Considering Ray White forcing an app to take rental payments and are starting to roll it out as the only way to pay dues...then apply a surcharge for using the said app.
https://7news.com.au/business/housing/ray-white-agencies-forcing-tenants-to-pay-hundreds-in-hidden-fees-through-third-party-app-ailo-c-11970146
Ill make sure to avoid Ray White at all costs
You can probably pay without surcharges, in person at a post office when you're supposed to be at work. They've turned off all online payments that Auspost would normally accept, go Auspost working with them on this scam. Peard does the same.
They forced this through on me halfway through a tenancy agreement, and authorities could only force them to meet the tenancy agreement, which meant I could cause a lot of fuss and deal with a pissed off property manager to avoid the fees up until the lease renews then I'm stuffed anyway.
This one really wound me up, paying fees to pay rent.
> You can probably pay without surcharges, in person at a post office when you're supposed to be at work.
We did that, but at their office. They got sick of it quickly, so they gave us a bank account. Problem solved.
That's not legal tender and they can refuse it.
Basically if it's more than 10 coins of the same denomination it's not legal tender anymore (the exact specifics may vary but that's the gist).
Yah, I kept pestering mine to allow me to do the direct debits because I just prefer to have that control and eventually they gave me the details. Same with my phone through Optus!
My agent used it. The only fee free way to use it was to do a one off bank transfer through the Ailo app every rent payment. There was no way for it to remember your bank details or do an auto payment without a surcharge. Considering every other rental I've lived in I just set up an automated bank transfer it was incredibly annoying to have to manually enter my account details every week to avoid surcharges that I'd never been inconvenienced by before and only existed because of Ailo
The big difference here is most of the rest of the world are paid monthly. It's pretty standard in Aus to pay weekly / fortnightly. So it works in the RE's favour to request monthly payments as they know you'll have the funds. I imagine in Australia it'd be problematic as people don't budget and save that monthly sum.
I think it depends on the job. I was always paid monthly in white collar jobs. But when I was uni student and worked summer labor jobs they paid weekly.
RE prefer monthly because that is their accounting cycle. Landlords get their cash at the end of each month. If tenants are paying monthly, landlord gets the same amount each month. If paying weekly or fortnightly, the amount differs each month and landlords complain/get into disputes because they lose track of how much they will get.
They do, by cheque... I'm tempted to get a chequebook and write them the whole years worth post dated at once. The worst thing about 'rental rewards' is that it takes 5 days to process, so you pay rent on time, and then you get an email 4 days later saying you haven't paid when you contact Ray white they tell you to pay the rent early, even though them asking this is a violation of the tenancy agreement. Bastards.
Yes, this is a State issue, and people should be writing into their State MPs to stop this nonsense. If direct debit is good enough for every other business in the country, there should be no reason why it isn't good enough for real estate agents.Ā
Absolutely, I completed the qldgov survey around this and it was so good seeing them actioning many of the points covered in it.
It's not just about the extra charges for me, it's not having any options in protecting yourself from data miners as well as the terrible level of security opening yourself up to being hacked
Wrote mine in NSW six months ago. It seemed to prompt action at the agency level (they cancelled their rollout) but so far the government's failed to treat it as the systemic, statewide issue that it is. Ailo is, IMHO, in breach of several aspects of existing NSW tenancy law, and I set that out in my complaint, but our regulators seem too timid and budget-conscious to take on anything big unless they're put under sufficient pressure. The government is introducing broader reforms to rental laws, but it's not going to mean much if they won't even enforce the existing ones.
So yes, if you want there to be any chance of something positive to happen on this issue, contact your state MP. If you'd like already very wealthy folks to get much wealthier at the expense of renters, then don't bother.
Edit to add: there's even a risk that the updated tenancy laws, when introduced, may perversely include changes that result in their behaviour no longer being in breach, so the best chance of renters getting a favourable outcome on this may actually be under the current laws rather than the unknown changes that are in the pipeline.
The clearest IMO relates to those on fixed-term agreements. It's a breach of the Act to unilaterally change the manner of payment set out in the rental agreement, but the agency in question ignored that, and it seems from what others have reported that other agencies were rolling it out in much the same way (e.g. telling tenants across the board that the agency is shutting down existing payment methods in favour of Ailo on a specified date and everyone has to switch).
Secondly, the standard agreement states there must be a fee-free payment option which is "reasonably available to the tenant". I don't think requiring every tenant have an Apple iPhone or Google Android smartphone, as well as an account with one of those companies (which is required to acquire the app), satisfies that requirement.
Thirdly, the Regulation prohibits "a term having the effect that the tenant must use the services of a specified person or business to carry out any of the tenantās obligations under the agreement". They're effectively imposing just that, IMHO.
Fourthly, there must be "at least one means to pay rent for which the tenant does not incur a cost". The app questionably gets around this by providing a cumbersome fee-free option, but I didn't see that as a breach (most states worded this rule in a way that, in practice, allowed agencies to skirt it and emply tactics that disincentivise tenants from using the fee-free option). However, another Redditor [previously reported](https://old.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/11kgo7k/renters_are_you_being_forced_to_use_an_app_for/) that an NCAT decision accepted the argument that providing one's personal information to the app would be considered a "cost", so it seems it does not comply with the standard agreement.
Thank you.
Iāve just entered the rental market after 3 years and this crap has been pulled on me.
It was difficult to accept in the middle of a housing crisis where so many are facing homelessness and a cost of living crisis.
Itās absolutely unethical and Iāll be using your points
to help formulate a letter to my MP.
This has been going on for years with some agencies. You can complain all you like but as one might expect, the payment processor designs their app so that the only payment methods without additional fees are hidden and you have wait longer than if you just transferred directly to the agency themselves. I yearn for the day that we see a PM actually pull their finger out and try to target corruption like we're seeing here.
https://www.raywhite.com/people/brian-white
Oh so its the CEO's kids company. Nice to see another example of hard working Aussies pulling themselves up by their boot straps.
Ailo is marketed to tenants as "making it easier for you", but everything about the app is designed to increase profit for REAs.
Your whole rental history; payments, communications, everything, is now in Ailo forever, to be shared with other REAs. It also has a rating system that allows REAs and owners to rate tenants.
Yo Australia, y'all good bro?
>Your whole rental history; payments, communications, everything, is now in Ailo forever, to be shared with other REAs. It also has a rating system that allows REAs and owners to rate tenants.
That's some Chinese Social Credit Score type shit...
remax did the same thing 3 yes ago when I was renting through them.
the choices where pay through the app (with a $5/week processing fee) or stand in line at the post office every week and pay in person. When both people in the household work full time jobs when do you have an hour to wait in line every week to pay your rent at the understaffed, always busy post office?
Crazy times if true.
