Emails reveal Queensland renter’s toilet nightmare

A young Brisbane woman has spoken out about her nightmare rental scenario, with a series of emails revealing her shocking living conditions.

A young woman has revealed her shocking rental experience that left her with no option but to use the sink in her rental property as a toilet following a frustrating battle with a real estate agent.

Kara, who did not want her last name published, has been living in what can only be described as a nightmare rental scenario in Queensland for the past few months.

Up until last week, the 25-year-old had been renting out a granny flat in the backyard of a property in Brisbane’s south.

With the current rental market being what it is, her $230 weekly rent may sound like a dream for many renters.

“But if you saw where I lived maybe you’d think otherwise,” Kara told news.com.au, adding that the flat was the “size of a shoebox”.

In the two years Kara rented the property, she had to have a plumber come out roughly four times due to ongoing issues with the toilet.

“A few months ago, my toilet had an ongoing issue where you’d flush, but the water would rise and nothing would go down,” she said.

“I emailed my real estate, and they arranged a plumber. The toilet worked fine for a few days but stopped flushing again.”

Kara said there were ongoing problems with her toilet which got worse last year. Picture: Supplied

She would go days and even weeks without hearing back from the real estate agent. Picture: Supplied

When Kara informed the real estate that the toilet had stopped working once again and she needed another plumber to come back out, the agent claimed roots had been found growing in the pipes of the toilet which were causing the blockage.

However, the blockage was apparently occurring in the “council area” and so it was the responsibly of the council to fix it.

“From that point on, she ignored all of my messages and calls for over a month. Meaning for a month, we didn’t have a functioning toilet,” Kara said.

“I called her six times and sent five emails.”

One of the issues appeared to be roots blocking drainage. Picture: Supplied

Picture: Supplied

Email chains from November and December last year show Kara repeatedly reaching out to the real estate and often going days and sometimes weeks without a response.

In one email sent on December 10, 2022, Kara noted she had been trying to make contact with the real estate for three weeks regarding the ongoing issue of the toilet, stating it was “getting a bit ridiculous now”.

“I do not have a functioning toilet. It has maybe successfully flushed several times over the past three weeks,” the email read.

“I need a response back ASAP about what is happening and what is going to happen”.

Kara was forced to live in a home for weeks with no working toilet. Picture: Supplied

When the agent finally did respond, she informed the 25-year-old that the issue was only impacting the granny flat and not the main house, as the two properties were on separate lines.

“Therefore there are two toilets on the property and I have not received any notification that the second toilet on the property is not working,” the response from the real estate agent said.

Kara explained to news.com.au that she was essentially told to use the toilet in the main house, despite it being a separate dwelling to the granny flat where she lived.

She said, while she had a “friendly” relationship with the people in the main house, they were not friends and she rarely even saw them, hence making using their toilet not a feasible option.

The renter claimed she was made to feel as if she essentially had to “suck it up”, meaning she was forced to live in a home without a working toilet for six weeks.

“We had to pee in a sink,” she revealed.

The real estate agent claimed there was still a working toilet in the property, despite it being in a separate dwelling. Picture: Supplied

It wasn’t until sewage started overflowing beneath the main house and into Kara’s shower that the real estate agent finally called another plumber.

“The kitchen in the main house smells like sewage and the whole granny flat smells like sewage. This is unlivable,” an email from Kara read, dated December 18, 2022.

The real estate agent replied and said an urgent work order had been approved, but the email chain showed Kara had to follow up the next day and asked when the plumber was coming out.

She noted she was having to stay elsewhere until the issue was resolved.

The real estate agent didn’t reply until the following day, telling the renter she didn’t have a date for when the relining would be completed, but someone would be attending the property that day to unblock the drains.

This email was two days after the 25-year-old had informed the real estate about the overflowing sewage.

Kara finally moved out of the property on February 15, telling news.com.au that even up until her last day in the home the issue still wasn’t 100 per cent resolved, with the pipes still needing to be replaced.