Our letting agent is threatening to sue us, advice needed please

[Keira huggins]

Hi there guys...

 

This story is long so please bare with me, but I am in desperate need of guidance here.

 

The long and short is that we moved into our property on the 21st of December. When we moved there was some storm damage from the cyclone in November, which we were told was due to be fixed by the insurance company. The damage consisted of a destroyed patio roof, nails protruding from some of the interior ceilings. We were advised that this was all in hand. We were given a time frame for the patio roof of mid to late January due to the building business closing down for weeks over the christmas period.

The pool, I was informed when I initially visited the property, was in a poor condition, again due to storm damage. The creepy crawlie wasnt working. We were informed by email 2 weeks before entering the property that this would be rectified prior to our move in date of the 21st.

 

The 21st came and went. We entered the property, with the letting agent completing the entry report, the pool was in exactly the same condition. It was unusable. She did however, inform me that people from an instructed pool company were due to come the next day to clean the pool and fix any issues that there were.

 

A man did attend. He did a very quick clean of the pool and left after giving us a short instruction on how to up keep the pool. The creapy crawlie still wasnt working. Long and short of this, it took 3 weeks and 2 companies and a new pump for this to be rectified. This is where our frustration started.

 

My husband had emailed the letting agent regularly in respect of the damaged patio roof, as it was deteriorating. There were large amounts of it hanging down and our outside furniture was taking a beating. We were informed that it was down to the insurance to fix and it would be done by the end of Jan. February arrived still no fix, until a man appeared to take measurements of the materials needed and stated that it would be fixed by the end of the next week.

This needless to say, didnt happen. The materials were dropped off and it was a further week before we were awoken at 0700hrs by two tradies who had come to fix the roof. We were not informed they were coming. Our frustration mounts.

 

I jump back a little here in time, but the reason will be relevant later on.

 

Origin, our gas provider attempts a routine delivery in December. He notifies me that he is unable to re fill the gas bottles due to the location of an air conditioning unit that was placed close by to the bottles and the reason for doing so was that it was a fire risk. I immediately informed my letting agent. The result of this was a property visit by the letting agent, the land lady, the gent who installed the air conditioning unit and a plumber. This ended in the gas bottles being moved. I contacted Origin to have the bottles filled to be told that this would not happen until I could produce a Certificate of Compliance. A further to call to the agent, a further 2 visits required to rectify the situation.

 

When the floods hit Queensland, we as were everybody else, were hit by strong winds and powerful rain. I noticed in the master bedroom that the carpet was wet and one of the windows appeared to be leaking. My husband and I then conducted a quick check of the property and noticed that there was water running down the inside of the garage wall and had started to gather on the floor there. Obviously we notified the agent immediately of this, in order for the owner to sort the issue. Here started the mutiple quotes and by multiple, I think we are now up to at least 7 visits from plumbers to roofers. They all vary in what they state is the issue.. they all agree that there is flashing that needs to be replaced. There is wood around the roof, cladding, part of these are cracked, warped and rotten. From standing in the garage and looking through the man hole, you can see day light in atleast 2 places and this is without me even sticking my head up there. I should mention at this point, the patio roof still wasnt fixed.

 

My husband has at this point, notified the letting agent, that we are far from happy with the property, the service that we are getting from her, or lack of it and that we would like to leave the property as there are obvious issues going on now with the roof and we do not wish to live in a house, paying through the nose for it with a constant stream of tradies coming into quote works and make repairs.

 

We were at this point offered to end the tenancy, with no fall back re loss of rent or re advertisement costs should we be out in 2 weeks! We hand;t even started to look for another property and advised the agent that 2 weeks notice, simply wasnt good enough.

 

After the rains, i have noticed water marks in 2 bedrooms that are increasing in size and number. A small amount of mould in the master bedroom has spread and is damaging the paintwork and there are now upwards of, well god knows, how many nail marks in 6 rooms in this house.

