Fisher1

Thanks Welljock. We arent actually trying to get any money back ... it was all settled until, two weeks or so after settlement the agency approached us saying that the landlord had "opted to impose the 4 week lease break fee" and that we therefore owed them $,900! We refused to pay and they are taking us yo a tribunal!!! Greedy b******s

Thanks Ramot. We've actually already written the money off, seemed the most sensible attitude to take - but we'll be dammed if we just hand it over. I want them to have to make an effort to get it!

Okay, so we went to the conciliation hearing and the chairwoman / arbiter, on hearing that we had already paid costs in full and that the landlord had a tenant move in the day after we moved out, told the agent to ring the landlird and suggest they might want to have a rethink. Apparently if you accept costs you cant (in her view) then ask for the 4 week lease break fee, even if you refund the costs already paid. There is also apparently a precedent from another case which allows a NSW tribunal discetion in their award ... the 4 week fee need not be mandatory. The landlord was duly telephoned and insisted on going to a tribunal. I now have till October 30 to send in any evidence I rely on at the tribunal (date to be decided). My question is this - as I am writing a timeline of events to submit with copies of emails, would it be worth writing it as an affidavit or is a simple written statement ... any ideas?

Congratulations! We cane over on a 143 a year ago - to the best of my knowledge you have five years from the date the visa was issued to come and go as you please. After that you need a resudents return visa. I'd double check, but I think that's right. Good luck with it all!

Thank you !

We came on a 143. If you look o the parents thread on here you'll find everything you need to know. Advise them to apply sooner rather than later as the queue just keeps getting longer. Good luck!

I cant offer any advice other than whats on here but just wanted to wish you luck and say dont give up. When my daughter came out here 14 yrs ago (only child) I could see no prospect of us ever being more than long distance parents. We moved over to join her a year ago. So get an agent and cross your fingers, you never know what you can do till you try.

Hi all We are planning.a trip back to the UK next year and would like to fo for two months Can anyone give the name of an insurance company that will offer tracel insurance for that long to a couple in their late sixties? Thanks

Good luck with everything ... we moved the other way a year ago to be near our daughter ... huge upheaval but worth it if you are happy

I was so pleased to read your post. Many congrats and good luck with it all. Its a wonderful feeling isn't it? ???

I have to agree with you. My husband and I have been here for a year and have just finished sorting out a proper budget based on actual bills rather than guesstimates. We have now bought a house which is half the size and was twice the price of our old house in North Wales so I agree about the awful housing costs. Apart from that, having totted up our annual bills (plus 10% for inflation) and reached a monthly figure to save, our overheads are almost identical. Ditto the grocery bill. Some things are much more expensive but on the whole our living costs are about the same. Its the housing cost that makes it unafordable - we were lucky enough to be sble to buy.

Brilliant ?

Thanks Welljock, got it in one. We thought it was fair to pay the associated costs because then it was mutually beneficial. This is why we are so furious - i used to hate it when a tenant moved out because you never quite knew how long it would take to find a new tenant ... we never gave notice of our intention to leave. To be fair the agent is billing us for the lbf minus the costs we have already paid.

Yes I agree entirely. Although I really don't see why the landlord should be able to make an extra profit on something which has cost them nothing ... especially since they have had all the associated costs paid by us. I was a private landlord for 12 years and would have been thanking my ex-tenants if they had done as much for me - not trying to screw a bit of extra profit out of them!

Thank you Jon. Thats what we decided and we now have a hearing date. The agency are desperately innefficient .. they have miscalculated the account (again) and have submitted thewrong date for the start of our lease ... even though it says the date on the tenancy agreement! New information from our daughter this week is that we e can apparently report the agency to the NSW trading standards for behaving inappropriately ... bring it on!!!

So we dont even get to glare at the greedy woman at the tribunal? How disappointing! Thanks for the info.

No, but they have said that they have to represent their landlord, but are willing to discuss it with us. Their whole tone us njw totally conciliatory, but I dont trust them.

Okay, so we decided to go to a rent tribunal. The problem is that you have to file under the appropriate category from a preset list. The categories for tenants include things like "rent rises" or "evict ion notices". I cant find a category for ex-tenants who have settled up and are now being asked for more money. So we can't file. I cant get hold of the tenants advocate for advice (constantly engaged) and we are beginning to worry that if we dont pay up we'll be landed with legal fees should they sue and win. We are thinking about paying the 900$ and immediately filing to recoup the money as "overpaid rent" - there is a category for that. Comments/advice welcome!

sister ???

Good luck with it all, but don't expect instant progress … these things take time. Hope it all goes well for you from here on.

Thanks for that ? my post should of course have said 'just'. ... Fat fingers!

Kust by the way, does anyone know what is the smallest unit of Australisn currency that has to be accepted i paymment of a bill? Also, would writing "SWAG" on an envelope full of money constitute an act of libel? (Only half joking)

Okay so we thought this was all settled. The rental agency caved when confronted with all their emails, and instead of charging us 700$ or so, actually refunded 600$ or so. This was last week, and we thought it was all settled. Now we have had an email from the agent, saying that the landlord is adamant that she wants to impose the lease break fee on us, even though the tenancy was ended by mutual agreement, even though we left only seven weeks early, even though we saved her a possible void and thought we were in a win win situation - and even though she had given her agreement to finding a new tenant before the end of our one year lease, with the agreement that we would need to pay rent until the new tenant moved in. This bloody woman has lost not a penny in rent, and because we left seven weeks early, she has had her new tenancy fees paid for her, by us. We are going to go to a rent tribunal and ask for a ruling, make her wait for her pound of flesh. I don't know when I've ever felt so disgusted with a service provider in my life. Watch this space.

Yes, we came across this ozzie phenomenon many times when we were house hunting. After a bit you start to notice some of the mire obvious bits if photoshopping because you see the same style in different houses. Also very fo d of making the roo.s look much bigger than they really are. My opinion of estate agents here couldnt be lower after a recent tussle over a rental bond - you really can't trust a word most of them say. If you do make an offer on a house we now know to always put it in writing!

Still walking the hard yards Quoll? ... I feel for you because as you say, its not a great situation to be in. I am so glad we didnt leave my mum ... I dont think I'd have ever forgiven myself. Hope its all going reasonably smoothly for you.