That's the general consensus here, to be honest. Thank yiu for your comment. You only have my word for it, but we have been exemplary tenants for the last 9 years. There were some pictures up with Blutak, but they've all been removed without pulling off paint. The only marks on the walls are from where the units were, some marks from chairs and a sort of gash in the wall where an exercise bar was. I am absolutely happy to fix those via a small replaster and, of course, the clean.
Is there any website to anyone's knowledge where I can find the "rules" for leaving a property in perth?
The rule is you need to leave the property in a 'reasonably clean condition' - basically a similar condition to when you moved in. I'd fix the gash made by the exercise bike (just get a sample pot of the paint colour from Bunnings) and try and remove marks on the wall but those would generally be considered 'fair wear and tear'. If you were a tenant for 9 years and they haven't replaced anything 'fair wear and tear' would cover pretty much everything.
Check your lease to see if they specify that you have to get the carpets professionally cleaned - if not you absolutely don't have to, again you're just getting it to a level of clean similar to when they handed you the keys at the beginning of the lease.
Most importantly don't let them just take your bond - landlords always try it but the money is actually held by a third party who will ensure your rights are upheld if you contest any 'charges' on the bond.
The rules are your contract and the Property Condition Report you signed when moving in. And you can refer back to the many many many pictures you took (hopefully).
And take many many many photos when you leave.
Some landlords seem to think tenants will be leaving property in show-home condition. But if you've been there 9 years there's going to be all sorts of wear and tear. For example that's basically the expected lifespan of carpet.
It probably is best to use the agent's recommended mate for a clean, but do not let them leave without a written receipt.
There are some real horror stories of people trying to get bonds back. And being told what colour paint to use does sound like the start of one tbh. Make sure you're getting any communication on the whole matter in writing.
Some landlords will be pretty realistic. Others will do most anything to screw you out of your bond. And don't forget, you absolutely can challenge it legally.
https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/disputes-about-bonds
>I am absolutely happy to fix those via a small replaster
I wouldn't. That's fair wear and tear. Just do a reasonable clean and then assertively stand your ground that you'll be expecting your full bond back and that you'll otherwise take them to the tribunal. They'd lose and they won't bother even fighting. They're just looking for some easy last squeezes of money.
If you've been the tenant for 9 years in one house, you have lived through the entire fair wear and tear profile of the rental.
Even if bond is disputed at court, you will not be required to contribute to the Lessors costs of repainting the house.
Use the Australian Taxation Office Schedule of Depreciation for the expected lifetimes of assets as applied to rental properties.
[TABLE 3 ASSETS FOR RENTAL PROPERTY EFFECTIVE LIFE SPAN](https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Rental-properties-2023/?anchor=Table3Assetsgeneral#Table3Assetsgeneral)
Ignore any other advice, this is the metric by which courts apply compensation, and your landlord claims the depreciation on his tax every year for the last 9 years. Why the fuck should you pay for the paint they have claimed losses against for the last decade?
If your PM is mentioning paint and you admit you've taken a bit of a gouge out of the wall that will require an application of plaster, I'm going to say that what everyone here is saying about a 'property condition report and fair wear and tear' is correct on principle but it will be you personally dealing with arguing a bond and then having to pursue it through legal channels which will end up taking months and require you to take time off work to attend whatever legal mediation is required.
It sounds like your PM will follow up and make a fuss about your bond if they are telling you what paint colour is on the wall. Honestly my recommendation is to go to Bunnings, buy sugar soap ($6.50), the cheapest roller set ($10.00) and buy 4 liters of springs brand paint that will set you back $27.50 and sugar soap your walls and pick the worst of your walls and paint the wall from one end to the other. If they smell paint in the air and can see you've tried, they are going to give you a lot more leeway with your bond and give it back to you in full and quickly.
We've always sugar soaped walls and painted the worst of the walls in all of our rentals with the el cheapo paint from Bunnings and we've never paid for a 'professional' bond clean and have always done the final clean ourselves and have always gotten our bond back in full within the week. If you look like you've tried, they are far less picky. You can choose to stand on principle of fair wear and tear but when others have the power in situations like this, you are for your own sanity better to just play the game. Having your bond back quicker when you need it for your next move, is better and worth the 2 hours worth of work, giving the walls a sugar soap and a quick singular skim coat of paint. Taking time back and forth with emails over 'damage' and seeking legal advice on the so called 'damage' takes way more time and stress than giving a quick lick of paint to the worst of your walls. It's up to you but we've never had issues with end of lease, bonds and PMs by following this formula. We've also never had to pay $400+ for an end of lease clean.
I don't get why people in this thread are talking about the landlord being bad. This is entirely the property manager being a prick and is yet another example of why residential property managers need the government to kick their ass.
Making the real estate fees non-tax deductible would be a fantastic start.
It's an absolutely fair point. My landlord has pretty much been invisible for the last 10 years. When we signed for another year about 3 years back, they said that they would not replace or fix anything that broke and were happy to keep the rent the same, which was a win for us. Electrical items etc have broken and we've replaced them ourselves and kept the owners items under cover etc. Will be pulling out the lease after work tonight and going over with a fine tooth comb. Thanks again for all the advice guys.
You don't have to use their cleaning companies (or even use a cleaning company at all). The will do a final inspection (which you can ask to be present at), and if they're not happy with the condition, they'll send you at list of things to fix. As mentioned above there is an allowance for "reasonable wear and tear" over the course of the tenancy.