 

Recently we have had a painter come into fix the ceiling room of the master bedroom that had nails protruding and also the laundry, this has covered up a further water mark in the main bedroom.

 

We have only been in the property for less than 3 months. We have had issue after issue. There is very little in the way of communication from the owner to the agent and vice versa. During our stay at the property we have had in the way of 20 tradespersons visits for one reason or the other. I currently have a carpenter out who was called last night on the advice of the agent to the owner, to come and make safe the property and deemed it an emergent call out. This is not the case, far from it. This has been going on since the recent floods.

 

This has impacted us massively. We have no faith in our agent. We feel that we are being held into a contract, that we no longer wish to be in, only to pay rent whilst the works are ongoing. We stated that we give plenty of notice, but due to the amount of work that has been carried out to date and the works that are still outstanding, that this is now beyond the pail.

 

Communication has now broken down completely between ourselves and the agent. I received a very heated telephone call from her, stating that she had been contact with her lawyer and that she had definite grounds to sue for harassment and that she was also going to sue for deformation of character. This is simply not the case. We have not said anything about her lack of ability to anyone, not have we harrassed her. There many emails flowing yesterday between both myself, my husband and her. I wasnt aware of the communication between him and her until almost mid-day. She very loosely made threats that not only is her Lawyer qualified in the properties but also he is qualified in Imigration? What that was supposed to mean, I have no idea. She called me a winging pom (:biggrin:) and also questioned why we as a family moved to Australia. She has made threats to blacklist us with all local tradespeople as she has stated that we have questioned their ability to when completing works,,,,ie, the gas bottles being moved. We merely passed on the information to her from Origin. She has emailed these people stating that we are knocking their work!. She plans to contact my husbands work to complain about him and also contact any other agents to inform them that we are awful tenants.

 

We have already contacted the RTA when communication broke down. They informed us that we should ask for a rent reduction due to all the works that are needed and this should be back dated to when we moved in and that we should serve the agent a form 11, which we have done as well as completing a form 16.

 

This has brought me to my knees. I have never experienced anything like this, EVER. I am shocked that this is happening. I dont know what else to do, can she sue me, I mean really?

 

Any help, will be greatly appreciated.

[northshorepom]

If what you say is true then she doesn't have any grounds, and the scattergun "immigration" threats and anti-Pom abuse shows how weak her case is

 

Horrible situation to be in. You must remain cool-headed and professional and not get drawn into a p1ssing contest however hard that may be, or any 3rd party looking on will likely conclude it's a case of 6 & 2 3's

 

Is the agent a one-woman band, or does she have managers/owners? If communication has broken down then it is time to escalate, but do it professionally at all times. Do not under any circumstances get into emotive arguments in writing or it could be used against you

[CloeyPom]

Hi...you poor thing..if you are sure your facts are correct (good to have the email trails) I would send the details to A Current Affair or TodayTonight show (Google and go to their websites)- they are always looking for stories like this and even if nothing happens the mention that you have done this should rattle her cage! She's trying to frighten you - Immigration Lawyer - ha! what's that all about? Good Luck! L

[Guest GeorgeD]

Is the agent a one-woman band, or does she have managers/owners? If communication has broken down then it is time to escalate, but do it professionally at all times. Do not under any circumstances get into emotive arguments in writing or it could be used against you

 

It may be really difficult to do, but this is the most important pieice of advice you could pay attention to. Stay professional and keep emotion out of it. If there is someone else to deal with at the company then do that immediately. Follow any advice from the RTA to the letter. Fill in all their forms, submit them, etc. If there are any disputes in this sort of thing, being the person who did it by the book in writing goes a long way to winning your case.

 

Have you considered moving out? Is this an option? Is there anywhere to go? Is the house secure? Is it liveable, not a hazard to your health? If there is an issue and it was caused by storm damage...would the landlord be covered by insurance for loss of income...in which case they might be delighted to see the back of a tennant who is making them work when they could get the insurance company to pay the loss due to the damage...