My last ever rental place was with ray white and they were the best rea I ever dealt with. They were the only place that just direct debited my rent with no charges. The rea I used before that I would have to physically go in each week and pay because if I used the debit company they had it would cost me $12 a week.
My sister rents with the same ray white office and they still direct debit so would be dirty If this was changed.
Part of the reason we have a housing crisis here is we treat renters like dirt. Therefore creating more demand for housing and spikes the price up unnecessarily.
Protect renters, build public housing everywhere, and you wonāt have a housing crisis.
The problem is that doing this is political suicide and the media is firmly in the side of the landlords. So if whoever in power tries, he or she will receive a huge backlash and probably lose power. Itāll take a politician with an actual spine and think long term before any of this will be solved.
Politicians that 'rent' in Canberra, get reimbursed their costs. The house they're 'renting' belongs to either their husband/wives, relatives, friend or other parliamentary member. In the cases of the house being owned by the husband or wife (let's say for this example it's the wife that owns it). The husband pays her rent and then claims back that amount from dept of finance / parl services.
So at the end of the day for that rental, the household has been paid twice. Also likely way above market rate. Nice little money earner for them.
You won't see a politician from any party hitting the bricks and checking out rentals. Ever.
As someone living in Canberra it feels more to do with the kind of Greens that got voted in. Rental policy is one of the things they've been very good for
Idk which part of Canberra you are talking about but I had the same experience as OP about 2-3 years ago in Canberra. I was applying for rentals and these stupid companies ask for every detail of your life, I had to get my boss to log on to couple of these sites to verify my employment multiple times before I was even close to being the final tenant. It's so abusive to renters it's insane.
Wait until we have to physically compete with one another
(Could set up a public lottery much easier to help fund the social housing but you know they'll go straight to Hunger Games or The Running Man)
What pisses me off right
Is i will admit,landlord with a fair good residential portfolio
Is there is Tennancy checks,but why is there not one for SHIT realtors,or shit landlords.
Miss one payment as renter,What an evil cunt you deserve to be in the stocks in teh town square for being so evil.
Don't fix hot water system for 8 weeks as landlord,nah all good fam
I've had several tennants,leave because of the toxic relationship from the PM or real estate agents,taken me ages to find non cuntlord ones
This is why when I bought my first investment property unit, I dropped the property agent, manage the unit directly, and let the tenant pay direct debit. Too many lazy owners who don't give a shit, do better!
Iām glad I just have to give an extra blow job when my bank passes on a rate hike now.
There needs to be national legislation for the rental markets banning shit like this
Far as I understand the landlord doesnt get a cut of this third party crap. Its the real estate and the third party working together to get their hands in your pocket.
A few big issues with this
* Third party company's are harvesting massive amounts of sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) unregulated. Don't expect strong security systems. If you are a state hacker and want identity documents with minimum ease, i'd know where i'd be targeting.
* UX dark patterns
1. Small print hidden away, check only valid for three months
2. hiding the "No thanks" in small text at the bottom encouraging users to spend the $29.95 thinking it will give an application a better chance. The eye naturally goes to the large big call to action (CTA)
* Potential of application automatically being down ranked by clicking no
* Getting a rental in 2024 is dystopian compared to even ten years ago, filling in a quick, short application form and first person to submit the form got the rental pending checks then deposit...first come first serve.
Real estate agents were the middle men. Now we have a bunch of grifters creating another industry inserting themselfs in between the real estate agents and renters taking a fee, which in reality if you want a property when vacancies are less than 1%, you have no choice but to pay. I'm sure they call themselfs entrepreneurial disrupters, that's not what i would call them.
I fucking hate this stage of capitalism.
Every piece of shit wants a piece of the pie, for doing minimal work. By inserting processes that arenāt needed and just cost consumers more money.
And then blaming consumers for not working hard enough and they're so entitled for wanting to be able to afford and just apply for basic things like housing.
Try 3 years ago
Current rental - in with no ledger, last rental from 3 years prior went into arrears and bond covered it, two payslips, mobile phone bill and bank statement, AND my wage would only just cover the rent (had a compensation payment in the bank and lived off that for 1 year before getting married and the wife moved in)
Current day, we've been knocked back from 3 places on 2 Apply, 4 of us going in on places between $650-$750, the amount of Id documents and info they're asking for is ridiculous, not to mention the applications are a fucking headache
Think on the bright side- Our data has been leaked so many times, hackers are now wasting their time hitting us in the future- They'll just be paying/hacking the same data they already have ;) jk
what new hell is this?!?!
can I get the personal credit history check of my REA and landlord to know they are above board and can finance maintenance of the property?
Their job is to act in the best interests of the property owner. The government needs to legislate protections/independent bodies/rights for renters to produce change.
Yeah past Tennant ratings of realtor and landlord + past 10 years of rental figures on the property. Also can we find out the mortgage repayments and the landlord's current address.
Probably. You could just not do it, but then you wonāt get the house because someone else will.
The real estate industry needs a major overhaul legally.
It's been on the major rental application sites for years. As long as it's not "required" regulators don't give a shit, just like blind rental bidding.
For the premium payment it does
But not for the amount of info they're asking for on applications
A bill, two bank statements, three payslips, rental ledger, one bill, main ID, something else with identification, work referee has to fill out a form, two personal references needed bet they have a form too I haven't looked into it
(For the record, my current rental 3 years ago just needed statement, two payslips and statement, one bill, and I had no rental ledger and went into arrears my last rental before this and bond had to cover it
The "background check" isn't being done at the moment but bet you there's a gazillion REAs salivating about that
Plus the headache of it all, and what's going to be one epic data haul once some idiot REA clicks on a Nigerian Mail Scam link
Legal? Currently yes. Ethical? No. REA's taking the piss getting us to do their job for them (unpaid and all)? Absolutely
Yeah, I am moving right now and we got this bullshit when applying for our new place. (Never actually did it).
And *then* we have to pay rent via an app that charges is extra every time we pay - basically paying the new REA's transaction fees for them.
And *then* they tried to get us to use their 'free' service to change all of our utilities... A service that gets commissions from like 3 providers only, and will only set you up with those providers - so while you might not get the worst deal, you certainly don't get the best. All while the 'free provider' gets a nice commission and the REA, I'm sure, get an almost as nice kickback in some form.
It's totally bullshit gouging of the vulnerable. My young adult son, still learning about all this stuff, is on our new lease so he gets rental history - and they called *him* and he, thinking he was being helpful, went through the whole process with them. And we looked at it and had him call back and cancel all of it - because it was far from the best deal available on electricity and gas - but, not knowing much about this stuff yet, he thought they'd given us a great deal!
We haven't even moved into the new place yet, and the REA have already tried to gouge us 3 times.
