Little Real Estate stoush: Tenant scores massive win after being left without shower, toilet and laundry for months

A man has managed to pull off a David v Goliath victory against a national real estate firm after being left without a shower and toilet for months.

A Brisbane renter is set to claw back thousands of dollars after he was forced out of his unit and into a hotel amid never-ending bathroom repairs and then told he would need to move once he asked to be paid back.

Student Sam Adams is celebrating a win over his former property managers Little Real Estate and is set to receive $4500 compensation after the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal last week ruled in his favour.

As reported by NCA NewsWire last month, Mr Adams, 30, was renting a unit in Taringa with a friend when he was told in March last year by Little Real Estate that his shower needed repairs and would be out of action for three weeks.

Several frustrating delays and setbacks – including claims a property manager lost a key to the unit – blew the repair timeline out to five months, at which point Mr Adams was told he would also be without a toilet and laundry for a short period.

Brisbane student Sam Adams has won $4500 compensation from national property management firm Little Real Estate.

Mr Adams said he had taken to showering at university or walking through his housemate’s bedroom to an ensuite when their schedules lined up but admitted to feeling “traumatised” at the prospect of even further delays and workarounds.

He was also unenthused by the prospect of balancing a hectic university schedule with a constant stream of builders, and so he checked into a nearby hotel at his own expense while the remodelling work was completed.

However, a visit back to the Taringa unit near the end of the three-week work period revealed the project was again going to blow out significantly.

Little Real Estate is a national firm founded by rich lister Paul Little and describes itself as the biggest independent property manager in the country.

The company would later tell a tribunal that the delays had been out of their hands – and also the hands of the property owner – and instead pointed to the building’s body corporate and the builders hired for the work.

He says he was left $6000 out of pocket during his hotel stay after bartering for a rental reduction.

However, Mr Adams said communication from Little Real Estate had been poor throughout the whole ordeal and added that he had not been advised there would be delays in the final remodelling.

Even after bartering for a rental reduction, Mr Adams says he was left $6000 out of pocket during his hotel stay.

He and representatives from the South East Queensland Union of Renters presented at Little Real Estate’s Spring Hill office in October with a letter requesting compensation and a guarantee that a positive rental reference would be provided should Mr Adams choose not to continue living there.

The next day Mr Adams was told his lease was not being renewed and he and his housemate would need to find somewhere else to live.

This prompted Mr Adams and SEQUR to hold a series of rallies outside Little Real Estate’s Spring Hill office.

‘IS THAT WHAT YOU’RE SAYING?’

Mr Adams initiated two hearings at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal after saying he had exhausted all other options, including suggesting a conciliation process with the Rental Tenancy Authority.

The first QCAT hearing alleged that his eviction was a retaliatory measure by Little Real Estate.

While this was dismissed by the adjudicator back in January, a hearing last week on the matter ruled that he was owed compensation.

A two-hour hearing over the phone – during which Mr Adams and Little Real Estate were again unable to settle amicably – ended with Mr Adams being awarded $4500.

“One thing (Little Real Estate) said was that it was unreasonable for me to go and stay in a hotel because there was another bathroom at the property,” Mr Adams said.

“I told the adjudicator it was an ensuite, and to use it I had to walk through my housemate’s bedroom, and we don’t have that kind of relationship.

“And so (the adjudicator) asked (Little Real Estate) ‘is that what you‘re saying? That Mr Adams should have just walked through his housemate’s bedroom?’”

Little Real Estate Ordered to Pay Up - Victory to the Union! This morning, after our six month campaign against...

Posted by SEQUR - South East Queensland Union of Renters on Wednesday, March 30, 2022

The adjudicator acknowledged Mr Adams could have mitigated his hotel losses by breaking the lease with Little Real Estate after it was clear the remodelling was not going to be finished in a timely way, hence the full $6000 being sought was not awarded.

Mr Adams told NCA NewsWire the prospect of breaking the lease, finding a new property in Brisbane and moving house during an ultra-tight property market meant he would have likely been staying in hotel accommodation for longer anyway and forking out more for rent when a place was secured.

He said it was tough finding a new place for rent in Brisbane.

That said, he was grateful for the result and hopeful of it being the start of better renting conditions for people in Brisbane.

“That’s the real win. My opinion is that we (need to) start changing that culture of just expecting tenants to put up with whatever,” he said.

Little Real Estate did not choose to comment on NCA NewsWire’s original story, citing privacy reasons.

Fresh comment has been sought from the company in the wake of the QCAT ruling.

Mr Adams and his housemate are now living in Bardon – a suburb 5km north – in a smaller property for an extra $40 a week.

He got his bond back from Little Real Estate but says it was tough to relocate.

“It was shockingly difficult (to find a new place),” Mr Adams said.

“We looked at like 30 different places … and there were like 30 people at every inspection.

“We saw how much competition there was … before we were just happy to get anywhere.”