[Rupert]

It is empty threats, she is just trying to frighten you. I have heard of tenant harrassment but never heard of a real estate agent being harrassed by a tenant before! If she said to me that she would be suing my reply would be along the lines of I look forward to that very much. You would splatter her all over the walls if this were to go to court so don't be frightened.

 

What you should do now is decide what your goal is and make a clear plan to get there, for example you want four weeks to get out and terminate contract. I would suggest that you no longer engage in any verbal communication, communication has broken down now so keep it to email. I agree with above, keep it professional, don't send any emails in anger, always wait, sleep on it.

 

There are a lot of posts on the forums about tenants being poorly treated in Australia, I always think that you will only be a victim if you allow yourself to be a victim. In fact the law is good to tenants and don't forget that.

 

Hope you get it sorted soon, but most of all don't worry.

[Keira huggins]

Hi, and thanks for the responses guys.

 

We kept all emails professional. Things only became emotive when she telephoned me yesterday. She was rude, over talked, threatened to sue us etc. It was when she threatened my husband, that I admit, I lost the plot, raised my voice and shouted back not to make threats. I never swore or made threats back.

We sent an email to her asking to outline what she meant by the threats, suing, name calling, etc. She has not responded to this.

 

Unfortunately for us, she is a one woman band. We cannot report to her boss. We have followed RTA advice to the letter. We would love to move out, let the owner fix all of the issues with no disruption to anyone and then new tenants can come in and live happily ever after. We just dont want or need this kind of drama.

[steven0161]

sounds like one woman band is more interested in her image than anything else. I am not sure what state you're in but in addition to the RTA you should also contact the local tenants union, to give you an idea the one for Victoria is http://www.tuv.org.au keeping cool is key and try to remember once you've raised your voice you've lost the argument. :hug: Big hug from the UK

[craigyboy]

Hi there guys...

 

This story is long so please bare with me, but I am in desperate need of guidance here.

 

The long and short is that we moved into our property on the 21st of December. When we moved there was some storm damage from the cyclone in November, which we were told was due to be fixed by the insurance company. The damage consisted of a destroyed patio roof, nails protruding from some of the interior ceilings. We were advised that this was all in hand. We were given a time frame for the patio roof of mid to late January due to the building business closing down for weeks over the christmas period.

The pool, I was informed when I initially visited the property, was in a poor condition, again due to storm damage. The creepy crawlie wasnt working. We were informed by email 2 weeks before entering the property that this would be rectified prior to our move in date of the 21st.

 

The 21st came and went. We entered the property, with the letting agent completing the entry report, the pool was in exactly the same condition. It was unusable. She did however, inform me that people from an instructed pool company were due to come the next day to clean the pool and fix any issues that there were.

 

A man did attend. He did a very quick clean of the pool and left after giving us a short instruction on how to up keep the pool. The creapy crawlie still wasnt working. Long and short of this, it took 3 weeks and 2 companies and a new pump for this to be rectified. This is where our frustration started.

 

My husband had emailed the letting agent regularly in respect of the damaged patio roof, as it was deteriorating. There were large amounts of it hanging down and our outside furniture was taking a beating. We were informed that it was down to the insurance to fix and it would be done by the end of Jan. February arrived still no fix, until a man appeared to take measurements of the materials needed and stated that it would be fixed by the end of the next week.

This needless to say, didnt happen. The materials were dropped off and it was a further week before we were awoken at 0700hrs by two tradies who had come to fix the roof. We were not informed they were coming. Our frustration mounts.

 

I jump back a little here in time, but the reason will be relevant later on.

