Starting New Lease with Faulty AC / Piping

Lcoresome on 20/07/2022 - 09:06
Last edited 20/07/2022 - 09:23

I just started a new lease agreement (coming to a month now) for a 2 Bedroom apartment in Melbourne CBD. Found out that the Air Conditioning / Heating doesn't work and needs to be fixed. Upon inspections of multiple specialists, they found that the AC needs to be replaced as there is a refrigerant leak.

AC specialist #1 - RE agent seems to have used them before multiple times to fix AC in this apartment and them and they seem familiar with the issue with the AC
They are telling me that they'd have to open the ceiling / walls to install the new system and repaint the room. The RE agent / owner isn't happy with this so they hired a second specialist people to have a second opinion.

AC specialist #2
They started work on replacing the AC unit. Initially they told me that it's going to be straightforward job - replace the outdoor + indoor unit and it will be quickly done and less mess. The RE agent / owner is going ahead with this one. Upon finishing the job though they found that there's a leak somewhere in the piping between outdoor unit and indoor unit and they would likely have to end up opening up the ceiling and walls to investigate where the leak is.

I'm very grateful that the RE agent / landlord are trying to move get this rectified quickly. I just felt somehow cheated by the RE agent that they didn't do proper inspection and test of the apartment appliances before the new tenant move in (which I cant do because no electricity during inspection). It just seems like a never ending process of moving - now I don't feel like settling in my stuffs and furnitures as there will be work around the living room and it would get dusty and full of chemicals from the paint. Not to mention I have to make work from home arrangements.

Just want to her your thoughts and what are my rights. Thanks in advance.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Quantumcat on 20/07/2022 - 09:11
    +9

    If they are fixing it, that's what they're supposed to do and you don't have rights to anything. If they weren't fixing it then you could negotiate for a rent reduction. Maybe the previous tenant never used it and didn't know it wasn't working so never reported it. Or it broke after they moved out or after they stopped using it. They don't know what people don't report is a problem.

    • coresome on 20/07/2022 - 09:32
      +1

      Thanks for your reply. Good to know this is just the standard procedure. As I said I'm grateful that they are trying to rectify this somewhat quickly. Just wondering if it could have been done any better. I just wish that they finish quickly as it's keeping me from settling into the new apartment.

  • Drakesy on 20/07/2022 - 09:33
    +3

    Just need to chill out

    @Qantumcat has said it well

  • JIMB0 on 20/07/2022 - 09:47

    Sounds like they didn't want to spend the money fixing it properly in the first place. The second company has now come to the same conclusion as the first.

    • Porker on 20/07/2022 - 10:03
      +4

      Or it could be that they didn't want to inconvenience the tenant too much, so thought the least impacting repair would be the better one.

      Any number of considerations which we're not privy to.

    • JimB on 20/07/2022 - 10:32
      +6

      If it was your place, you wouldn't get a second opinion to avoid opening up the ceiling/walls?

      The landlord has done the right thing.

    • coresome on 20/07/2022 - 11:00

      Thanks for comment. Yeah it came to my mind too. @Porker and @JimB has brought up valid points and as tenant I would prefer the less inconvenient way - even if they didnt replace it with new unit which I'm grateful about - as long as it works.

  • Porker on 20/07/2022 - 10:02
    +3

    If it worked on the day you moved in, but say months later broke and they needed to open the walls/ceiling to resolve it, would you still be as upset? Things unfortunately break and need repair.

    The positive in all this is that they're actually progressing to fix it such that you can have it, plus it's (presumably) happening at the start of the lease rather later when (say) you've moved furniture around or when it's critically required, eg on a hot day.

    • coresome on 20/07/2022 - 10:54
      +1

      Thanks for comment. Yeah sometimes just have to look at the bright side of things and be thankful as it could be worse scenario.

  • tsunamisurfer on 20/07/2022 - 11:17

    I just felt somehow cheated by the RE agent that they didn't do proper inspection and test of the apartment appliances before the new tenant move in (which I cant do because no electricity during inspection)

    There was no electricity but somehow you expect that when the REA turns the switch it magically comes back on?

    • freefall101 on 20/07/2022 - 11:27

      Any time I've done an inspection the power was turned on just to do the inspection, meaning I could test that things work. If the power was completely unavailable during this time then there was an issue with the previous tenant or the owner, not the RE.

      Also the former tenant should have reported it. Sounds like there were issues with that tenant, not the RE.

    • coresome on 20/07/2022 - 11:28
      +1

      I have a feeling that they knew it was bound to be done (from comments made by AC specialist #1) but they didnt want to do it under their own watch - during maintenance while the unit was vacant.

  • jolee3 on 20/07/2022 - 12:06
    +2

    We recently had tenants vacate our IP and trashed it. We were without tenants for 6 weeks to have everything repaired (holes in walls, missing lights etc.), and several thousand dollars later we put it up for rent again. I am guessing our REA did similar to yours - a mostly visual inspection, because the new tenants moved in and reported that the air con was not working, the stove tripped the switch and so did the dishwasher. Best we could do is apologise for the inconvenience and have it repaired asap, but maybe most REA only do a visual check on incoming inspections. If you had no electricity on inspection to test the appliances then the REA wouldn't have either.

    • coresome on 20/07/2022 - 13:27

      Sorry to hear that. I'm a good tenant - always have my bond returned in full. The REA loves me - the AC specialist #2 told me the REA agent asked them to put this work as priority. I've used the same REA before too - they are good with maintenance request but it's the second time I had to have something replaced at the beginning of my tenancy with the same agent - first was the dishwasher in my previous rental property.
      Yeah I guess it's fair if REA do visual inspection - I just hope they they are not knowingly wanting to do repair work under my tenancy where they could've fixed it before putting it on the market for rent. That feels dodgy to me if true - putting the tenant into labour when they would have to put their own people to supervise the work. But hey i dont know if they did it on purpose or not.

      • Quantumcat on 20/07/2022 - 15:06
        +1

        There's no way they wouldn't have done the work while it was vacant if they had known about it. It is a lot harder getting appointments for tradespeople to come when you have to coordinate with a tenant and when they are available.

      • jolee3 on 20/07/2022 - 16:44
        +1

        Oh I wasn't suggesting you are not a good tenant! Just that from the landlord side, we definitely feel bad for the inconvenience too. Previously when we rented we flagged a few things which weren't working when we moved in so I understand the inconvenience…except that that landlord took 3 months to replace the microwave and advised us to "work around" the other issues.

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