Flat Chat Strata Forum Rental rants Current Page

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  • #10127

    I have a friend who rents a one-bedroom apartment in Sydney who has had a serious mould issue on the walls and ceiling of her bedroom for the last 2-3 months. She reported it to to the real estate agent almost 9 weeks ago and while they are trying to deal with it now, it took a good 4-5 weeks before there was much action. She is unable to use her mattress  (purchased less than a year ago) as it appears the mould has moved into it and she has been sleeping on her couch since reporting it. She has had to move all her clothes out of the built in wardrobe as the mould has spread there. Most of her bedroom has been moved into her living room so she is not getting the full benefit of the unit she rents. Other units on her side of the building are experiencing similar issues and building management are looking into it (albeit slowly).

    At the 7 week point, realising this was going to take longer to sort out than anticipated, she requested a rental reduction, backdated by 4 weeks and ongoing until the mould issue is resolved. We looked into this but couldn’t find any guidance on how much of a reduction to request. She currently pays $370 per week and given she is not able to use her bedroom at all and her living room is now turned into a makeshift bedroom so she can’t really entertain and have friends over, she suggested a $150 per week reduction. The real estate agent has baulked at this and indicated that her rent is already around $150 below market rate. After pointing out that what she pays in rent and the request for a rental reduction are two separate things (clearly my friend will be receiving a rental increase at the end of all this!), she is now waiting for the owner to come back with an alternative amount. The owner is waiting until they receive a report from building management as to the extent of the damage and what it will take to fix it. This is clearly going to take some time and my friend will of course continue paying her usual rent until she gets some sort of resolution. The owner has suggested she can move out (she is off lease but has lived in the property for many years) but my friend doesn’t want to leave, she likes the unit and it’s location. 

    Does anyone have any guidance around what would be a suitable rental reduction in this situation and what is a reasonable period of time to wait for the owner to make a decision around applying the reduction? 

    Thanks

    Tracey

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  • #23935
    Whale
    Flatchatter

      Tracey – advise your friend to have a look at THIS Factsheet and to then contact Tenants NSW who she’ll find extremely helpful.

      #23947

      Thank you, Whale. We had the first fact sheet from a previous post on this forum, very helpful. The landlord has apparently agreed to the reduction of $150 so all good. Just negotiating when it will start from now so my friend may need to call Tenants NSW after all!

      #24468

      I can’t imagine having to live in those kind of conditions and I really think that you should be moving out instead of asking for a decrease in rent!  Find some temporary accommodations until your landlord fixes things and get him to pay for your lodging until he does so!

      * Mel…… and I can’t imagine why you and your common business operators Eddy and Cameron bother to continually dredge up old posts with, it would appear, the sole objective of sneaking in a free add; that I’ve edited out.  Whale.

      #24470

      Hi Mel – aside from Whale’s comments, I did indicate in the original post that my friend did not want to leave her current unit and that she was already paying a lot less than market rental rate. Given the reluctance to provide a rental decrease, temporary accommodation was out of the question.  My friend was also concerned that once she was out, they would not let her back in given she was in month-to-month arrangement and paying so much below the market rate.  

      They are still fixing the problem in the building as a whole but her unit (and others) has been professionally cleaned and repainted, she received the rental reduction she asked for (although this was applied at the end of it all and not on a weekly basis – but she agreed to this (I wouldn’t have!)) and is happier in her unit now.  No rental increase as yet but I suspect it will be a matter of time!

      #24472
      Whale
      Flatchatter

        Tracey – that’s good news, and to clarify my note to Mel’s post, it was intended to express my genuine concern about the often irrelevant comments that he and his two mates post to old topics, often without reading the preceding details, and with the prime objective of finding a way to include the name of their common franchise and its business operations. Other people who believe that their business operations could be of benefit to strata dwellers and to themselves work with Jimmy T to become become Official Sponsors of FlatChat.

        #24473

        Completely understand, Whale! 

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