Email reveals extent of rental power imbalance

A rude email from a landlord to a tenant shows just how much the rental power imbalance has shifted in favour of landlords.

Speak to any renter you know – everyone has a story.

With rental prices spiralling out of control as record low vacancy rates meet surging demand, today’s renters have to accept substandard living conditions, breaches of lease conditions, and inspections and rent rises without notice just to get – and keep – a roof over their heads.

In this case, after being taken to the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) by their landlord, and winning the hearing, a tenant received the following email from their landlord:

“I hope U appreciate how cheap U got out of breaking a binding contractual agreement. U think U were such good tenants just because U paid the rent on time LOL LOL.”

The X post shows the disrespectful attitude landlords have towards tenants, which has become common. Picture: X

Renters are even considering options like sharing a bedroom with strangers. Picture: realestate.com.au

The email was posted on X by renters advocate Jordie van den Berg, who uses the handle Purplepingers.

Commenters on the post decried the situation.

“Welcome back, feudalism,” one wrote.

“That is appalling, not just unprofessional it’s a form of harassment to the tenant. Not to mention a big middle finger to the Tribunal, ” commented another.

Others saw the funny side.

“All professional emails refer to other person as U and use LOL repeatedly 10/10,” one wrote.

“Who even still uses LOL? LOL,” wrote another.

Trying to help renters regain some power, Mr van den Berg, who has almost 142,000 followers on X and reviews dire rental properties on TikTok, recently launched rental website, S**t Rentals, where tenants can post anonymous reviews of their properties or real estate agents.

Rental activist Jordie Van Den Berg runs the S**t Rentals website. Picture: Mark Stewart

A search of the site shows just how much the power imbalance has shifted in favour of landlords.

One renter posted that the real estate agency managing her property are located in the same building “so are constantly nosing around and entering the property without permission”.

Another reviewer wrote: “Tried to put the rent up $200 a week after not doing any repairs or maintenance for 1yr plus. Evicted us when we contested it.”

“The landlords refused to move out their furniture and would, often without warning, stay over. By the end of my time, I was poor, sick, cold and mentally defeated,” another review said.

Data from PropTrack also shows the extent of falling rental vacancy rates. Picture: PropTrack

Earlier this year, a landlord advertised a tin shed as $1000 a month granny flat, while several real estate rental sites are advertising beds for rent – where renters have to share a bedroom with complete strangers.

The rental crisis in the nation’s capital cities began back in 2021.

The latest PropTrack rental report shows the national median weekly advertised rent on realestate.com.au was $550 per week, at the end of the September 2023 quarter, an increase of 3.8 per cent over the quarter and 14.6 per cent over the year.

The report also found there were 5.7 per cent fewer new rental listings in September 2023 than the previous year – the fewest new rental listings in September for more than a decade.

Melbourne and Sydney are the worst affected areas.