 

Origin, our gas provider attempts a routine delivery in December. He notifies me that he is unable to re fill the gas bottles due to the location of an air conditioning unit that was placed close by to the bottles and the reason for doing so was that it was a fire risk. I immediately informed my letting agent. The result of this was a property visit by the letting agent, the land lady, the gent who installed the air conditioning unit and a plumber. This ended in the gas bottles being moved. I contacted Origin to have the bottles filled to be told that this would not happen until I could produce a Certificate of Compliance. A further to call to the agent, a further 2 visits required to rectify the situation.

 

When the floods hit Queensland, we as were everybody else, were hit by strong winds and powerful rain. I noticed in the master bedroom that the carpet was wet and one of the windows appeared to be leaking. My husband and I then conducted a quick check of the property and noticed that there was water running down the inside of the garage wall and had started to gather on the floor there. Obviously we notified the agent immediately of this, in order for the owner to sort the issue. Here started the mutiple quotes and by multiple, I think we are now up to at least 7 visits from plumbers to roofers. They all vary in what they state is the issue.. they all agree that there is flashing that needs to be replaced. There is wood around the roof, cladding, part of these are cracked, warped and rotten. From standing in the garage and looking through the man hole, you can see day light in atleast 2 places and this is without me even sticking my head up there. I should mention at this point, the patio roof still wasnt fixed.

 

My husband has at this point, notified the letting agent, that we are far from happy with the property, the service that we are getting from her, or lack of it and that we would like to leave the property as there are obvious issues going on now with the roof and we do not wish to live in a house, paying through the nose for it with a constant stream of tradies coming into quote works and make repairs.

 

We were at this point offered to end the tenancy, with no fall back re loss of rent or re advertisement costs should we be out in 2 weeks! We hand;t even started to look for another property and advised the agent that 2 weeks notice, simply wasnt good enough.

 

After the rains, i have noticed water marks in 2 bedrooms that are increasing in size and number. A small amount of mould in the master bedroom has spread and is damaging the paintwork and there are now upwards of, well god knows, how many nail marks in 6 rooms in this house.

 

Recently we have had a painter come into fix the ceiling room of the master bedroom that had nails protruding and also the laundry, this has covered up a further water mark in the main bedroom.

 

We have only been in the property for less than 3 months. We have had issue after issue. There is very little in the way of communication from the owner to the agent and vice versa. During our stay at the property we have had in the way of 20 tradespersons visits for one reason or the other. I currently have a carpenter out who was called last night on the advice of the agent to the owner, to come and make safe the property and deemed it an emergent call out. This is not the case, far from it. This has been going on since the recent floods.

 

This has impacted us massively. We have no faith in our agent. We feel that we are being held into a contract, that we no longer wish to be in, only to pay rent whilst the works are ongoing. We stated that we give plenty of notice, but due to the amount of work that has been carried out to date and the works that are still outstanding, that this is now beyond the pail.

 

Communication has now broken down completely between ourselves and the agent. I received a very heated telephone call from her, stating that she had been contact with her lawyer and that she had definite grounds to sue for harassment and that she was also going to sue for deformation of character. This is simply not the case. We have not said anything about her lack of ability to anyone, not have we harrassed her. There many emails flowing yesterday between both myself, my husband and her. I wasnt aware of the communication between him and her until almost mid-day. She very loosely made threats that not only is her Lawyer qualified in the properties but also he is qualified in Imigration? What that was supposed to mean, I have no idea. She called me a winging pom (:biggrin:) and also questioned why we as a family moved to Australia. She has made threats to blacklist us with all local tradespeople as she has stated that we have questioned their ability to when completing works,,,,ie, the gas bottles being moved. We merely passed on the information to her from Origin. She has emailed these people stating that we are knocking their work!. She plans to contact my husbands work to complain about him and also contact any other agents to inform them that we are awful tenants.

 

We have already contacted the RTA when communication broke down. They informed us that we should ask for a rent reduction due to all the works that are needed and this should be back dated to when we moved in and that we should serve the agent a form 11, which we have done as well as completing a form 16.

