‘Unbelievable’: Landlord’s revenge attempt after missed rent sparks backlash

A landlord has been slammed for their “unbelievable” act after a tenant vacated their property without paying the last two weeks of rent.

A Victorian landlord has been slammed for their “petty” attempt to get “revenge” on a tenant after he skipped out on rent payments.

Sharing a post in an online discussion forum, the landlord explained their tenant had moved out of the apartment without paying the last two weeks of rent and asked for advice on whether they could retaliate by impacting his credit score.

“So far, the bond does cover for most of the rent/cleaning,” the homeowner wrote in the post on Whirlpool.

“I was wondering how I could report this to credit agencies so it makes a dent to his credit score. Or does the real estate agent do that for me?”

The landlord questioned if they could report the incident to ‘dent’ his tennant’s credit score. Picture: Whirlpool

The post was shared on X by renter advocate Jordie van den Berg, who wrote: “Landlord mentality: A tenant owed me two weeks of rent so I took it out of their bond. We’re all even now, but what can I do now to ruin their life?”

Others also blasted the landlord’s “vindictive” attempt to escalate the matter, labelling them a “horrible person”.

“What a bloody prick! Honestly how vindictive,” one person wrote.

“Horrible person. Unbelievable, where’s the humanity?” said another.

“Why? If everything they owe you is already covered just forget about it and move on with your life,” another questioned.

“Instead of trying to get revenge on someone, just move on with your life,” said another.

Others pointed out neither a landlord nor real estate agent would have the power to affect someone’s credit score.

“Credit score is for credit providers, and a landlord is not a credit provider. The bond already covered everything, so you’re just being vindictive and petty,” one person wrote.

Speaking to news.com.au, lead community education lawyer of Tenants Victoria, Ben Cording, confirmed that was the case.

“The Privacy Act talks about who is a credit provider, so it lists banks and loaners but it makes quite a specific carve out. Under section five, it excludes real estate agents specifically,” he said.

“So that’s good news for the renters,” he added, suggesting it “makes sure that we’re not double punishing people around renting and affecting that essential service”.

Instead, Mr Cording said a tenant who didn’t pay rent or made serious damage to a property could be listed on a renter tenancy database – essentially a blacklist – for up to three years. But they would need to meet certain criteria.

“If you’ve got a compensation claim greater than the amount of the bond and ordered by VCAT (the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal), then you can be listed on a tenancy database,” he said.

“That’s a pretty big stain for people. Three years of getting knocked out of rentals – you can still apply but they’ll do there checks – is a pretty big deal.”

He also said a real estate agent can’t simply take money out of a tenant’s bond without permission.

“This idea that the real estate agent says, ‘I’m just going to take that out of the bond’ is kind of a bit misleading. They don’t actually have any legal rights unless the renter gives them permission, or VCAT gives them permission,” he explained

Mr Cording said a real estate agent can’t simply take money out of the bond without permission. Picture: News Corp Australia

Mr Cording said landlords trying to access bond money over claims of damage or cleaning is a common issue renters face.

“It’s frequent enough to be of concern,” he said.

“(A landlord could claim) ‘my carpet is damaged, now I’m going to have to replace a whole carpet’. The carpet might be 10 years old, so it should be depreciated. And if renters don’t know, or they’re not aware of their rights, (they think) I better pay it.”

It’s why he strongly advises renters entering a property to take a number of photos and videos in case a claim is made against them, and to take up disputed matters with VCAT.

“We’re seeing that affordability has really shrunk for a lot of people in terms of what’s accessible for them and that has a knock-on effect of people feeling like they need to appease landlords from place to place to make sure that they’ve got the cleanest hands possible to be in there with a chance. It’s a little bit sad that that’s how the markets currently positioned.”

Landlord’s ‘disgusting’ reason for rent increase

The post is not the first act by a landlord to be slammed online.

In January, a landlord was accused of increasing a single mum’s rent “out of spite” because she asked him to provide a legal rental increase notice.

Reddit users were horrified by the landlord’s response, with many accusing him of retaliation and urging the tenant to take the situation to the rental tribunal.

“I mean, they basically just handed you a case for retaliation right there,” one person said.

Another advised the woman to speak to a lawyer, blasting the landlord’s “disgusting tactics”.

Another wrote: “Absolute scum. This is a terrible situation, being blackmailed like that. I hope things work out for you.”

It comes after new PropTrack data revealed rent has increased by 17 per cent over the past 12 months across Australia.

The report also found Sydney is the most expensive city in the country to rent, with a house costing $1044 a week on average – 15 per cent higher than 12 months ago.