Landlord fails to pay $2700 to renters

A couple have described the “horror” experience of their first rental and are still waiting for $2700 in compensation to be paid.

Sarah Sharples

@s_sharples

5 min read

September 6, 2024 - 9:46AM

A young Australian couple have described the “horror” experience of their rental being soaked with a leak while they were on holidays and returning to find the carpet drenched and mould growing on some of their belongings.

Patrick Bateman and his girlfriend, 24, were excited to move into their first place together.

He had been at university in Brisbane for three years and in a long distance relationship with his girlfriend Tori, who was based in Melbourne.

They scored a rental for $540 a week in the up market Brisbane suburb of New Farm in December last year.

Mr Bateman moved his belongings in and stayed for a few nights before heading to Melbourne for the Christmas holidays, while his girlfriend hadn’t yet lived there.

He was then alarmed to receive a text message from the real estate agency, called Coronis, on 27 December last year informing them there had been water damage upstairs and asking if their apartment had been impacted.

The initial text message from Coronis. Picture: Supplied

The 24-year-old said he replied within a few hours informing Coronis that the couple would be away for a few weeks and asked that a representative check the apartment. They received no reply and on January 2 they pleaded for an update, he said.

A day later, the real estate agency said they had not heard back regarding the “storm damage” but would touch base when they returned to work five days later on January 8, Mr Bateman said.

The couple packed up a trailer and drove in two separate cars filled with their belongings to Brisbane over two days.

“We arrived at Brisbane at midnight on the Tuesday January 9 and opened the apartment and the smell that hit us it was pretty wild,” Mr Bateman told news.com.au.

“There was black mould all over the carpet. I had basically all my possessions from my previous place that I had lived in that I had moved there from the city to this place in New Farm.

“Pretty much all those items that were in one place were just ruined, like a leather jacket that was just covered in mould. The next box I took it outside and poured it out it was just filled with water.

“Basically we got there and we couldn’t really stay. We had those two cars and trailers, and we had a three-legged asthmatic cat, so we had to leave the cat in the apartment in the bathroom as it seemed like it wasn’t affected.”

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The damage caused to the carpet by the leak. Picture: Supplied

The mould on the clothes. Picture: Supplied

Water had seeped into the wardrobe. Picture: Supplied

The impact of the leak. Picture: Supplied

The couple said they had to get a hotel last minute in the city and called Coronis first thing the next morning to discuss the issue.

“We were almost immediately met with, from the get go, that your only option is a termination of the lease based on non liveability,” he claimed.

He said there did not seem to be any “concern about us”.

Mr Bateman said the couple refused to sign the lease termination. He then received advice from the Residential Tenancies Authority where he was told the nonliveability clause should not be used for “maintenance issues”, he added.

He said he was shocked Coronis was claiming non liveability when the real estate agency hadn’t even been inside the property.

“They had no idea – the only one that had been into the place was us,” he noted

The carpet was soaked and had turned mouldy. Picture: Supplied

The couple were also informed there was no availability for alternative accommodation from Coronis as it was peak holiday season.

“After that meeting we kind of understood that we were by ourselves in a way. We had no other option to try and look for short term accommodation by ourselves and look for storage by ourselves,” he said.

“We put all stuff in storage. We got a storage facility for $150 a month and then the insurance policy was $20 on top of that.

“Then basically we had to look for short term accommodation immediately for that night that was pet friendly and furnished and thankfully we managed to find that. It was a lot. We had to pay for a month straight up and it was a lot of money — it was roughly about $6000 and it was the pet friendly part that was the hardest part.

“We had to ask friends and family for the money basically.”

The temporary accommodation was also 80 kilometres away from their original rental, Mr Bateman added.

Their mouldy belongings. Picture: Supplied

A meeting was arranged with the real estate agency the next day at the apartment.

“We were desperate for a solution and really wanted to be able to be in this place because our temporary accommodation was short term and after that we didn’t have any options. Our stuff was in storage,” Mr Bateman added.

“We were first time renters and had a cat involved, which it makes it a lot harder to find options and we are in a rental crisis as well.”

The couple were then shocked a day later to receive a notice to terminate the lease requiring their belongings to be removed and the keys returned within 24 hours.

“We understand this is a very stressful time and not the ideal outcome we were hoping for. We are happy to help secure another property if required,” Coronis said in a follow up text message.

Text messages from Coronis alerting the couple to the notice to terminate the lease. Picture: Supplied

Coronis offered two other rentals but they were around $100 a week more expensive and 20 kilometres away from their original rental, Mr Bateman said.

He added they were confused by the termination as the wet carpets had been removed and the drying process was being completed with dehumidification and multiple industrial drying fans operating continuously.

The couple made a complaint to the QLD Office of Fair Trading about Coronis.

But Coronis told the QLD Office of Fair Trading that two builders had advised extensive work was required to repair the property, including removing and replacing the kitchen, skirting boards and flooring, the replacement of water damaged blinds and repairing the robe, as well as a full mould clean.

“Due to the extensive amount of work required, the tenants have been issued a notice to leave

due to unlivability, which they also advised us upon their return,” Coronis told the Office of Fair Trading in an email.

“We did give the tenants 24 hours notice as required under legislation based on unlivability and as the tenant had not fully moved into the unit as there was no furniture only a couple of

suitcases and kitchen ware and clothes it would not have taken long to move out.”

The damage caused by the leak. Picture: Supplied

Mould had formed on furniture. Picture: Supplied

Coronis said one weeks’ rent was also offered by the owner if the keys were returned.

But the couple claimed there were far more belongings in the apartment and that rent should be refunded from December 27. They also claimed the owner was more concerned about potential renovations rather than emergency repairs.

They still spent a month trying to negotiate a return to the apartment but then realised it was a lost cause.

Mr Bateman said they were particularly disappointed as they faced “homelessness” while he claimed the owner could access any loss of rent on insurance.

Coronis declined to comment when contacted by news.com.au.

The damage caused by the flooding. Picture: Supplied

Mr Bateman said the whole situation left them with a huge amount of “uncertainty”.

“Even our future moving up to Brisbane it was all just in the air. We wondered if we would have to go back to Melbourne and have to pack up again and go home,” he said.

“We were living in insecurity and uncertainty.”