Property manager’s insane solution for tenant’s flooded rental

Just when a Sydney renter thought her property manager could stoop no lower, they surprised her with an insanely brutal suggestion.

A renter’s property manager has offered a laughable solution after being shared disturbing photos of her rental flooded and almost inhabitable due to water damage and mould.

Sydney tenant Sophie shared in a TikTok uploaded on Sunday how one of the rooms was flooded in a few centimetres of water after a heavy downpour.

She sarcastically told viewers she had initially been concerned, but the advice from her agent swiftly eased her mind.

“I was a bit worried for a sec because this room’s a bit wet, but thankfully when I called my real estate agent and explained the situation, they told me, ‘You just need a couple of towels to soak it up and it should be right,’” Sophie explained.

“So I feel like a bit of an idiot for even complaining now. I mean, I’ve got a couple of towels and I only need a couple, so I’m a d***head”.

Sophie was stunned her property manager told her to mop up her flooding home with some towels. Picture: TikTok/@soph.tik

Sophie said she wouldn’t in the least be surprised if her property manager decided to start charging her $50 more a week because the home now had a “new and luxurious indoor pool”.

“What rental crisis?” she wrote across the screen.

The home’s serious leaking problem had extended back to 2019 when she first emailed her agent about “severe leaking” and flowing water down the walls that had created large puddles.

In a separate video, she showed footage from earlier scary events when water had pooled to dangerous heights in other parts of the house, where mould had grown out of control and holes had opened up in the ceiling.

An email she said she received from the agent after complaining about the problem encouraged her to mop the water up and collect the leaking water in buckets.

“I think it’s best if you mop up as much water as possible [and] also put out some buckets to collect the leaks,” part of the email read.

In the video she included photos she attached to her email that showed massive parts of her walls covered in mould, water streaming down the walls and several rooms with huge puddles.

The home was verging on being uninhabitable and had holes in the ceiling. Picture: TikTok/@soph.tik

She remained in contact about the problem throughout her tenancy, but the agent seemed uninterested in helping find a permanent solution.

Further photos that accompanied another email in March last year showed a gaping hole in one corner of the home’s ceiling.

In May, she sent them a video of heavy rain that was pouring through a window and flooding one of the home’s hallways.

She asked for an update on whether the home would be receiving any repairs, given it was becoming dangerously close to being entirely uninhabitable.

“Aside from the hole in the ceiling, leaking in the lounge room and side hallway, and the mould, there are also other issues I have raised that have not been addressed,” part of her email in May read.

She explained the bathroom exhaust fan had also stopped working which had made it impossible to keep the steam levels down.

Despite the horrific condition of the home, the agency is planning on selling it. Picture: TikTok/@soph.tik

Despite the extensive list of trouble with the rental, the mum said she was still committed to staying at the home for “as long as the landlord is willing to lease it out”.

The agent responded earlier this month by telling her the property had been listed for sale and it would need to be available the following day for photos to be taken.

Viewers of her video were in disbelief at the agent’s final brutal move.

“That final email left me absolutely shook that they’d have the audacity,” one wrote in a comment.

“Tell them you have plenty of photos they can use. All of which include the natural water feature,” someone else said.

Dozens of others encouraged her to file a complaint with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.