An unusual issue has cropped up this week and it has a surprisingly simple solution … or it would be if finding somewhere to rent in our cities wasn’t so hard.
Our out-of-town Flatchatter has moved into a share home only to find it stinks of pet urine from an ill-trained dog.
Even worse, the owner of the dog has told her to “get used to it”? What can she do?
The obvious thing is to find somewhere else to live ASAP but that may be harder than it sounds. And what are the chances that her flatmates – who have already shown themselves to be pretty unreasonable – will refuse to return her bond?
That’s not a glass-half-full as it may seem. According to a survey last year by the home-sharing website Flatshare.com.au it’s taking longer to find a place to live.
“Previously, sharers most commonly said it would take then 1-2 weeks to find a place to live (22per cent), whereas the most common answer now is 1-2 months (18 per cent),” according to their 2022 annual survey.
As for returning the bond, only 6 per cent of listers held on to the full bond, with 11 per cent hanging on to a portion of it.
Also, while the most common reason for bonds not being fully refunded was damage to property (60 per cent), outstanding rent (30 per cent) and outstanding bills (26 per cent), naturally, none of the respondents mentioned “teaching the departing flatmate a lesson” as one of their reasons for holding on to some of the cash.
Even delaying repayment can be a pain in the butt when you are trying to set up somewhere new. But if that happens, we have a cunning plan, HERE.
Elsewhere on the Forum
- Who do I complain to about noisy common property doors? That’s HERE.
- Am I liable for damage caused by investigating a leak that sems to come from my flat? That’s HERE.
- UPDATE: New twist in the “dog by the pool” tale. That’s HERE.
- UPDATE: Sharing electricity connection to save costs. That’s HERE.
- UPDATE: Agent refuses to give tenants’ details, citing “privacy issues”. That’s HERE.
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