 

This has brought me to my knees. I have never experienced anything like this, EVER. I am shocked that this is happening. I dont know what else to do, can she sue me, I mean really?

 

Any help, will be greatly appreciated.

Ok kid: I don't know anything about Queensland letting or property Law. I do know about common law which is their system of law. Get yourself a good lawyer with teeth, get the local newspaper round and get them to do a story. Keep every bit of paper, a diary of events and record anything you can particularly the threats from your agent. In short the property and the duty of care from your land lords agent fall start of what any reasonable man can expect. Ask for the landlords solicitor and make it clear yours will be contacting her. Contact the workmen and put them right about this bully. Counter claim her and her licence for defamation of character. You can't appease a bully, you have got to get tough and hit back. No time for tears here. However, get contact with the landlord don't stop paying, nonetheless the landlord if she has half a brain will realise her property manager is failing her and you.is the landlord licensed, tell her you will contact her governing body tousha!!!!!!i guarantee when you start to rattle her cage, the budgie will go quite, but keep it professional and by email as that provides a record.

Edited February 15, 2013 by craigyboy

[dodgy]

Welcome to Australia.

[Petals]

Sit back and be calm. Write down everything that has happened point by point. If you have emails and letters from the agent copy them.

 

Download this pdf from the Tenants Union http://tuq.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Renting-in-Queensland_Feb-2010.pdf

 

Contact details are on the document

 

Good luck

 

They will be able to advise you where you stand.

[calNgary]

As others haver advised contact the RTA ,, they are there to help you and from experience its very rare they side with the agent. Normally a brief word from them and the agent jumps.

In the meantime print off all e-mail corespondense and DO NOT speak with her again via PHONE, make sure everything is in writing.

 

Good Luck, looks like she is lax at her job and clutching at straws, i know it must be daunting for you ,but if what you have written is accurate ,you have nothing to worry about.

 

Cal x

[Keira huggins]

We have contacted the RTA when things broke down and their advice has been very useful. It was them who told us that we should have been offered a rent reduction due to ongoing works. They also told us that this would likely be declined and we were to put the results of this on our Form 16, the request was declined and our form has been lodged.

We have had a letter this morning from our agent in response to our form 11. She has some points correct and others incorrect. We are unsure if we should scan this and reply to her or not?

This morning we had a tradie out who had been contacted last night to complete emergent works at the property. It was explained to him last that the issue was not emergent but please come around if he wished as we didnt want to be in breach of our contract. He came around this morning and has fixed some issues which are maintenance issues.

We also had a visit from the SES!!!!! Who came to put a tarpoline on the roof as they were contacted by the agent and told to come to the house as it was an emergency!

We have the owner and the insurance company coming out on Monday. Today we have been issued with a Entry Notice (form 9) re the impending visit. This is the first form ever given. Round and round we go

[dodgy]

I find it disgusting that they always resort to the "winging pom" card when confronted with something valid.

[Guest littlesarah]

I find it disgusting that they always resort to the "winging pom" card when confronted with something valid.

 

I find it irritating that people make generalisations, when we all know that there are idiots at large all over the world.

 

To the OP: I'm wondering whether she has now grasped that you have grounds for complaint, and if that is the reason why she has started issuing the correct paperwork. Even if some of the information on other forms is incorrect. I'd seek some advice from someone who knows about housing (e.g. RTA) before contacting her about forms. Sometimes having someone submit information that is incorrect can help the other party's case (I know nothing about renting so I don't even know what the forms are for).

 

I agree that written communication is the only way henceforth, and that you should make sure you have a copy of every bit of correspondence. As for telephone conversations, if you can remember dates, times and the content of verbal communication, you could document it (but only if you can remember what was said). Ideally, the notes are made at the time, but in any event any evidence you have that ties in with your side of things is relevant. It's better to have a massive dossier of info that you never refer to than wish you'd kept relevant letters, etc at the time.

