ok we have all heard the 'worst tennant' story and someone else has a posting on the 'worst property investing mistake you have made' so now I have a story about the worst landlord
An old fella (aged 96 and I'll call him Jack) lives next door to my dad. My dad is a 73 yr old widower who leads a very active and busy retirement but every Tues he takes ol' Jack to a club and shouts him a meal. (This has always amazed me cos if you ever watched 'One Foot in the Grave"…..thats my grumpy old man.
Now for the past year the owners of the house Jack lives in have been renovating around him. They walk in and out of his rental home anytime they please, putting in extensions and a new kitchen and second bathroom etc. It is a wonder the stress, noise and inconvenience hasn't finished him off. Anyway the other day they verbally told him he had to get out within a week cos they wanted to move in.
So dad tells me about it and of course I set him straight on a few of Jack's rights, ie a periodic lease means they have to give him a two months written notice to vacate.(Qld rules) But hell the guy is 96! he doesnt want conflict and stress. These owners (ok I'm not afraid of being politically incorrect) are south african and are probably used to ordering a few slaves around, They dont seem to have any conscience when it comes to a very old man who would find it extremely difficult to find accommodation.
My dad will probably end up taking him in but first he wants to make sure it is all self-contained downstairs for jack so they can entertain their girlfriends in private.
All this would take longer than a week to organise.I've a good mind to go give them a piece of my mind but I'll try to restrain myself and see if I can get some tenancy advocacy group to speak to them on his behalf.
Usually I would say the law leans more to the tennant than the landlord but in this case the landlords are bullies and hopefully we can do something to help him that will cause minimal stress.
Just off topic for a minute, I have this plan when I'm old. I'll be able to use my walking stick to prod people who get in my way. I'll be able to mindlessly walk to the front of the queue cos alzeimers has obviously set in and people will indulge me and when I put my groceries at the checkout I'm gunna bloody well wait till everything has been put through the scanner , then fumble through my bag for my purse and count out my cash to the last 5 cents. I see no reason why the young should have all the fun!
Milly, as much as I might feel sorry for Jack, I think you're being very unfair on the landlords. I'm not commenting on their technique, as it sounds like they could be nicer about it and they certainly should abide by the law, but in principle, I don't think it's fair to say that the landlords can't have access to their property because an old man lives in it. Jack's not their responsibility.
I truly hope Jack finds a fantastic support living environment that suits him better anyway.
Trakka,
I'm not sure about the laws on doing a major reno while a tennant is in place, perhaps it is perfectly legal. Personally I try to do those sort of things between tennants but if I did, I would certainly be offering a rent discount. These landlords promised jack (when he was in his 80's) that he could llive there for the lenght of his life. Now obviously they didnt expect him to live that long.Anyway I have since found out that there is no bond with the RTA and there was never a lease set up. (just 4 weeks rent in advance) Now I'm pretty sure this isn't legal. So I shall find out who is in the poo tomorrow.
The law is the law and if it states that they have to give tennants 2 months notice then case closed. Anyway renovating around a tennant is bad form and illegal, they only got away with it because Jack doesn't know his rights. You cannot tell me that they did not plan this and knew exactly when they were going to move in.
It's a good thing that Jack has you on his side Milly and can direct him to the right people.
Very UNAUSTRALIAN.
Hi Milly
On a diferent subject i seen your repply on subdividing and noticed that you are subdivding in ipswich, I have a property in ipswich that i would like to subdived and would appricate any addvice and contacts"surveyors ect".
Just to make sure im talking about the same Ipswich,i am in Ipswich Queensland.Hi Milly
Putting the legal issues aside, on the face of it the landlord appears to be extremely heartless and uncaring towards another human being. Not having the full facts, other than what you have written (I assume they are established facts), makes it difficult to give a meaningful reply. What I would like to say is you appear to be quite discriminatory towards South Africans. While I do understand your anger, surely a persons nationality is irrelevant, either they are good people or they aren't? I can only assume you have never been to South Africa, as I can assure you, you will not see any slaves being ordered around. The vast majority are extremely hospitable, would go out of their way to help people, and in the case of your fathers friend, would certainly try to work something out. You are obviously very upset but rather than defaming a whole nation, I would suggest you call them up, or go and see them to work it out, attacking them is not going to help.