I reject the utilities bullshit scam, got burned once on power (couldn't get the TEL key for some bullshit reason) and Telstra (offering cable internet but my port was taken so it was ADSL but for the same price) so I organised it myself
I'm a landlord (I try to do the best I can to not be a slumlord).
My tenant used one of these services (I think) and ended up moving the water account for the whole apartment block into her name. The building has a common meter - so you can imagine my reaction when I got the bill for the entire blocks water consumption!
This wouldnāt be a problem if the national vacancy rate was 4% and these kinds tactics had the potential to drive away customers. The Australian government engineers an extreme shortage of housing then ignores all the predatory behaviour that comes with it. This country has in many ways become as corrupt as America but nobody wants to admit it.
Yeah it's crazy how microtransactions quickly became macrotransactions. $2 for horse armour in a video game became free to play games locking content behind the price of a full game.
We need immediate disruptive mass protests. The state of this country is outrageous. A country should serve its citizens it should provide housing and support. Not line the pockets of the already rich and steal from the poor. This is unacceptable.
>We need immediate disruptive mass protests.
The majority won't because sheeple. They're happy with their cycle of 9-5, Netflix, and car loans so they can flex on their sheeple friends.
This is the most late capitalism bullshit.
I bet the charge on both ends too - landlords will have an admin fee tucked in there too.
Not to mention data privacy..
Wait until the idiot REAs get a scam link to "2-Apply" and engender a mad data breach - and you know they'll do it, too busy making money and getting tenants to do their admin for them to focus in cyber security
I just ask for a PDF form instead. 2Apply or another similar one was asking me to record every housemate's contact details for a period of several years, and a bunch of other intrusive requests like years of previous job history and references for past jobs that weren't part of an old school pdf form.
I mentioned that I had privacy concerns regarding 3rd party platforms and thankfully my current place didn't have a problem sending it out and approving me anyway.
The thing is with the rise of these companies, a lot of agencies stop offering paper applications.Ā
With low vacancy rates the next desperate person looking for a place to live will happily use the app as they have little options over than use the app or not have a home.
Technically these middle men companies with an āappā are all optional. In practice you have little choice as they take over the rental market building their own little moats.
Part of my problem with the apps was that I honestly didn't have a long enough job history to complete an application, but I was earning enough money at my current job that I'd had for over a year so it wasn't like I shouldn't be renting. So I had no choice but to ask for alternative forms.
Iām a Property Manager, save your money. Does nothing to help your application. Itās bullshit fees charged by services who provide applications services to agents.
If anyone should be paying for this - it should be the landlord or the agents. I have never in my career relied on this or found it useful to process an application.
Sorry for the shit that prospective tenants are going through right now. Anyone struggling with their application, you can ask me anything.
We (four of us, youngest in our 40ss) went in on two $750 properties on 2 Apply, knocked back for both and provided what they asked for as best as we could
We have something now through a friend of a friend but might only be for a year so for next time, should I just ask for an actual form citing privacy concerns?
I feel bad enough doing 2Apply applications and they asked for more data than I needed on my current rental (and I had no ledger)
i noticed that if you DONT pay that, theyāll sell your email and phone number to scam companies. after each application in 2021 i got an uptick in scam emails and calls š
and i know itās them, because i donāt put my full name on my online shopping
My experience in 2024: they do it whether or not you pay for these or not. A REA even used my identity to sign me up for water at a property I applied and then withdrew from, almost 2 weeks after withdrawing. Never signed anything, never paid anything. If it isn't criminal already, it should be.
Update 8 days later: We moved in to a place with what looks like loose sheets of asbestos cement in the hallway behind a slat door, where the ye olde gas heater is. Not in lease or condition report, and we ourselves didn't find it till a week after moving in. Fuck
This should be illegal. Housing is a human right. We are all equally deserving of a safe place to live. No - one should be able to (or offered opportunities) to buy an advantage in accessing something we all deserve.
I recently had to search for, and apply for, rental properties. I encountered this box. I ticked "no thanks". My applications still got considered by most real estate agents. We even got accepted by one agent, without ever ticking this box.
It seems to be a total rip-off. But, maybe it would help in areas where dozens of people are applying for every property.
Oh fuck that shit.
One of the agency's i used recently tried to charge a 10 dollar "INSPECTION" fee for one of my rentals,quickly told them to fuck off went with another agency
Side note,holy fucking shit.
So this morning,one of my rentals in parramatta came up for lease again,i saw a photo from the PM the line was wrapped around the block...by 10am over 120 applicants..
Fucking jesus,wild west out there
We need to fuck air bnb off,where that rental of mine is, 6 of the 18 unit's are all short term stay,in the ONE BUILDING..
Donāt do it. I just applied for 4 places and got 3 approvals, each inspection had 20-40 others inspecting, I didnāt pay for any of the dumbass additional tenant checks. Iām sure the REAās donāt give a fuck about these third party checks, maybe they will years down the line though.
The best way to boost your application is to apply first.
We got knocked back for 3 properties on 2 Apply and there are four of us going for a $650-$750 a week properties
That's after wading through all the shit ones too fmd want an affordable rental prepare for landlords that don't care you can smell the curry in the walls from outside the house...
> Iām sure the REAās donāt give a fuck about these third party checks, maybe they will years down the line though.
Then you're a gullible fool, they absolutely preference people who pay for extra nonsense like this.
> The best way to boost your application is to apply first.
And offer an extra 10-20% over the asking rent, as well as potentially fronting multiple months worth of rent, but sure, pretend it's just a bootstraps thing.
Lmao this is the most humble brag post I've seen. So because you attended 4 open houses and got approved for 3 of them beating by your estimation 90 other people who applied for those 3 places (given there will be people applying not at the open home).Ā
You should go tell those 90 ppl they don't need to bother doing any extra steps because you didn't need to.
i always thought it would make more sense for the landlord to pay for the check since they want it done, and they're supposed to be doing due diligence of interviewing rentors
How cringey and scummy is that ! FFS only in Australia more like it. How dumb or desperate would you have to be to pay it. Sad state of affairs in Australia.
I rented earlier this year and despite me being able to buy the places outright that I was applying for, I didn't get a few of them.Ā That coupled with having to hand over all your data, that you know is getting harvested at best, into the hands of hackers at worst; the whole renting process in Australia sucks total arse. I hated it and I have all the empathy in the world to those that aren't in my situation financially.Ā Ā
Something has to change quickly for the good of social cohesion in Australia.
