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I am a tenant who has been renting a renovated apartment in the lower north shore for a few weeks now (I moved out of my investment property, which I am in turn renting out to a tenant – and if he had these concerns, I would address them immediately!).
I love the place – looks great, absolutely ideal location. But it is infested with cockroaches. As I have OCD, I find this particularly difficult to live with – in fact, if you saw the way I sleep at the moment (for a few hours a night out of sheer exhaustion with every light on), you would think I was insane. The condition report stated no infestation, but as soon as I moved in (the first day) I noticed them and wrote as such on the report.
The agent recommended I try bombs. So did my mother. 'Great,' I thought, 'What an easy resolution!'
Wrong! Four bombs down now, still roaches. In fact, I walked back into my apartment after using another bomb yesterday and one was sitting on the wall above my bed in stark daylight.
I have now bought baits (two varieties), surface spray, 'professional' indoor/outdoor spray, one of those insecticide spray packs that continually sprays into the air at intervals. I have ordered an expensive pest inspection.
I can't live like this any more. I need a resolution quickly, as I actually can't sleep in the apartment and am going to stay at my parents'. What can I do? Can I get out of the lease? I love the place so wouldn't want to do this as a primary option, but I'd rather find a less-awesome place with no infestation.
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This is clearly a problem in the building and not just your apartment. The Owners Corporation and/or Executive Committee should be getting the whole block de-roached but will they do so at your behest? Probably not. So you have to get your landlord and/or agent to put them under serious pressure.
Firstly, you need to make a polite call to the agent requesting a reduction in rent backdated to when the infestation was first reported due to the fact that you were misled in the condition report.
This may be the only way to get the landlord to do what they should be doing anyway, which is hassling the Executive Committee to spend some money of resolving this issue. By the way, the landlord would have a good case for compensation for loss of income from either their insurers or the Owners Corporation. If you meet any resistance from the agent – and you will – contact Tenants NSW and they will advise you how to pursue this, including the rent reduction, through Fair Trading. Click HERE to get their details.
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No, I think you do have grounds – they said there was no infestation and it sounds like there is. But check with Tenants NSW before you do anything.
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