Hi Rachel,

I can understand your frustration with the situation. You sound like a great landlord who is attending to issues as they arise but something doesn’t sound right with the situation. The fact that the property manager is siding with the tenants is a major concern as they are employed to work on your behalf. For them to go ahead with works without your authorisation is also a red flag.

The property manager is required to advise the tenant that the property is as it was when they rented it and that you have been maintaining the home where required and they can’t expect everything to be replaced every time there is an issue with an item in the home. You need to be very careful when issuing a tenant with a notice to vacate as they may see it as a response to their requests and they can contact Consumer Affairs about their rights. It seems that your tenant needs to be handled by an experienced property manager who will carefully manage the situation with the ultimate goal to be to persuade the tenant to vacate.

Communication and trust is very important between the landlord and agent. You are paying the property managers wages so it isn’t too much to expect some respect and good service.

Kym