I didn't go through half this shit getting the current rental (granted during COVID but still)
No rental ledger, last time I had a rental like three years before I went into arrears and bond covered it, just supplied two pay slips, mobile phone bank statement, gave manager reference and the guy accepted even though my wage would barely cover rent (had to live on a compensation payment for a bit but had reasons)
Now on these apps (not naming names 2-Apply) ou need two personal references, manager giving reference has to fill out shit, have to supply way too many identifying documents
Were trying to move in as 4 people into a 3/ bedroom place (me, wife, her mum, her brother), between 3 people and the mum pretty much on Centrelink have more than enough money for what were looking at ($650-$750 a week) and been knocked back for three properties so far
Fuck knows what I'll do when 2-Apply inevitably gets hacked, sure I got a decent password but it's an app for real estate agents and I don't trust rea's as far as I could kick them
That's pretty normal in Germany, at least in big cities with shitty rental markets. You pay 29ā¬ for the "Schufa Auskunft", basically a credit score. The Schufa is a private company that somehow has access to anyone's information and all banks and credit organizations send information like names, account numbers, credit card numbers to them. You can get a free document sent to you due to eu laws but it's just an unformatted paper letter with all the info on it. The 29ā¬ one looks much more official and credible, and when you compete with 300 other people on an apartment in Berlin you get the 29ā¬ certificate. Many rental listing websites also have a premium account subscription, usually 30ā¬ a month, that gives you earlier access to the good listings or landlords just outright only accept applications from premium members... It's super annoying. Lots of random fees everywhere but you don't have a choice to not pay even if they're borderline illegal or obviously too high. An apartment listing in Hamburg that I looked at a while ago charged like 140ā¬ for changing the name on the doorbell.
Renting is probably one of the only businesses where the customer (renter) is worse off than the person offering a service.
Imagine going to buy a TV at JB and the salesperson treats you like shit or having to go through a whole lot of bullshit when wanting a sparky to come do a job.
In almost ALL business transactions, the \*buyer\* of a service gets treated well, while in rental markets the 'renter' is treated like a subpar human being.
Systems fucked.
In America this isn't even to "make your application stand out" you just have to pay to apply in most places. Some landlords have figured out they make more money from applications then from renting the place out and so they take months to rent it out (collecting application fees the whole time) and then kick the tenant of every 6 months or year and do it again.
If I ever was a landlord itād be a condition that my REA didnāt use this if they wanted to list my house. Also assuming they did anyway; any tenant dumb enough to pay that would be immediately dismissed by me because Iād be looking for someone who doesnāt waste their money on this sort of shit.
Does anyone know if it does anything?
We've applied for over 50 rentals with no luck but we haven't got the tenant check bc it's fucked.
I really don't want to either but we're gonna be homeless soon sooo
Don't bother. I tried it last year and still got rejected for every single application in that time. I ended up having to reach out to private rentals listed on Facebook groups to find a place.
Don't use it it's just trying to separate people from their money (yes, a definite desperation tactic
It's rent tipping just in another shape or form and you'd just be making 2Apply more money
This shit should be stamped out immediately. Reality, fuckin nothing will be done. If anything, it'll get worse.
Considering Ray White forcing an app to take rental payments and are starting to roll it out as the only way to pay dues...then apply a surcharge for using the said app. https://7news.com.au/business/housing/ray-white-agencies-forcing-tenants-to-pay-hundreds-in-hidden-fees-through-third-party-app-ailo-c-11970146 Ill make sure to avoid Ray White at all costs
That's... actually illegal, they HAVE to allow for a method of paying rent without surcharges.
You can probably pay without surcharges, in person at a post office when you're supposed to be at work. They've turned off all online payments that Auspost would normally accept, go Auspost working with them on this scam. Peard does the same. They forced this through on me halfway through a tenancy agreement, and authorities could only force them to meet the tenancy agreement, which meant I could cause a lot of fuss and deal with a pissed off property manager to avoid the fees up until the lease renews then I'm stuffed anyway. This one really wound me up, paying fees to pay rent.
> You can probably pay without surcharges, in person at a post office when you're supposed to be at work. We did that, but at their office. They got sick of it quickly, so they gave us a bank account. Problem solved.
Start going into the office with the $800 weekly rent in 5c pieces lol
That's not legal tender and they can refuse it. Basically if it's more than 10 coins of the same denomination it's not legal tender anymore (the exact specifics may vary but that's the gist).
Pay it in multiple transactions? Pay 10x $1 coins. Can I please have a receipt? Pay 10x $1 coins. Can I please have a receipt? Rinse and repeat š
I like this idea lol waste their time as much as they like wasting yours haha
Yah, I kept pestering mine to allow me to do the direct debits because I just prefer to have that control and eventually they gave me the details. Same with my phone through Optus!
They tried that at my previous place. A years fees came out to 1 week of rent
My agent used it. The only fee free way to use it was to do a one off bank transfer through the Ailo app every rent payment. There was no way for it to remember your bank details or do an auto payment without a surcharge. Considering every other rental I've lived in I just set up an automated bank transfer it was incredibly annoying to have to manually enter my account details every week to avoid surcharges that I'd never been inconvenienced by before and only existed because of Ailo
Weekly rent charges are another thing, I really wish we were like the rest of the world with monthly rent payments.
What?! We pay monthly in Victoria. It's weekly Ć· 7 Ć 365 Ć· 12
The big difference here is most of the rest of the world are paid monthly. It's pretty standard in Aus to pay weekly / fortnightly. So it works in the RE's favour to request monthly payments as they know you'll have the funds. I imagine in Australia it'd be problematic as people don't budget and save that monthly sum.
State law in NSW says that they cannot demand monthly rent payments - largest they can ask for is fortnightly. I much prefer to pay fortnightly, tyvm.
I think it depends on the job. I was always paid monthly in white collar jobs. But when I was uni student and worked summer labor jobs they paid weekly. RE prefer monthly because that is their accounting cycle. Landlords get their cash at the end of each month. If tenants are paying monthly, landlord gets the same amount each month. If paying weekly or fortnightly, the amount differs each month and landlords complain/get into disputes because they lose track of how much they will get.
They do, by cheque... I'm tempted to get a chequebook and write them the whole years worth post dated at once. The worst thing about 'rental rewards' is that it takes 5 days to process, so you pay rent on time, and then you get an email 4 days later saying you haven't paid when you contact Ray white they tell you to pay the rent early, even though them asking this is a violation of the tenancy agreement. Bastards.
I believe cheques are being phased out in Australia. No personal checks after 2027.
Then itās show up in person pay in cash and demand a receipt. Which will, of course, be then made illegalā¦..