 

I wish you the very best of luck.

 

S

[Keira huggins]

I find it irritating that people make generalisations, when we all know that there are idiots at large all over the world.

 

To the OP: I'm wondering whether she has now grasped that you have grounds for complaint, and if that is the reason why she has started issuing the correct paperwork. Even if some of the information on other forms is incorrect. I'd seek some advice from someone who knows about housing (e.g. RTA) before contacting her about forms. Sometimes having someone submit information that is incorrect can help the other party's case (I know nothing about renting so I don't even know what the forms are for).

 

I agree that written communication is the only way henceforth, and that you should make sure you have a copy of every bit of correspondence. As for telephone conversations, if you can remember dates, times and the content of verbal communication, you could document it (but only if you can remember what was said). Ideally, the notes are made at the time, but in any event any evidence you have that ties in with your side of things is relevant. It's better to have a massive dossier of info that you never refer to than wish you'd kept relevant letters, etc at the time.

 

I wish you the very best of luck.

 

S

I have absolutely no idea what is going on with this woman. We have always informed her if any works have been required. We have been polite and respectful. Most and I would say, that 90% of our conversations have been by way of email, so we have most of the correspondence going back to before we moved in.

She seems to have lost site of the fact that we are not opposing works. We both understand that the house needs work. Most if not all of the issues we have had which we were aware of prior to moving in, have been rectified but that in itself was not easy. Our frustration has always lain with the lack of communication. Dead lines being passed and more workmen in the house than you can shake a stick at, which has been an almost constant disruption. I have made myself available for every appointment without argument.

Prior to me picking up the phone to HER calling ME I had not spoke to her about the work being carried out. We had previously emailed her to let her know our frustration of all the work. She has proven herself to be a liar both on email, forms and phone calls, also not to be a trust worthy agent. I approached her this week as she was visiting our neighbouring property which is also up for let and that she manages. She asked me to come inside the property to show me the poor cleaning work, etc, and did nothing but mad mouth the previous tenants and the owner of the property. This has nothing to do with our house but she seemed hell bent on telling me just how poor land lords are when it comes to maintenance! I have to say, in fairness to our landlady, that she has always acted on reports of works required, although it is apparent that there is a huge breakdown of communication between the owner and agent when it comes to advising of the outcome.

The RTA have advised us to make contact with the Anti Discrimination Commission in regards to her comments about us as a family and our origins and her sheer lack of professionalism and also to obtain legal advice from the Tenant Advisory and Advocacy Service in respect of her legal threats.

It seems crazy that it has come to this.

She now seems to be doing a lot of back covering. i.e....SES, Emergent works..It;s a shame that she didnt have an emergency plumber come out and fix the water that was running down our garage wall and covering the floor....What she is doing is such an exaggerated response. To waste the time of people who in fairness have people who are dealing with real emergencies and shouldnt have to waste their times with petty dealings such as this.

I am totally beyond words when it comes to the experiences of dealing with this woman.

[Guest littlesarah]

She sounds like an idiot. Easy for me to say, I know, but try not to get too worked up, the agents sounds like someone who is incompetent and/or lazy, and not worth giving yourself a stress headache over :hug: (so funny, coming from me, the queen of stress headaches!). She sounds as though she lacks an understanding of the standards of behaviour that should be expected of a letting agent, which is very unfortunate and may ultimately come back to bite her.

 

It does sound to me like perhaps she's finally realised that she has no grounds on which to base any legal threat, and that being rude and threatening legal action was perhaps not the most professional tack to take. It doesn't sound like she's realised yet that slagging off the landlord of a property isn't exactly the best course of action either! (Slaps forehead & rolls eyes...)

 

Hopefully you'll be able to find a well-maintained property with a decent agent soon, and then you can put this horrible episode behind you. And if you can recoup some of your rent and have her investigated - as she clearly either doesn't understand or chooses to ignore the legislation and general standards of decency and acceptable behaviour.

