Real estate agent called out for ‘disrespectful’ routine inspection act

A renter has been left fuming over a real estate agent’s “disrespectful” repeated routine inspection act – and it’s got other Aussies fired up as well.

A South Australian real estate agent has been called out by a frustrated renter over a repeated routine inspection act, and it’s something that appears to be an all too common experience among tenants.

Throughout her 10 years of renting, Eliza Andersen-Ponton has encountered her fair share of difficult property managers and landlords.

The 28-year-old lives about 30 minutes outside of Adelaide and has been living in her current rental property since May 2024, for which she pays $550 a week.

In her nine months living at the property, Eliza has noticed an annoying pattern with routine inspections that has left her not only angry, but also out of pocket.

Under South Australian law, the landlord or property manager can inspect the property up to four times a year and must provide written notice between seven and 28 days prior.

The real estate agency Eliza rents through has been scheduling inspections every three months, with the first being in August 2024.

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Eliza and her husband like to ensure someone is home during these inspections, so she made sure she was home during the 11am and 1pm time frame they were given.

By 1pm on the day of the inspection the real estate agent still hadn’t arrived and, when contacted, said she was still an hour or two away.

“She ended up being three hours late,” Eliza said in a recent TikTok video recounting the situation.

While the 28-year-old was “pissed off”, she ultimately let it go and figured there wasn’t much harm done because she was heavily pregnant at the time and would have likely been at home anyway.

When the next inspection rolled around three months later, the property manager once again informed the couple that she would be at the property between 11am and 1pm.

Eliza is an occupational therapist and both she and her husband work from home conducting telehealth appointments.

Due to the nature of their work and the privacy requirements that go along with it, they are unable to conduct appointments during the routine inspection times.

On top of this, they also have a young child, so being able to plan nap times around these inspections is crucial.

Once again, the property manager did not arrive during the allocated time frame.

Due to the nature of Eliza and her husband’s work, they have to schedule time off for routine inspections. Picture: Supplied

The couple also have to plan their young child’s nap time around the inspection times. Picture: Supplied

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Eliza called and informed her she had a meeting with a telehealth client at 2pm so could not have her entering the home during that time.

The agent then agreed to come at 3pm and, when she didn’t arrive once again, the young mum informed her they would need to reschedule as she had another client at 4pm.

The inspection was rescheduled for last week and, despite assuring the couple she would be at their home between 9am and 11am on the agreed day, she did not turn up.

“It is 11.04am and she is not here and I have a client at 12pm. What would you guys do? Do you just say, ‘Sorry no, organise another reinspection’?” Eliza asked.

“But, do I have to keep cleaning my house for her? Obviously we clean our house every day, but do I have to keep cleaning the windows and doing the deep cleans every two weeks for them to maybe come for a reinspection?”

The video struck a nerve with Aussies, with many renters sympathising the Adelaide woman’s frustrations and sharing their own inspection horror stories.

“I swear every inspection I have had with real estate agents they are always hours late or they pull a no show and have to reschedule, and that’s only because I call and say no one attended,” one person said.

“The fact that they don’t contact you when they are running late is hugely disrespectful,” another wrote.

One person said they have “PTSD” from past inspections and now get anxious every time they have one.

Another commenter claimed their property manager arrived early to an inspection and let themselves into the home while they were on the toilet.

Speaking to news.com.au, Eliza said the missing inspections have been a source of frustration for the entirety of the tenancy.

“It is a bit frustrating because I do have a loss of income for those two hours that I have to book out for the inspection,” she said.

“That is about $400, which is quite difficult.”

This is part of the email Eliza sent following the agent repeatedly not being on time to routine inspections. Picture: @elizarose1996/TikTok

The couple have been renting the property since May last year. Picture: Supplied

She also noted that pushing back in these situations can be risky as a tenant and the fear of retaliation is very real.

“Renting can be very scary [when] trying to oppose your real estate agent or property manager because housing can be so uncertain,” she said.

“In my 10 years of renting I have not had good experiences with property managers. We have had really traumatising experiences.”

After the property manager failed to show for the rescheduled inspection, both Eliza and her husband tried to ring her, with both calls going unanswered.

Eliza’s husband then sent a message informing her that they had clients scheduled for the rest of the day and the inspection would no longer be able to take place.

Fed up with this ongoing issue, the Adelaide renter sent an email to the real estate agency requesting a virtual inspection and offering to take photos and videos of the property.

This email has, so far, gone ignored.

“She never replied to my email about a virtual inspection. She actually never replies to my emails or my text messages and there was no apology, no follow up,” Eliza said.

Online, people were furious on the young mum’s behalf, with social media users branding the situation a “nightmare” and “unprofessional”.

“She’s useless, send her some photos of the house like they take and tell her to stop wasting your time,” one person said.

“Unfortunately real estates treat us renters like second class citizens,” another wrote.