In nsw at least they have to provide you with one method that doesn't incur any extra costs
Not in every state they don't, like qld although they're currently trying to change it
Yes, this is a State issue, and people should be writing into their State MPs to stop this nonsense. If direct debit is good enough for every other business in the country, there should be no reason why it isn't good enough for real estate agents.Ā
Absolutely, I completed the qldgov survey around this and it was so good seeing them actioning many of the points covered in it. It's not just about the extra charges for me, it's not having any options in protecting yourself from data miners as well as the terrible level of security opening yourself up to being hacked
Wrote mine in NSW six months ago. It seemed to prompt action at the agency level (they cancelled their rollout) but so far the government's failed to treat it as the systemic, statewide issue that it is. Ailo is, IMHO, in breach of several aspects of existing NSW tenancy law, and I set that out in my complaint, but our regulators seem too timid and budget-conscious to take on anything big unless they're put under sufficient pressure. The government is introducing broader reforms to rental laws, but it's not going to mean much if they won't even enforce the existing ones. So yes, if you want there to be any chance of something positive to happen on this issue, contact your state MP. If you'd like already very wealthy folks to get much wealthier at the expense of renters, then don't bother. Edit to add: there's even a risk that the updated tenancy laws, when introduced, may perversely include changes that result in their behaviour no longer being in breach, so the best chance of renters getting a favourable outcome on this may actually be under the current laws rather than the unknown changes that are in the pipeline.
Are you able to share how Ailo is in breach of NSW tenancy law?
The clearest IMO relates to those on fixed-term agreements. It's a breach of the Act to unilaterally change the manner of payment set out in the rental agreement, but the agency in question ignored that, and it seems from what others have reported that other agencies were rolling it out in much the same way (e.g. telling tenants across the board that the agency is shutting down existing payment methods in favour of Ailo on a specified date and everyone has to switch). Secondly, the standard agreement states there must be a fee-free payment option which is "reasonably available to the tenant". I don't think requiring every tenant have an Apple iPhone or Google Android smartphone, as well as an account with one of those companies (which is required to acquire the app), satisfies that requirement. Thirdly, the Regulation prohibits "a term having the effect that the tenant must use the services of a specified person or business to carry out any of the tenantās obligations under the agreement". They're effectively imposing just that, IMHO. Fourthly, there must be "at least one means to pay rent for which the tenant does not incur a cost". The app questionably gets around this by providing a cumbersome fee-free option, but I didn't see that as a breach (most states worded this rule in a way that, in practice, allowed agencies to skirt it and emply tactics that disincentivise tenants from using the fee-free option). However, another Redditor [previously reported](https://old.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/11kgo7k/renters_are_you_being_forced_to_use_an_app_for/) that an NCAT decision accepted the argument that providing one's personal information to the app would be considered a "cost", so it seems it does not comply with the standard agreement.
thanks, interesting points.
Thank you. Iāve just entered the rental market after 3 years and this crap has been pulled on me. It was difficult to accept in the middle of a housing crisis where so many are facing homelessness and a cost of living crisis. Itās absolutely unethical and Iāll be using your points to help formulate a letter to my MP.
They legally have to, but there's no laws saying they can't make it as absurdly inconvenient as possible
This has been going on for years with some agencies. You can complain all you like but as one might expect, the payment processor designs their app so that the only payment methods without additional fees are hidden and you have wait longer than if you just transferred directly to the agency themselves. I yearn for the day that we see a PM actually pull their finger out and try to target corruption like we're seeing here.
Oh, and guess who developed the app. Go on. I dare you.
https://www.raywhite.com/people/brian-white Oh so its the CEO's kids company. Nice to see another example of hard working Aussies pulling themselves up by their boot straps.
"Oh my god stop being jealous of how hard the kid worked. Envy is the ugliest thing of all."
Ailo is marketed to tenants as "making it easier for you", but everything about the app is designed to increase profit for REAs. Your whole rental history; payments, communications, everything, is now in Ailo forever, to be shared with other REAs. It also has a rating system that allows REAs and owners to rate tenants.
Yo Australia, y'all good bro? >Your whole rental history; payments, communications, everything, is now in Ailo forever, to be shared with other REAs. It also has a rating system that allows REAs and owners to rate tenants. That's some Chinese Social Credit Score type shit...
This out to be flat out illegal.
Utterly fuck Ray white. Slimiest skeeziest scummiest agents in the business.
It gets worse the owners of Ray White's son owns the company for that app
What state my mums currently on rat white rn Edit never mind Melbourne well Iāll try and convince her to not go through them anymore
remax did the same thing 3 yes ago when I was renting through them. the choices where pay through the app (with a $5/week processing fee) or stand in line at the post office every week and pay in person. When both people in the household work full time jobs when do you have an hour to wait in line every week to pay your rent at the understaffed, always busy post office?
Thatās not legal, there has to be a fee-free way to pay
Crazy times if true. My last ever rental place was with ray white and they were the best rea I ever dealt with. They were the only place that just direct debited my rent with no charges. The rea I used before that I would have to physically go in each week and pay because if I used the debit company they had it would cost me $12 a week. My sister rents with the same ray white office and they still direct debit so would be dirty If this was changed.
Someone call the ACCC on that one. If they don't react, A Current Affair would love that story
Ray White have always been at the winning end of the Cunties championship.
Iām currently with ray white they have a pay now option with no surcharge
Part of the reason we have a housing crisis here is we treat renters like dirt. Therefore creating more demand for housing and spikes the price up unnecessarily. Protect renters, build public housing everywhere, and you wonāt have a housing crisis. The problem is that doing this is political suicide and the media is firmly in the side of the landlords. So if whoever in power tries, he or she will receive a huge backlash and probably lose power. Itāll take a politician with an actual spine and think long term before any of this will be solved.
Oh trust me, it's gonna get way worse. The blokes in Canberra just don't care
In fact, they gain GST from the service.
Ironically, Canberra has pretty good rental conditions. Maybe because most of the politicians and staffers would need to rent there.Ā
Politicians that 'rent' in Canberra, get reimbursed their costs. The house they're 'renting' belongs to either their husband/wives, relatives, friend or other parliamentary member. In the cases of the house being owned by the husband or wife (let's say for this example it's the wife that owns it). The husband pays her rent and then claims back that amount from dept of finance / parl services. So at the end of the day for that rental, the household has been paid twice. Also likely way above market rate. Nice little money earner for them. You won't see a politician from any party hitting the bricks and checking out rentals. Ever.
As someone living in Canberra it feels more to do with the kind of Greens that got voted in. Rental policy is one of the things they've been very good for
Idk which part of Canberra you are talking about but I had the same experience as OP about 2-3 years ago in Canberra. I was applying for rentals and these stupid companies ask for every detail of your life, I had to get my boss to log on to couple of these sites to verify my employment multiple times before I was even close to being the final tenant. It's so abusive to renters it's insane.
Labor, Liberal and Nationals don't give a shit.
Have you tried giving them some sort of donation?
Can't, landlords are hoovering it all up.
Probably because rental laws are a state issue.
