‘Completely lied to’: horror trend hurting tenants

Renters Lauren and Jason have been booted out of their home on two separate occasions thanks to a real estate loophole that experts say urgently needs to be addressed.

Demand is growing to amend no ground eviction laws as decent tenants are being pushed out of their homes for no reason and with nowhere to turn.

Lauren Perry and partner Jason have been booted out of their rental property with no grounds, on two separate occasions.

Ms Perry described the experience as “horrific” and that it had severely impacted her mental health.

Both times, the couple were told the landlord needed to sell or move back into the property, only to find their property back on the market advertised for rent while they were in the middle of packing up.

“We felt completely lied to,” she said.

Renters Lauren Perry and her husband Jason, have been booted out of their rental properties twice now with no grounds. Picture: Tim Hunter.

MORE: Landlord act leaves couple stranded for 6 months

Crazy reason tenants asked to vacate home

Ms Perry said she went back and forth with the real estate agent and did everything they could to try stay in the home they loved.

After being told there was nothing they could do, the property was listed for rent on the website, and a ‘for lease’ sign was put up outside their home, according to Ms Perry.

“It was so in your face outside our building,” she said.

Their next property they experienced the same situation where they were told they had to leave the property due to the landlords situation changing.

“We even offered $200 extra a week,” she said. “We told them it’s an absolute crisis, we can pay up to $800 a week.”

She said the property was then advertised for rent for the same amount they had offered to pay to stay in the home.

“We knew we were being lied to but there aren’t a lot of avenues for people to take,” she said.

They were able to get support from the tenants union and Ms Perry said she also approached the community legal system for help.

The couple offered an extra $200 a week to try stay in their home, which they then say was listed on the rental market for the same price.

“I couldn’t get a response because the community legal system are so over run and there are so many more people in much tougher situations than us,” she said.

“It’s frustrating, with access to safe and stable housing, Australia is falling way behind.”

The couple were living in Sydney’s inner south, but with a lack of available rentals and rising prices, they decided to move north away from the community of friends they had built.

“It was also a huge financial cost each time with removalists and we both had to take time off work to go and see properties because more of those viewings are being seen during the week,” she said.

MORE: Desperate bid to fix ‘silver tsunami’ of empty homes

$10m lifestyle home has unique display garage

She said only having 30 days to move was stressful.

“It’s hard to do anything significant in that amount of time let alone up root your whole life.”

Tenants’ Union NSW CEO Leo Patterson Ross said being told to leave your home without reason creates fear.

Ms Perry is calling for more rights for renters and for no grounds eviction laws to be amended. Picture: Tim Hunter.

“It reduces trust in renting and in providers of an essential service even those trying to do the right thing,” he said. “Transparent and genuine dealings should not be something to be scared of.”

Mr Patterson said that renters reform wouldn’t prevent owners from genuine grounds, but would ensure renters could ask for repairs or negotatiate a rent increase without risking their home.

“This sets up a more genuine good faith relationship which currently may be possible but is all too rare.”

Ms Perry said she suspected landlords weren’t always aware of what their property managers were doing. She noted that some agents received commissions for getting new tenants into properties.

“I worry with no ground eviction laws, real estate agents might just be making up reasons to get around those laws and there needs to be more accountability for that.”

She said she hoped no ground eviction laws would be amended for both periodic and fixed term agreements.

“There needs to be much tighter oversight and regulation over real estate agents, there are so few safeguards for people … they have control over whether people get access to safe housing or not.”

MORE: Balmoral ‘masterpiece’ sells in just two weeks

Inside Camilla Franks’ glamorous new $12.5m home

Originally published as ‘Completely lied to’: horror trend hurting tenants