Hi , im working in sydney for a couple of months and staying with an old friend , we moved house and i accidently paid my share of the rent ( $1400 ) into the old account .
It appears the Property manager would like to keep it.
the staff have told me the matter rests with her and they are unable to assist , no she isnt in the office today….
we have had a few weeks of the avoiding my calls and the phone run round and no response to my emails
so i sent a more formal email ,giving a due date
as none had been responded to i rang tp make sure it hadnt been "lost" , and was told i could have $600 back when the owner gives it back to them , the other $800 was rent owing and i would have to chase the tennants for it myself.
this was such amazing news to my old friend she went directly there to ask how she got $ 800 behind in the rent……
the propoerty manager absolutly blew up at her !
after much shouting and threats of the police being called my friend decided it wasnt her money and she could just leave before things got properly ugly
so obviously im going to the tribunal and the fair trade commission,
Is this an option or are the agents so cosy there that its an empty threat of a good chat with an old mate ?
i figure all i can do is waste enough of her time to convince her i wont be giving up.
Due to some bad investments Im too poor to let it go !
Any other steps I could take ?
Any thing I should watch out for ?
Cheers
That's an awful situation. What state are you in? it might be worth looking at what your local real estate institute offers on this. they'll have information on dispute resolution for sure.
It's hard to see how they should be allowed to keep it when it's clearly an error (do they acknowledge it's an error).
Perhaps it could also be considered as criminal theft or some type of fraud if they don't give it back. I know when malfunctioning ATM's spit out more money than it's meant to there can be criminal repercussions if the money is not handed back.
Good Luck.
itsandrew
Go as far as you can see and you will see further.
By all means, follow up with Fair Trading. The agent is obliged to account for all monies received and paid to the owner.
I am a little lost as to why the rent was in arrears – is it the current tenant or from a previous tenancy?
There is no relationship between yourself and the current tenant, you do not have their contact details and nor can the agent provide these to you. Payment was a mistake on your part but the agent probably has no right to keep/disburse those monies if it does not relate to your current rental.
Request a tenant ledger – were you on the lease? If not, how can the agent accept money from you?
due to lack of response i sent a registered letter ,and at least got an e mail today.
using words like" alledged " and " in good faith "
they are treating it as an over payment and due to our lack of a rental agreement need permission from my friend to repay $ 600 ( when the owner gives it back ! )
we think the ( alleged ) arrears comes from my friend paying the rent over a week early every month so that it would clear the "system "
in time for the first of the month when her rent was due .
So the few bucks for a registered letter was worth it to at least start a dialogue
sadly as im not on the lease im not invited !
this has certainly squashed my dream of starting a property maintenance business !
Someone owes you money. It's either your old friend or the REA. The Tribunal will work it out. You can also request that the Tribunal recognise you as a tenant with or without mention on the lease. Your friend should have a copy of the rent record so you can assess arrears if any.
Cheers
thecrest
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Good point , Im keen to treat it as a learning excercise so will do the tribunal ( unless they magically pay by my nominated date )
my reading made me wonder if as i dont have a lease im not going to be recognised , but its probably in my best interests to be treated as such
any idea what property managers get paid ?
(Im sick of working in the rain )
to clarify I live in qld ,but am down in nsw for a short term job
suavemechanic wrote:any idea what property managers get paid ?
About $45k if they work with resi. No wonder they get disillusioned.
crazy , explains a lot !
hi latest developments .
went to the tribunal ,
Everyone seems to be on first name basis , so its not too threatening for the agent !
Im not on the lease so in legal no mans land…..
In the quiet room we found that They had refunded the $600 quite quickly ,without notifying me , into an account number with digits missing ,Still waiting to hear if they have found it ( couple of weeks and counting )
The agent told a story quite similar to my friend's with herself as the victim and my friend as the agressor , and produced rental records with a lot of late payments and text messages highlighted so I guess I have to concede that one and hit up my friend
What have I learned ?
People are not always as they present themselves to be
communication saves a lot of confusion
really check before you push confirm for online payments !!!!!
Latest developments !
Left the tribunal thinking it all possibly could have been a mistake and would probably be resolved that afternoon ,
have given up on the unpaid rent but would like the over paid $600 back…..
the matter was stood over for a month to allow time for them to track the funds
After several weeks of no response to my emails ( to 5 e mail accounts , including the principal ) i got a short one saying i would be paid on friday….
5.17 pm I recieve a proof of payment advice
We were due back at the tribunal monday morning !
5 months and not a scrap of politeness or reasonable behavior , waiting till after banking hours was the icing on the cake !
I am pretty sure I have uncovered a scam where end of lease refunds are puposely made to bounce back into a "shoes and handbags" account
no one i know has the patience to pursue this sort of thing and i suspect most people just assume they are going to be ripped off ,
but dont want to end up on the bad tennants list so dont make too much fuss
Great outcome for the persistence. It was your money afterall.
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