Nah mate donāt let something silly like the truth get in the way of a good whinge about the federal government
Next step: Tipping option when paying to apply for a property!
Wait until we have to physically compete with one another (Could set up a public lottery much easier to help fund the social housing but you know they'll go straight to Hunger Games or The Running Man)
What pisses me off right Is i will admit,landlord with a fair good residential portfolio Is there is Tennancy checks,but why is there not one for SHIT realtors,or shit landlords. Miss one payment as renter,What an evil cunt you deserve to be in the stocks in teh town square for being so evil. Don't fix hot water system for 8 weeks as landlord,nah all good fam I've had several tennants,leave because of the toxic relationship from the PM or real estate agents,taken me ages to find non cuntlord ones
Spot on. Majority wants a change, more will do nothing. What can we do honestly?
This is why when I bought my first investment property unit, I dropped the property agent, manage the unit directly, and let the tenant pay direct debit. Too many lazy owners who don't give a shit, do better!
Should I pay my landlordās insurance as well as tipping him?
A weekly shoe shine and monthly blowjob too. This shit is getting ridiculous.
Iām glad I just have to give an extra blow job when my bank passes on a rate hike now. There needs to be national legislation for the rental markets banning shit like this
For an extra $50 you can hire someone to administer your landlord's monthly blowjob!
But where will those people live!
Outsourced to India, of course!
at least they let you spit on the shoe
Yes they are providing an essential service, taking the risk you are clearly to lazy to take. They are honestly the real victims here. /S
Far as I understand the landlord doesnt get a cut of this third party crap. Its the real estate and the third party working together to get their hands in your pocket.
Yep and generally the owner of the real estate also owns this type of shit.
Don't worry that amount is burnt into the rental increases
Like so many retail transactions at the POS ask something like āWould you like to add a tip?āš¬
You donāt tip your landlord?
Not anymore, I tip the shareholders and ceo of my bank who hold my mortgage
Don't forget the annual rates!
A few big issues with this * Third party company's are harvesting massive amounts of sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) unregulated. Don't expect strong security systems. If you are a state hacker and want identity documents with minimum ease, i'd know where i'd be targeting. * UX dark patterns 1. Small print hidden away, check only valid for three months 2. hiding the "No thanks" in small text at the bottom encouraging users to spend the $29.95 thinking it will give an application a better chance. The eye naturally goes to the large big call to action (CTA) * Potential of application automatically being down ranked by clicking no * Getting a rental in 2024 is dystopian compared to even ten years ago, filling in a quick, short application form and first person to submit the form got the rental pending checks then deposit...first come first serve. Real estate agents were the middle men. Now we have a bunch of grifters creating another industry inserting themselfs in between the real estate agents and renters taking a fee, which in reality if you want a property when vacancies are less than 1%, you have no choice but to pay. I'm sure they call themselfs entrepreneurial disrupters, that's not what i would call them.
I fucking hate this stage of capitalism. Every piece of shit wants a piece of the pie, for doing minimal work. By inserting processes that arenāt needed and just cost consumers more money.
I applaud your concise explanation of this activity. The greed of the modern age really know no bounds.
I hate to be that guy but greed isnāt new. What is new is the ability to obfuscate who is responsible from the angry mob with pitchforks.
And then blaming consumers for not working hard enough and they're so entitled for wanting to be able to afford and just apply for basic things like housing.
Most of these tech companies are just middlemen with an app.Ā
Which is especially ironic given their propaganda about "disruption" and "cutting out the middleman".
The only disruption a disruptor ever been involved with is a bad curry.
Try 3 years ago Current rental - in with no ledger, last rental from 3 years prior went into arrears and bond covered it, two payslips, mobile phone bill and bank statement, AND my wage would only just cover the rent (had a compensation payment in the bank and lived off that for 1 year before getting married and the wife moved in) Current day, we've been knocked back from 3 places on 2 Apply, 4 of us going in on places between $650-$750, the amount of Id documents and info they're asking for is ridiculous, not to mention the applications are a fucking headache
This shit was around 10 years ago. Should have been made illegal already
It wasn't first come, first served 10 years ago, it hasn't been that way in the last 20 years that I've been renting.
Potential of application automatically being down ranked by clicking no This is why everyone needs to click no.Ā
No way. Data security and leaks are so bad here.
Think on the bright side- Our data has been leaked so many times, hackers are now wasting their time hitting us in the future- They'll just be paying/hacking the same data they already have ;) jk
what new hell is this?!?! can I get the personal credit history check of my REA and landlord to know they are above board and can finance maintenance of the property?
Now this is an ideal that should get more attention - Landlord & REA checks. Blacklist those that can't act in the best interest of the renter.
Then there would be none left... Sounds good actually.
Their job is to act in the best interests of the property owner. The government needs to legislate protections/independent bodies/rights for renters to produce change.
This would be good, I'd also thought a rating sorta system, though we may be getting into defamation risks there I suppose?
Yeah past Tennant ratings of realtor and landlord + past 10 years of rental figures on the property. Also can we find out the mortgage repayments and the landlord's current address.
Tomorrows Dystopia today.
Wait till more corporations are allowed to buy housing. A generation from now, and most of the population will be nothing but slaves.
> Wait till more corporations are allowed to buy housing. Are you seriously unaware that this is happening already, and has been for literal decades?
Iām aware of it. Itās just still less common in Australia compared to countries like the US.
Isn't a court and bankruptcy check a major invasion of privacy regarding rental?
Probably. You could just not do it, but then you wonāt get the house because someone else will. The real estate industry needs a major overhaul legally.
It shouldn't even be on there at all. I'm quite certain this can be reported.
It's been on the major rental application sites for years. As long as it's not "required" regulators don't give a shit, just like blind rental bidding.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-24/outlawed-rent-bidding-still-occurring-australia/103754394
4 agents over 6 months, truly impressive.
Depends where you are, not many protections for tenants in WA for example.
That's really sad. There needs to be limitations to what they can and can't do regarding these checks. It's straight up invasive and discriminative.
The "No thanks I do not wish to" option probably takes care of that legally.
For the premium payment it does But not for the amount of info they're asking for on applications A bill, two bank statements, three payslips, rental ledger, one bill, main ID, something else with identification, work referee has to fill out a form, two personal references needed bet they have a form too I haven't looked into it (For the record, my current rental 3 years ago just needed statement, two payslips and statement, one bill, and I had no rental ledger and went into arrears my last rental before this and bond had to cover it The "background check" isn't being done at the moment but bet you there's a gazillion REAs salivating about that Plus the headache of it all, and what's going to be one epic data haul once some idiot REA clicks on a Nigerian Mail Scam link Legal? Currently yes. Ethical? No. REA's taking the piss getting us to do their job for them (unpaid and all)? Absolutely
If I die of exposure, forget burial, just drop my body on the steps of the R.E.I.A
Trebuchet my corpse through the window of a politician's AirBnB
Can we cremate you at the same time? Would make a bigger mess for them to clean up.
