought -taps were left on by these animals (after all the repairs,we went up their to check the place,and we found that the backdoor had been been destroyed,wire screen was cut,back door was hacked up and locks broken.The neighbours,both of them, stated that they saw the old tenants several times doing drive by's of the house, and where seen laughing at the house whilst all the builders, plumbers etc where there doing repairs.They knew this was them,as they told them all to "eff themselves" as they hung out the car windows)
So, there you have it. Perhaps a bit long,perhaps i have been a bit stupid in some respects (trusting someone who is there simply to make commission ,not getting a new agent sooner,not being familiar with every type of lease out there,letting hubby keep me out of the loop at times etc). But that is now done. What I really need, are avenues I can go down to try and get a little back from all this (that water bill,that was the last straw).
I paid that out of funds we had saved for our IVF cycles (which has now made all this very,VERY personal. I feel like these wastes of oxygen have taken from our potential child. Whatever was left was to be saved for the education i wanted for him or her later on. Other funds we had saved for the rental property were used up on the last tenants,and were not enough by a long shot for all this…even after insurance.The excesses alone came to over $2000, not to start with lost rent).
Again, I get that an investment is not to be personal,but who buys something like this,working their behinds off to get it,sacrificing everything to scrape the deposit to get it (with the intention of one day living there)and doesn't get emotional over it?
Any advice as to where to go and what to do would be amazing (please note though - I am a hormonal mess right now…the plethora of hormone injections / tablets / other, antibiotics,thyroxine etc,combined with the discomfort all these are causing mean I really just want positive,helpful responses).
Apparently 14 days notice is possible in the case of breach of agreement…
https://www.tenants.org.au/factsheet-10-landlord-ends-agreem…