Cheers
Prop1I apologise Prop1 for offending you.I wasn't really defaming an entire nation as only a very small minority of Africans are white. . To me it was only yesterday(early 90s) that apartheid was abolished. 80% of the African population was unable to vote, they had second class education and health facilities. Black women did not get much education if any, and were often seen working for a pitance in an average white home. Ok so it wasn't slavery…..but only just. Gees they even had separate buses for blacks and whites. It was outrageous.
But how different have we been in our treatment of Aboriginals. They didnt get the vote till the early 60's. ANd I think it was 1967 they were allowed to take part in the census. Im pretty sure that it was over 2007 years ago that a poor family with only a donkey came to town to sign a census.
My own country's history shows I am in no position to point the finger at people who were born where they were born by the stroke of luck. There is certainly nothing constructive in me making racist comments even if those comments weren't aimed at the underdog. I think sometimes we get so caught up in our ambitions that we forget to give back to the community and to those who are not well off.
Nice story Millie. It appears most landlords must be great considering yours is the only post!
In the 10 years I rented I never had a bad landlord. So I cannot contribute, however, if anyone posts a topic about bad property managers, or bad buildings or bad body corporates. I can site plenty of these!!!!
glen, I have sent you a PM. it certainly IS ipswich Qld.
lol matthew. A builder mate of mine saw the house above and wants to take over the agency for it cos the agents were so slow in doing anything about it. Now he is big and has the brawn , it is the other 'b' word I wonder about.
I rang one of those tennants referees and discovered he was a landlord himself, He was able to recommend them cos he lived downstairs while they were up and he didn't stand for any nonsense. He didnt bother about rules and regulations of the RTA. If you didn't abide by his rules , you would be out on your ear before you knew it.
Now I'm guessing there are a few mavericks out there who manage their own properties and act in the same way. They aren't about to confess it here knowing it is totally illegal. Occassioanlly I wish i was a 6ft 5, built like the proverbial ****house, and just growled at tennants. But hey, Ive had a lot of tennants and these are the only ones who have caused such grief. Law of averages……has to happen to all of us sooner or later.
Actually now that i think of it, my father in law was a landlord of 5 acres in brisbane for years. (it's now a petrol station, macdonalds etc) Now he never bothered with RTA. He didn't care if they grew a bit of pot just so long as the house was kept tidy and rent was on time. If it wasn't on time he kicked them out. They weren't going to kick up a stink and have teh cops sniffing around.
glen, I have sent you a PM. it certainly IS ipswich Qld.
lol matthew. A builder mate of mine saw the house above and wants to take over the agency for it cos the agents were so slow in doing anything about it. Now he is big and has the brawn , it is the other 'b' word I wonder about.
I rang one of those tennants referees and discovered he was a landlord himself, He was able to recommend them cos he lived downstairs while they were up and he didn't stand for any nonsense. He didnt bother about rules and regulations of the RTA. If you didn't abide by his rules , you would be out on your ear before you knew it.
Now I'm guessing there are a few mavericks out there who manage their own properties and act in the same way. They aren't about to confess it here knowing it is totally illegal. Occassioanlly I wish i was a 6ft 5, built like the proverbial ****house, and just growled at tennants. But hey, Ive had a lot of tennants and these are the only ones who have caused such grief. Law of averages……has to happen to all of us sooner or later.
Actually now that i think of it, my father in law was a landlord of 5 acres in brisbane for years. (it's now a petrol station, macdonalds etc) Now he never bothered with RTA. He didn't care if they grew a bit of pot just so long as the house was kept tidy and rent was on time. If it wasn't on time he kicked them out. They weren't going to kick up a stink and have teh cops sniffing around.
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