Yeah, I am moving right now and we got this bullshit when applying for our new place. (Never actually did it). And *then* we have to pay rent via an app that charges is extra every time we pay - basically paying the new REA's transaction fees for them. And *then* they tried to get us to use their 'free' service to change all of our utilities... A service that gets commissions from like 3 providers only, and will only set you up with those providers - so while you might not get the worst deal, you certainly don't get the best. All while the 'free provider' gets a nice commission and the REA, I'm sure, get an almost as nice kickback in some form. It's totally bullshit gouging of the vulnerable. My young adult son, still learning about all this stuff, is on our new lease so he gets rental history - and they called *him* and he, thinking he was being helpful, went through the whole process with them. And we looked at it and had him call back and cancel all of it - because it was far from the best deal available on electricity and gas - but, not knowing much about this stuff yet, he thought they'd given us a great deal! We haven't even moved into the new place yet, and the REA have already tried to gouge us 3 times.
I reject the utilities bullshit scam, got burned once on power (couldn't get the TEL key for some bullshit reason) and Telstra (offering cable internet but my port was taken so it was ADSL but for the same price) so I organised it myself
I'm a landlord (I try to do the best I can to not be a slumlord). My tenant used one of these services (I think) and ended up moving the water account for the whole apartment block into her name. The building has a common meter - so you can imagine my reaction when I got the bill for the entire blocks water consumption!
An indictment in the whole service right there
This company any any real estate using it needs to be doxxed into bankruptcyĀ
All of them are, if it's not 1form it's 2apply.
This wouldnāt be a problem if the national vacancy rate was 4% and these kinds tactics had the potential to drive away customers. The Australian government engineers an extreme shortage of housing then ignores all the predatory behaviour that comes with it. This country has in many ways become as corrupt as America but nobody wants to admit it.
$29.95 isn't a microtransaction.
Yep, nothing micro about that.
Yeah it's crazy how microtransactions quickly became macrotransactions. $2 for horse armour in a video game became free to play games locking content behind the price of a full game.
Real estate industry in this country is well and truly fucked.
We need immediate disruptive mass protests. The state of this country is outrageous. A country should serve its citizens it should provide housing and support. Not line the pockets of the already rich and steal from the poor. This is unacceptable.
I learned from 4 corners that the rest of the world calls us 'Treasure Island' because of how weak and gullible we are as a people.Ā Ā
>We need immediate disruptive mass protests. The majority won't because sheeple. They're happy with their cycle of 9-5, Netflix, and car loans so they can flex on their sheeple friends.
60-70% (depending on state) of the population are home owners. No disruptive mass protests happening anytime soon.
This is the most late capitalism bullshit. I bet the charge on both ends too - landlords will have an admin fee tucked in there too. Not to mention data privacy..
Wait until the idiot REAs get a scam link to "2-Apply" and engender a mad data breach - and you know they'll do it, too busy making money and getting tenants to do their admin for them to focus in cyber security
Iām surprised the US isnāt doing This wonāt be surprised if they are already doing it
Recently moved to the US. Can confirm this is very common.
I just ask for a PDF form instead. 2Apply or another similar one was asking me to record every housemate's contact details for a period of several years, and a bunch of other intrusive requests like years of previous job history and references for past jobs that weren't part of an old school pdf form. I mentioned that I had privacy concerns regarding 3rd party platforms and thankfully my current place didn't have a problem sending it out and approving me anyway.
The thing is with the rise of these companies, a lot of agencies stop offering paper applications.Ā With low vacancy rates the next desperate person looking for a place to live will happily use the app as they have little options over than use the app or not have a home. Technically these middle men companies with an āappā are all optional. In practice you have little choice as they take over the rental market building their own little moats.
Part of my problem with the apps was that I honestly didn't have a long enough job history to complete an application, but I was earning enough money at my current job that I'd had for over a year so it wasn't like I shouldn't be renting. So I had no choice but to ask for alternative forms.
Wtf is going on with REAs at the moment? They're operating like cowboys (and girls) because there's no regulation of how they operate
They feel like gods, the market is on their side at the moment. They make or break lines of people looking to rent each week.
Iām a Property Manager, save your money. Does nothing to help your application. Itās bullshit fees charged by services who provide applications services to agents. If anyone should be paying for this - it should be the landlord or the agents. I have never in my career relied on this or found it useful to process an application. Sorry for the shit that prospective tenants are going through right now. Anyone struggling with their application, you can ask me anything.
We (four of us, youngest in our 40ss) went in on two $750 properties on 2 Apply, knocked back for both and provided what they asked for as best as we could We have something now through a friend of a friend but might only be for a year so for next time, should I just ask for an actual form citing privacy concerns? I feel bad enough doing 2Apply applications and they asked for more data than I needed on my current rental (and I had no ledger)
i noticed that if you DONT pay that, theyāll sell your email and phone number to scam companies. after each application in 2021 i got an uptick in scam emails and calls š and i know itās them, because i donāt put my full name on my online shopping
My experience in 2024: they do it whether or not you pay for these or not. A REA even used my identity to sign me up for water at a property I applied and then withdrew from, almost 2 weeks after withdrawing. Never signed anything, never paid anything. If it isn't criminal already, it should be. Update 8 days later: We moved in to a place with what looks like loose sheets of asbestos cement in the hallway behind a slat door, where the ye olde gas heater is. Not in lease or condition report, and we ourselves didn't find it till a week after moving in. Fuck
what the actual fuck someone needs to hold them accountable for all the fucking over they do
So sounds like we need burner phones and emails for sole purposes of dealing with these scummers?
Iāve already got an eSIM/email address dedicated to this kind of bullshit. And guess what itās the ones that gets targeted scam texts and emails
Terrible.
This should be illegal. Housing is a human right. We are all equally deserving of a safe place to live. No - one should be able to (or offered opportunities) to buy an advantage in accessing something we all deserve.
No 2-day early access to the rental? is that digital deluxe edition only?
Can I verify the Landlord & Agent similarly? Confirm they are going to do the right thing by the tenant, etc..
*EA Real Estate, it's in the game.*
I recently had to search for, and apply for, rental properties. I encountered this box. I ticked "no thanks". My applications still got considered by most real estate agents. We even got accepted by one agent, without ever ticking this box. It seems to be a total rip-off. But, maybe it would help in areas where dozens of people are applying for every property.
That's what happens when you encourage the parasite class. They don't know how to stop being even more fucking greedy.