Edited February 16, 2013 by littlesarah

[flybyknight]

please do not speak on the phone to her any more, email is just as effective and it leaves you a paper trail.

this paper trail is your evidence when this comes to a hearing, and you must let it do that.

if you settle with her, you risk her being able to mark your credit history and references.

get outside help, as others have mentioned.

 

above all, maintain a professional approach, she has her views you have yours.

it will all come out in the hearing.

[Keira huggins]

Hi guys

 

Update to date and issues over the weekend.

 

Over the weekend we had an emergency plumber/roofer out to the property as he had been instructed to as the issues we had reported weeks ago, were now deemed emergent. He made contact with us Friday evening 2000hrs. We told him then, that the issues had been reported weeks ago. He came out Saturday am at approx 0730 and made fixes to a number of things. Some will be fixed permanently others are a "band aid" fix.

At some point on Saturday morning, I was out, 4 members of the SES arrived at our property and stated that they had also been called out to make emergent repairs. My husband advised them at this stage, that we didn't have any water in the property but showed them the areas of damage that we have reported. Water marks in multiple rooms. Mould and nails protruding from the roof. They were not best impressed at having been called out and stated that they would not be putting up tarpaulin as requested by the owner/agent. Slightly bemused by them coming out. Being new to Australia, my husband and I thought, that the SES were called out in Emergency situations when there is storm, flooding or fire in an attempt to help people who are struggling and are in a much more needy situation that we find ourselves in.

Long and short, we receive an email from the agent, that is factually incorrect about what was said to the SES personnel and about works that are needed now and in the future.

 

This morning we have received an email from the agent.

Thanks for email, You have issued notice to remedy breach which means if repairs are not done by 22/2/13 you can move out, I would suggest you look for alternative accommodation as these repairs will not be done by the due date on the remedy, emergency services have told me lots of repairs are still waiting upon insurance.

If you do not leave by 8/3/13 the RTA procedure will be followed and I will get a warrant of possession from ******* ********* Police to evict you from the property.

 

Emergency repairs no notice is required but you were notified to you by way of email as a curtsey and I have copeis of all emails for access

I look forward to your notice to leave on 22/2/13

 

There was an email sent to my email address early on Saturday morning. This was not picked up until Sunday afternoon so in effect, she did actually notify us of the intention to have SES attend. I was not at the property when these people arrived. I had been out all morning with the dog at a dog training class.

 

So my question is folks, We have submitted a Form 16 with the RTA which is normally addressed within 2 weeks and then a they come to a finding from there. We would love nothing more to leave this house and move on from this agent. However, if we submit a form 13, an intention of Notice to Leave, then under those guide lines, we are held responsible for the re advertisement of the property and also for rent if the house does not have tenants in when we leave.

[Petals]

If you can pop into the Community Advice Bureau and they will refer you to a Solicitor its worth it. Should get sorted with bit of legal advice.

[northshorepom]

I agree, I think you need professional advice from someone with a thorough knowledge of QLD tenancy law at this stage

 

Good luck. I still think she's in a weak position but it's out of my comfort zone now

[Keira huggins]

I agree, I think you need professional advice from someone with a thorough knowledge of QLD tenancy law at this stage

 

Good luck. I still think she's in a weak position but it's out of my comfort zone now

 

Hi guys

 

I have taken advice. I am currently in contact with the Tenancy Advice and Advocacy Service, who for anyone else who should be unlucky enough to deal with similar issues, have been great.

 

I have just taken receipt of a letter from our Agent who has given us a Notice to Vacate. However, this comes with issues as until she writes in letter form that we will not be held for re advertisement of the property, loss of rent if no tenant moves into the property immediately or with holding our rent, then we cannot accept.

