Hi all,
I own two rental properties, and somehow I seem to have found myself a victim of one of the more unscrupulous property investors out there, and a little out of my depth.
I recently relocated for work, not wanting to overextend my borrowings in the current market, I moved into a rental property. Unfortunately, within a month of us moving in the owner has listed the property for sale. I can understand that properties need to be sold from time to time, and the owner has a right to show the property to prospective buyers. But if he had have told us the property was going to be listed for sale we would not have signed the agreement.
My partner and I feel very “taken advantage of”, the owner has obviously rented the property prior to listing it because he knew it would be much harder to get tenants if the property was on the market.
Generally, withholding pertinent information is not enough to break a contract (except certain contracts… eg insurance). However, I’ve heard that the Magistrates court (we’re in WA most other states have a residential tribunal or something) leans in favour of fairness for the tenant. And renting a property only to list it for sale shortly thereafter may not be illegal – but it certainly isnt a nice thing to do.
For now, I’ve written a “nice” letter to the owner (c/-Agent) requesting he agree to mutually terminate the contract. I dont expect it to succeed, so I’m preparing to go to the magistrate.
So.. does anyone have experience in this sort of thing? Ever known a tenant to get a magistrate (or tribunal) to break a fixed term agreement for them?
Thanks in advance.
is the selling agent the same as the leasing agency?
Can you prove that the agent knew it was being listed for sale & the owner’s circumstances had not changed?
How long into your lease did this occur?
Thanks Scott No Mates,
Not the same agency, cant proove it, and about 4 weeks.
IMO, it doesnt matter whether the agent knew, they are after all, just the owner’s agent, making a contract on the owner’s behalf. If the owner knew and the agent didnt, that’s “innocent misrepresentation”… enough to rescind a contract.
The owner does NOT have a right to show the property to prospective buyers without your consent.
If it doesn't suit you to have people going through your home, don't let them. They can't have their cake and eat it too.
They should have told you. If they genuinely only needed to sell in a hurry then they should be offering compensation to you for the disruption to your lives. You didn't sign up for that.
Hi Catalyst,
I’m not sure of the rules elsewhere, but here in WA… prospective buyers (accompanied by the owners agent) do have the right to “reasonable access”. If I flatly refuse access, with no good reason, a magistrate will order I provide access for say, 1 hour every tuesday afternoon or something.
Certainly they have to ask me before they show anyone through the property, I do have the right to deny it, without providing a reason. But I wouldnt get away with it for long, they’d have me before the magistrate pretty quick.
As an accountant, I operate a home office. I frequently take client’s work home and at any given time, I have client’s confidential financial information in my office. It’s beyond my understanding as to how I can be forced to provide public access. Were anything to be stolen, I would not be covered by insurance because I have given access. Personally I think its completely unreasonable for anyone to expect me to be present, at any given time, to guard my office from prying eyes.
Being forced to provide public access to our house is a flagrant violation of our privacy. If the property had been listed prior to our application, or we had been aware of the owners intention to sell, we most certainly would not have signed the agreement.
I’m hoping the magistrate will see my offer to mutually terminate the tenancy agreement as a generous offer. Considering it would involve me footing the bill for removal costs twice in 2 months, it certainly feels generous from my end.
Thats my rant for today.. thanks for your thoughts – keep ’em coming!
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