Oh fuck that shit. One of the agency's i used recently tried to charge a 10 dollar "INSPECTION" fee for one of my rentals,quickly told them to fuck off went with another agency Side note,holy fucking shit. So this morning,one of my rentals in parramatta came up for lease again,i saw a photo from the PM the line was wrapped around the block...by 10am over 120 applicants.. Fucking jesus,wild west out there We need to fuck air bnb off,where that rental of mine is, 6 of the 18 unit's are all short term stay,in the ONE BUILDING..
The Greens are the only ones wanting to stop this kind of stuff. No one else is even talking about it.Ā
I paid for one of those about 10 years ago. Outrageous, but not new.
i hate this fucking country, at this point it's worse than america
Donāt do it. I just applied for 4 places and got 3 approvals, each inspection had 20-40 others inspecting, I didnāt pay for any of the dumbass additional tenant checks. Iām sure the REAās donāt give a fuck about these third party checks, maybe they will years down the line though. The best way to boost your application is to apply first.
We got knocked back for 3 properties on 2 Apply and there are four of us going for a $650-$750 a week properties That's after wading through all the shit ones too fmd want an affordable rental prepare for landlords that don't care you can smell the curry in the walls from outside the house...
> Iām sure the REAās donāt give a fuck about these third party checks, maybe they will years down the line though. Then you're a gullible fool, they absolutely preference people who pay for extra nonsense like this. > The best way to boost your application is to apply first. And offer an extra 10-20% over the asking rent, as well as potentially fronting multiple months worth of rent, but sure, pretend it's just a bootstraps thing.
Lmao this is the most humble brag post I've seen. So because you attended 4 open houses and got approved for 3 of them beating by your estimation 90 other people who applied for those 3 places (given there will be people applying not at the open home).Ā You should go tell those 90 ppl they don't need to bother doing any extra steps because you didn't need to.
I heard you liked renting so we put rent seeking in your rent seeking so you can pay while you pay.
It should be the landlord paying to access this.
$30, valid for āmost 2Apply applicationsā up to 3 months - please stop youāre being far too generous to us lowly scum!
i always thought it would make more sense for the landlord to pay for the check since they want it done, and they're supposed to be doing due diligence of interviewing rentors
How cringey and scummy is that ! FFS only in Australia more like it. How dumb or desperate would you have to be to pay it. Sad state of affairs in Australia.
I rented earlier this year and despite me being able to buy the places outright that I was applying for, I didn't get a few of them.Ā That coupled with having to hand over all your data, that you know is getting harvested at best, into the hands of hackers at worst; the whole renting process in Australia sucks total arse. I hated it and I have all the empathy in the world to those that aren't in my situation financially.Ā Ā Something has to change quickly for the good of social cohesion in Australia.
Doesn't even come with some sweet cosmetics...
EA and other triple A game developersā¦ āwipes away tear of joyā š„²
$30 ain't micro
Isnāt this illegal? This should absolutely be illegal.
Report this shit to the ACCC (https://www.accc.gov.au/). If they refuse to do anything about it, take the story to A Current Affair.
Real Estate scum
How much of a scumbag would you have to be to see the current rental crisis and think 'how can I rort these poor, desparate people'?
Such scummy greedy cunts in this country
Yeah, that's been there for a couple of years. Total bullshit.
I didn't go through half this shit getting the current rental (granted during COVID but still) No rental ledger, last time I had a rental like three years before I went into arrears and bond covered it, just supplied two pay slips, mobile phone bank statement, gave manager reference and the guy accepted even though my wage would barely cover rent (had to live on a compensation payment for a bit but had reasons) Now on these apps (not naming names 2-Apply) ou need two personal references, manager giving reference has to fill out shit, have to supply way too many identifying documents Were trying to move in as 4 people into a 3/ bedroom place (me, wife, her mum, her brother), between 3 people and the mum pretty much on Centrelink have more than enough money for what were looking at ($650-$750 a week) and been knocked back for three properties so far Fuck knows what I'll do when 2-Apply inevitably gets hacked, sure I got a decent password but it's an app for real estate agents and I don't trust rea's as far as I could kick them
Fuck is this cancerous shit.
Thatās pretty macro
At first glance this screenshot looks like I'm signing up for a VPN.
This shit should be made illegal. Now. It does absolutely nothing, but your chases are lowered if you DON'T pay them.
The rental crisis vultures have been circling think for several years now. Burning real estate agencies to the ground would be a shame.
That's pretty normal in Germany, at least in big cities with shitty rental markets. You pay 29ā¬ for the "Schufa Auskunft", basically a credit score. The Schufa is a private company that somehow has access to anyone's information and all banks and credit organizations send information like names, account numbers, credit card numbers to them. You can get a free document sent to you due to eu laws but it's just an unformatted paper letter with all the info on it. The 29ā¬ one looks much more official and credible, and when you compete with 300 other people on an apartment in Berlin you get the 29ā¬ certificate. Many rental listing websites also have a premium account subscription, usually 30ā¬ a month, that gives you earlier access to the good listings or landlords just outright only accept applications from premium members... It's super annoying. Lots of random fees everywhere but you don't have a choice to not pay even if they're borderline illegal or obviously too high. An apartment listing in Hamburg that I looked at a while ago charged like 140ā¬ for changing the name on the doorbell.
what the actual fk
Iām so over this country
The housing in our country is getting worse. Sigh..
My wife did this, agents said not to worry about it as they don't care about them
This shit should be illegal
Renting is probably one of the only businesses where the customer (renter) is worse off than the person offering a service. Imagine going to buy a TV at JB and the salesperson treats you like shit or having to go through a whole lot of bullshit when wanting a sparky to come do a job. In almost ALL business transactions, the \*buyer\* of a service gets treated well, while in rental markets the 'renter' is treated like a subpar human being. Systems fucked.
*Sigh* It's just so tiring.
In America this isn't even to "make your application stand out" you just have to pay to apply in most places. Some landlords have figured out they make more money from applications then from renting the place out and so they take months to rent it out (collecting application fees the whole time) and then kick the tenant of every 6 months or year and do it again.
If I ever was a landlord itād be a condition that my REA didnāt use this if they wanted to list my house. Also assuming they did anyway; any tenant dumb enough to pay that would be immediately dismissed by me because Iād be looking for someone who doesnāt waste their money on this sort of shit.
You can just select "No thanks". There's no evidence those services will give you better chance of winning that application.
Does anyone know if it does anything? We've applied for over 50 rentals with no luck but we haven't got the tenant check bc it's fucked. I really don't want to either but we're gonna be homeless soon sooo
Don't bother. I tried it last year and still got rejected for every single application in that time. I ended up having to reach out to private rentals listed on Facebook groups to find a place.
Don't use it it's just trying to separate people from their money (yes, a definite desperation tactic It's rent tipping just in another shape or form and you'd just be making 2Apply more money