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My real estate rental agent is good at saying things but doing nothing
For instance, I reported a non working exhaust fan in the bathroom in October 2015 and told it was a strata issue and that it had been referred to the strata managers.
I followed up with the rental agent several times and was assured that it was in the hands of the strata manager. I last did this in early December last year but got no response from the rental manager
So last week (late January 2016), I emailed the strata manager for an update. They were not aware of the issue, and actually asked me who the rental manager was. A flurry of emails has resulted with the rental manager finally making contact with the strata managers and some action might result
There are other examples of the rental agent talking the talk, but does the Real Estate Institute or Fair Trading have any powers to investigate and hopefully discipline a rental agent who does nothing to repair and maintain a property and is prepared to lie about what has (or has not) been done?
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When you have a problem with your rental agent you can simply go to the NCAT.
Paul – I assume that you’re a tenant, in which case you cannot lodge a complaint with the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) against the Property Manager (Rental Agent) because the Agreement against which their performance can be measured, and actions taken if/when it falls short is with the Landlord, not you.
You could however lodge a complaint with the NCAT against your Landlord, but then in the situation that you describe, the delayed repair issue was not their fault, and in fact as the repair was the Owners Corporation’s responsibility it’s quite possible that the Landlord wasn’t even aware of it.
If your Landlord’s contact info. is shown on your copy of the Tenancy Agreement then perhaps drop them a line to let them know how slack their Property Manager is, but in reality you have no control over who your Landlord contracts with to manage your rental property, but if problems again arise then seek the advice of Tenants NSW whose Fact Sheet on repairs & maintenance can be downloaded HERE.
@proxaccess said:
When you have a problem with your rental agent you can simply go to the NCAT.As you can see from this web page the complaint is properly more likely to be effective if it is made to Fair Trading under “repairs and maintenance” rather than under any of the issues that would escalate it to NCAT.
The rental agent may indeed be lazy and incompetent, but that isn’t a Tribunal offence (even if it is offensive).
Also, I wonder if the property owner realises how badly managed their property is. The agent will be taking a percentage of the rent for doing nothing. If things go seriously pear-shaped, it’;s the owner who has to pay, not the agent.
Perhaps a calm and informative (i.e. non-abusive) note to the owner might persuade them to change agents to someone giving them something in return for their commission.
There are some landlords who don’t want to know but many if not most are furious when they discover their tenants have been so badly treated by someone they effectively employ.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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