Renter shocked after receiving insulting email from Sydney real estate agent

A Sydney real estate agent has been put on blast after appearing to accidentally send an insulting email to a potential renter.

A Sydney renter received a rude shock during his search for a place to live after receiving an incredibly insulting email from a real estate agent.

Gavin, a 30-year-old who has been renting in Sydney for years, is no stranger to the difficulties of finding and being accepted for a property in such a competitive market.

Real estate agents play a major part in whether this process is made more or less stressful for potential tenants, with Gavin finding out first-hand just how unpleasant the search for a rental property can become.

The 30-year-old revealed he received a very rude email from a real estate agent after applying for a rental property in Sydney’s inner west back in 2020.

To his shock, Gavin then received a response from Allan Dale Real Estate agent Slavko Skender, appearing to refer to him as a “clown”.

“Can you please register this clown,” Mr Skender wrote in the email.

Gavin said he received this shocking email from a Sydney real estate agent after applying for a rental property. Picture: Gavin/Supplied

Slavko Skender works for Allan Dale Real Estate in Sydney’s inner west. Picture: Allan Dale Real Estate

Gavin believes the agent meant to forward the email to a colleague, but mistakenly sent it to the prospective renter instead.

“I was incensed,” Gavin told news.com.au, adding that renting was “stressful enough” without dealing with a situation like this.

“I immediately called the ADRE front office, registered my complaint, which ultimately was never followed up to its conclusion.”

Following this call, Gavin sent a follow up email to the real estate agency saying he was looking forward to a call from the manager.

In response, he received an email from reception claiming his details had been passed on and saying they were “so sorry” he had received this correspondence.

“Please don’t take this personal,” the staff member added.

“My manager will be in touch.”

The renter said he immediately called the real estate agency after receiving the email. Picture: Gavin/Supplied

He claims he received a call from the manager but the situation was never followed up and he never received an apology from Mr Skender. Picture: Gavin/Supplied

The renter claimed that, while the manager did reach out, the matter was never followed up and he never received any form of apology from Mr Skender.

News.com.au has contacted both Allan Dale Real Estate and Mr Skender for comment.

This is far from the first negative experience Gavin has encountered generally during his years renting in Sydney.

Speaking of his previous experiences with different rental properties and real estate agencies, he said: “I’ve dealt with excessive mould in my previous rental and above market rent increases that would blow your mind’.

“Viewed countless unliveable properties Agents and landlords have consistently made scrupulous claims against my bonds and there is a serious lack of care once tenants are in a property.”

Gavin shared the screenshots of the email from the real estate agent to an Australian tenant Facebook group.

He said while “clown” isn’t the worst name he could have been called, he was more angered by the agent’s response “towards someone who needed his services that is the main problem”.

The posts sparked outrage from other group members.

“Screw that! Calling someone a clown is very offensive and I absolutely would be taking it personally,” one person wrote, adding that this kind of attitude from real estate agents “makes me sick”.

One wrote: “Unreal, heaven forbid that he’s ever a tenant.”

“I have no words,” another simply said.

Gavin believes more needs to be done to help struggling Aussie renters, starting with the Labor government freezing rental increases “immediately”.

He also suggested public housing needed to be “massively” expanded, along with the introduction of a “statewide public commission that investigates Real Estate Agencies and Landlords”.