The letter has included a Form 12, Notice to Leave. A form 10, Notice of Lessor's Intention to Sell the premises and a Form 9, an entry notice. This will be on Saturday 23/2/13 at 1000 and the reasoning behind this is to show the premises to a prospective purchaser or tenant (24 hours notice) Clever huh?

 

I have to get back in contact with the TAAS and inform them of these notices to find out what are next steps are going to be. Regardless, it would appear that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we may escape this property and the agent.

 

Have to tootle off for now, as the owner and the insurance company are coming to visit the house to inspect damage. Deep joy

[Guest GeorgeD]

Hi guys

 

I have taken advice. I am currently in contact with the Tenancy Advice and Advocacy Service, who for anyone else who should be unlucky enough to deal with similar issues, have been great.

 

I have just taken receipt of a letter from our Agent who has given us a Notice to Vacate. However, this comes with issues as until she writes in letter form that we will not be held for re advertisement of the property, loss of rent if no tenant moves into the property immediately or with holding our rent, then we cannot accept.

The letter has included a Form 12, Notice to Leave. A form 10, Notice of Lessor's Intention to Sell the premises and a Form 9, an entry notice. This will be on Saturday 23/2/13 at 1000 and the reasoning behind this is to show the premises to a prospective purchaser or tenant (24 hours notice) Clever huh?

 

I have to get back in contact with the TAAS and inform them of these notices to find out what are next steps are going to be. Regardless, it would appear that there is light at the end of the tunnel and we may escape this property and the agent.

 

Have to tootle off for now, as the owner and the insurance company are coming to visit the house to inspect damage. Deep joy

 

In our last rental our landlord decided he wanted to sell the house while we were in it...he offered us a rent free period if we agreed to leave (5 months in to a 12 month lease). Cheeky perhaps, but is there any scope for asking for a rent reduction/waiver to go quietly??

[Keira huggins]

In our last rental our landlord decided he wanted to sell the house while we were in it...he offered us a rent free period if we agreed to leave (5 months in to a 12 month lease). Cheeky perhaps, but is there any scope for asking for a rent reduction/waiver to go quietly??

 

No there isnt unfortunately. We have asked for a rent deduction, it was declined. They have now issued a Notice to Move. The agent has provided us with a form stating that the property is to be sold, however this appears not to be the case. The house has been re-advertised for rental at an increased amount. Hence we need in writing from the agent/owner a Mutual Agreement to End Tenancy which stipulates that we will not be held responsible for re-advertisement (which has already been done) or for loss of rent from when we move out to when a new tenant can move in. It is my understanding, and I could be wrong and am awaiting further contact from the TAAS, that they are not supposed to put a rent increase on the property as it may make it more difficult to rent because of the price.

It would appear that the agent already has someone coming to look at the property this Saturday. My husband spoke with the agent on Friday and she did state then that she did have someone in mind to move in but couldnt move until May, so hence, if we are out mid March, we dont want to be held responsible for rent until May or when ever someone moves in. I can tell you now, I wouldn't pay the increased amount when there are other properties out there of a better condition however there is a lack of properties in this area, so who knows.:eek:

[Keira huggins]

We have finally been allocated a Mediation Officer as things went from bad to worse since I last posted (believe it or not!) This started this afternoon. We have been given a bit of breathing space now. We have someone who controls the situation, the conversation and make sure that all issues are properly discussed and there is a strict agenda, which has been great. Anyone having issues with the owner/agent. RING THE RTA. They are GREAT!

Once I have an outcome, I will let you guys know how it all pans out! Fingers crossed :wub:

[steven0161]

Glad you have now got someone in the know and who is on your side. I would imagine that they would be in some kind of breach with the tenants court if they are providing an intention to sell but are re renting...Doesn't sound fair or right to me! I have been watching some today tonight clips on youtube to give us a flavour of some of the oz issues from blighty and my god nearly fell off my chair when I watched this clip http://youtu.be/njKNh8GpOaA I did wonder if she was related to your rental agent :wacko:

 

Good Luck x