Can ANYBODY please help a mother and child find a place to live?

Hello there community!

Our story
My daughter and I have been through hell – literally. After the death of both my father and uncle, I was away from my rental property for about a month to help mum finalise paperwork and keep it together emotionally. Upon returning home I discovered the property I lived at had flooded and the house had absorbed water lying around the house! Moisture spread up through the concrete slab and mould took over the carpet before spreading to all our furniture, appliances, bedding and clothing! We have lost everything. I notified the owners of the situation immediately and then called the real estate agent. I was devastated. The smell was unbelievable and there was moss and algae growing on the back porch, mould formed on the front door and and reached a height of 1.5 meters throughout the house. I got an independent specialist in to give me the damage report. I was informed that nothing could be saved and everything in the house had to be thrown out because the mould was that bad. I also notified ACA for help, but their producer didn’t want to spend their budget to send up a crew to Coffs Harbour. – Please read on…..

When the agent came to inspect the property, she angrily told me I ‘should not have had the place shut up for so long’. She suggested (when I go away) I should leave the doors and windows open! (the screen doors didn’t even have locks!) I told her, ‘that was ridiculous – what if it rained while I was gone?’ Water would get into the house and I’d be blamed for it or worse – someone might break in and rob us or damage the property! Her response to that was ‘that is a risk I’m prepared to take!’ What a moronic thing for a property manager to say!

The area FLOODED! Road works got washed away! What hope would I have had, had I been home? I didn’t plan on my family dying. The agent was an uncaring, finger pointing, pass the buck where blame was concerned and I got lumped with the lot. I could not afford it. I had to break my lease which I was bullied into and threatened with a rent rise if I didn’t. I had been quite happy on a continuing agreement and have never been in arrears or late with paying my rent – EVER. I have never abandoned a property or broken/damaged a property. I’ve had to fix and clean(at my own expense) properties before I’ve moved into them because agents employ half-assed professionals to do the job. I even took photos of the condition of a property before I move in and then after I’ve had to really clean it, showed the agent what clean means. I am nobody’s fool.

I have glowing references and never had a problem finding a property to rent. But lost everything in the aftermath of the flood and couldn’t save my references and letters from previous properties I lived at. I have had to start over from scratch.

I have been looking for a place to live/rent since February 2012 and keep getting rejection upon rejection and can’t understand why. I’ve been paying $280 p/w for some time and now when I apply for properties between $250-$280 I am being rejected by agents claiming I can’t afford to pay that weekly rent on my close to $1200 a fortnight pension?? Talk about discrimination! I am a single parent on benefits and CAN afford it. I have a regular income. I have been able to contact previous people who gave me references and they have given me new ones. Previous landlords I rented privately through hated me leaving their property because they knew I looked after it and maintained routine repairs myself. I always strive to leave a property in better condition than when I move in. I am a clean freak and have an obsessive compulsion to clean.

Walking away from my previous property was not an easy option for me to do. I risked my own health (against professional advice) and tried to clean the property. I threw out what I could and bagged all clothes. I can’t tell you how many tears I cried when I had to throw out and leave behind family heirlooms that had to be condemned. I ended up with a serious chest infection from breathing in the mould spores. I am a broken woman, but worse than losing everything we held dear was my 3 yo daughter asking to go home and sleep in her own bed. How do you tell a child they can never sleep in their own bed or play with their favourite toys ever again?

We are desperately trying to find a new home suitable for us and the only thing we were offered was a mouldy tin shed on the side of a cliff – hardly appropriate place to raise a child. I am looking for a long term place to live and settle. I am not looking for temporary accommodation. We have been shuffled around through family and where I’m currently living is with my mum who is moving house in 2 weeks and her new place is too small to have us stay with her. We could pitch a tent in her back yard, but with winter coming on, the nights have been rather cold in NOWRA.

I have applied for dozens of properties within my means (budget wise I know my limitations and don’t need someone else telling me what they are. I AM responsible for my own finances) and have been knocked back for every single one of them. On average, I am applying for 5-8 properties a week. Agents take their time getting back to us on viewing times and jerk us around by ‘losing’ our application forms. It is very stressful and frustrating. My stress levels are unbelievable. There are times I feel as though my heart will explode with grief.

It seriously feels like we are being black listed and shut out of the town. My mother is now a widow with barely enough pension to pay her rent and yet SHE got APPROVED for a property! I have had agents asking for 3 months rent in advance to put my application ‘on top of the pile’ so to speak. How wrong is that??

I don’t smoke, don’t have any pets and don’t have a anyone living with me other than my child! I only want to put a roof over her head a give her a courtyard or something for her to play in. I have been rejected for properties because they were town houses with stairs or places that had stairs! Agents are making judgemental decisions based on rubbish. My child is capable of climbing stairs – she has done so living with grandma for almost 4 months!

I have a feeling my previous agent is ruining our chances of finding a new home to live. I don’t think it is very fair if they are allowed to do this. I paid close to $30k in rent a year and the owner of the property I rented from couldn’t pay for adequate drainage around the property?? He inherited the house from his parents when they passed away years ago. Why are agents and owners allowed to treat tenants like crap and then when something goes wrong, blame us? It’s not fair when they do not listen to tenants concerns and carry out council approved renovations. Insurance wouldn’t cover our loss because the property was deemed ‘not structurally sound’. I had brought the mould issue up with the owner and agent several times and about the bog on the side of the house that had a drainage issue – still nothing was done! We lived there for a little over 2 years. Why does it take so long for things to happen?

This is so wrong. We are suffering now without our possessions, a roof over our heads and worse – we’re being blamed for what happened. It’s not fair at all! I wish my dad didn’t get acute leukaemia and die, (he died 2 days after diagnosis and wasn’t a sickly man) I wish my uncle didn’t die and I wish it didn’t flood, but these things are out of my control. I couldn’t stop any of these things from happening.

Please, if there is any human kindness left in this world, can someone help us find a place to live around Nowra or close enough to the region? My mum depends on me as she doesn’t drive and isn’t well. Living together is not an option as we both need our own space. We have different needs. If I lived close enough to her I would be able to help her if and when she needed me. I have also been looking in the Batemans Bay area, Shoal Haven, Berry, Kiama, Huskisson, Jervis Bay and Ulladulla areas. Nothing!

We need a 2 or 3 bedroom place with a lock up garage and a bath tub in the bathroom, under $280p/w.

I have been running around on a daily basis searching local papers, agents and also putting applications in online as well as in person. We’re getting nowhere and time is running out.

Please share our story through social media or anywhere you think might help. We would greatly appreciate it. We have been excessively wronged and are emotionally exhausted.

Thank you for taking the time to read.
Cg
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