› Flat Chat Strata Forum › Rental rants › how much wear & tear is acceptable after 5 years of tenancy › Current Page
Your recourse would be to take them to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). The dept of fair trading web site should be able to help also. Here is a link that may help https://www.choice.com.au/money/property/renting/articles/rental-rights-you-didnt-know-you-had
I once took a case like yours to the NCAT. I think a lot of real estate agents do this to impress their landlords and because they feel tenants are often too intimidated. Often agents (not all) try this on, it is a quick way for them to make a few extra dollars. You don’t need a lawyer before the NCAT, you can represent yourself. I did and I have seen others do it and win.
5 years is a pretty long tenancy. The items you describe would appear to fall within the definition of fair wear and tear. The water marks under the sink could be from a leak that the landlord should have had fixed anyway.
If you go to the NCAT. You need to gather/list as much evidence as possible in your favour. The evidence will include, the photos, the length of your tenancy, and details of the state of the property during your tenancy. Do you have much paperwork relating to your tenancy? If so going thru it for things like proving there has been no spend on repairs/maintenance, past condition reports (photos? Especially, if the past condition reports are all good and this one was bad it might help. Even if you can’t find much evidence the real estate should have it. The agent not give it to you but put a formal request to the tribunal to ask that they provide it.