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  • #8672
    Adam_B
    Flatchatter

      I was the tenant of a 1st floor apartment in an 8 floor building, with garages on ground floor. I rented the apartment for over 4 years.

      Here is a quick timeline summary of events:

       

      December 21st2012

      • Notice given to agent that we would be vacating our rental property on January 20th (we were not in a fixed term agreement)

      Friday 11thJanuary 2013

      • 11:00am: Arrive home to find sewage has overflowed from the bathroom floor waste, but is contained within the tiled bathroom
      • 11:05am: Call agent to arrange a plumber – was told they would contact Body Corporate Services (BCS)
      • 12:00pm: Sewage begins to again flow from the floor waste. All the apartments above us are connected to the same sewer stack, so anytime anyone used the bathroom it would flow into ours.
      • 12:01pm: I call BCS to tell them it is an emergency and that the sewerage is about to reach the carpet
      • 12:30pm: I put towels down to hopefully stop the waste from getting to the carpet
      • 1:30pm: Still no plumber. I leave to go to a wedding.
      • 11:45pm: I arrive home to find the carpet is soaked and brown with sewage matter. The plumber has been, but was obviously delayed in getting there. The waste has spilled into the hall adjacent the bathroom and into the first half of the bedroom
      • 11:50pm: I call BCS to try and get a carpet cleaner or something and am told that the agent has to deal with it as the body corporate wont deal with damage resulting from a common property drain blockage. I decide not to spend the night in the apartment.

      Saturday 12thJanuary 2013

      • 9:00am: Call the agent to arrange a carpet cleaner
      • 3:00pm: Chase the agent after not being called back and am informed that all cleaners are unavailable
      • I call a few carpet cleaners myself and am told that they cannot clean the carpet, and it needs to be replaced
      • 3:00pm: The agent calls and says that they have found a cleaner. I inform them of the above and am told that it is not true.
      • 7:00pm: Carpet cleaner arrived and gives the carpet a clean as well as the bathroom floor. A large blow dryer is placed under the carpet at the entrance to the bathroom. I am told to leave this on for 3 days to dry the carpet and underlay
      • I again elect not to stay at the apartment. This carpet cleaner agrees this is a wise decision…

      Sunday 13thJanuary 2013

      • 10:00am: arrive home to the apartment to find the sewer has again overflowed into the apartment. The damage is more extensive this time. The waste has filled the bath tub, toilet and shower recess with putrid water.
      • 10:05am: I can BCS and they arrange to have the same plumber come back out.
      • 11:00am: Plumber arrives and gets to work. He first drains the bottom of the stack under my apartment to prevent any further overflow. He then clears any local blockages caused by backflow. He then inspects the common sewer line at the connection to the mains, and finds tree roots have grown into the pipe. Body Corporate confirm this was a known issue, but that it hasn’t been rectified.
      • 7:00pm: The carpet cleaner again returns and does what he does.

      Monday 14th January 2013

      • 9:00am: I call the agent to explain what has happened over the weekend. They inform me that they have received reports from the plumber and carpet cleaner and that the apartment is suitable to occupy. I protest and tell the agent that the smell of sewer is still prevalent, as is the smell of mould. The carpet is still soaking wet and all our belongings are now covered in various airborne particulate.

      Tuesday 15thJanuary 2013

      • 9:00am: I email a picture to the agent of the ‘clean’ carpet
      • 10:00am: Agent informs me that the carpet will be replaced
      • 10:30am: I request that the entire apartment be cleaned prior to me removing my belongings to move into my new place
      • 11:30am: I am told “the owner is only required to dry, deoderise (sic), steam clean the carpets and disinfect the bathroom, it is not his responsibility to pay to have the whole apartment cleaned.”

      Thursday 17thJanuary 2013

      • 9:00am: The agent concedes that the carpet cleaner is not a specialised cleaning service and that a bathroom cleaner will need to be engaged. The agent also says that after visiting the apartment that it doesn’t smell that bad. Just “a little bit damp”. The agent also says that the carpet is dry (a complete lie) and that the apartment is safe for us to begin moving our stuff out. And we need to do so by the 20th as the new tenants are moving in (also a lie).
      • 11:00am: The dirty/damp sections of carpet and underlay are cut out

      Friday 20thJanuary 2013

      • I have hired removalists to do the job as I lost over a week of moving time. I had purposely organised an overlap between my new place and the old so I could move everything myself and save on some costs. This would have also afforded me the time to clean the apartment myself for the bond retrieval, rather than hire a cleaner (which is a whole other story).

      Tuesday 22ndJanuary 2013

      • I requested the rent be refunded and was told that the rent cannot be refunded until the new tenant moves in (which at this stage has moved from the 21st to the 29th, which belies the urgency placed on me by the agent).

       

      I’m in my new place now and am fighting to get the rent refunded. The agent is arguing that the apartment was habitable for the last 3 days, despite it being half carpeted, damp and full of those carpet nail strips. I am also yet to hear on the status of my bond.

      I have kept a cool head throughout the whole process but have been shown no empathy from the agent. I am uncertain how much of this has been relayed to the owner, but am inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt given my 4 year tenancy with zero issues. I have helped all services in their cleaning and plumbing, spent a fortune on cleaning products, was forced to seek alternate lodging, have had to clean all my household items (including dry cleaning of various soft furnishings) etc. etc.

       

      My (rather long drawn out) question is this: what am I entitled to claim via the CTTT? 

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    • #17737
      Whale
      Flatchatter

        Wow, such a long question for my short response…

        What a mess (it’s sewage by the way), whilst you cannot claim any costs for alternate accommodation, you can apply to the CTTT for a rent reduction (to zero if necessary) during those periods that your Unit was uninhabitable and for other costs. Read this Factsheet provided by Tenants NSW and if necessary contact them directly for clarification.

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