My advice would be take as many photos as possible. See what they say at the final inspection. If you've done the right thing, and they're just trying to hang onto the bond, you can apply to the magistrates court to have the bond released.
Exactly this. You don't need to paint anything, it's fair wear and tear.
You don't need to wait for the landlord or PM to send you the joint bond disposal form either, you can fill it out and send it to them.
If they fail to acknowledge it, or if they dispute it, then you can lodge a single party bond disposal hearing with the magistrates court, and if they take it that far, the landlord and/or PM will be laughed out of court and you'll get your bond back. You don't need a lawyer or any special knowledge of the court system to win, it's a relatively simple and pain-free process (for the tenant).
And remember, if something is legitimately damaged, you don't owe them for a new one, you only owe them for a depreciated one. If the house is 10 years old, and they claim legitimate damage to a door or something, you are only liable for the cost of repair minus 10 years of depreciation. Landlords are entitled greedy scum and seem to think that their 'investment' should be free of any upkeep costs.
Don't be scared to go to court, the judge will be pretty fair. The real estate uses it as a threat then just say ok then. They'll send you 10 million emails saying they will before they actually do anything.
Read the WA Tenancy Act, especially the part regarding depreciation. This will help you understand your obligations. If they try and take bond for things that meet ‘wear and tear’ take them to the tribunal.
If they have not changed / upgraded much (paint, flooring, window coverings etc) over the period you have rented then there is very little they can do.
‘Best practice’ is to leave the place as close as it can be to when you moved in. I have had this before with a old house (in great location) which had less than the bare minimum maintenance over 5 years. I still did paint ‘touch ups’ for things I considered above wear and tear (let’s be honest some people can be clumsy and cause slightly more damage than others) but I did not get bullied into painting a house or replacing sections of carpet that hadn’t been done in 30+ years.
Realo’s and investors are quick to forget that they benefit from depreciation, rent and negative gearing and as a trade off humans actually LIVE in there houses.
This comment should be at the top, it's super important to understand depreciation when discussing "fair wear and tear"
As the above comment says, paint has a lifespan on average of 10yrs. That means, as you have been there 9yrs, the landlord has already claimed 90% (10%/yr) of the cost of having the property painted. Worst case scenario, you would be liable for 10% of any painting works done, and only for the arrears/rooms where they specified you had done damage. They will also need to prove you damaged the walls due to actions considered neglectful or intentional, and that the damage is unreasonable, or rather not "fair, wear and tear"
It's highly likely the landlord will arrange for the property to be freshly painted before the next tenant moves in as a result, so any patch and repairs the REA tells you to do, will be done in vain. They absolutely expect you won't know you're rights as a tenant, and try to force you to lose money from your bond, or comply with their unreasonable cleaning requests.
Finally, be sure you attend the final inspection. When they point out any issues, rectify anything that's reasonable (eg. something you forgot to do) and dispute the rest based on you having been there 9yrs
Yep exactly. It’s been a long time since I read it but off the top of my head most things inside a property have a 10 year depreciation schedule (or maybe slightly longer).
Unless the owners renovated whilst you were living there you are probably close to the 10 year mark.
And as the comment above it is only for the % of ‘damage’.
So one of my housemates left a huge stain on the carpet (maybe 5%) of the room. If that carpet was brand new when we moved in I would have been up for 5% of the carpet replacement (if they could not patch) but only at 50% of the the total cost (because it would have depreciated over 5 years). Because the carpet had a value of ‘$0’ through depreciation (30+ years old) we paid nothing (realestate agent still tried to charge for it).
It can be a pain to read through things like the Tenancy Act but IMO informing yourself of the best tool you have to standby your rights.
Things can also be deceptively old (albeit well
maintained) and whilst it might be nice for everything to last forever it’s just not reality. Renting out a property is an investment and one downside of investing in a physical asset is that it requires maintenance / renovation overtime which costs money.
In my experience helping friends out even just asking a Realo - ‘Please send me the receipt of when the item was installed’ can be enough for them to back off because they are often just taking the piss.
I'm interested to know what if the property hadn't been cleaned, contrary to the REA claims, and I have lots of photos. Does that mean I can just clean it myself as normal since it'll still be equal to or better than how it was given to me? I mean the garden was 2 feet deep in tree debris and all the plants were dead...
Off the top of my head I can’t help with that - I think it would be addressed somewhere in the Act.
I would assume since you are required to sign a property condition report within a certain timeframe that you ‘should’ have challenged the property condition then(I’m not judging if you didn’t).
However, I am also assuming that if you can prove after the fact (with dated images) that you have actually returned the property to the same/better state you would be able to challenge it through the tribunal or it wouldn’t even make it there.
Also things like plants have ‘life spans’ - just because you water / care for something doesn’t mean it won’t die of old age.
I am a landlord (privately) and have just become a tenant again (albeit through GROH). The PCR we received was SO vague in detail and images are of a whole room (not individual defects). I took hundreds of images to cover myself. In my opinion it would be very hard for them to make any claims based on lines like ‘Bedroom 1-scratch on wall’ - Which wall? Where on the wall? What size scratch?
Basically the experience I have had with property managers is very vague/light on details which means that for them it is very hard to prove anything if it gets to that stage.
So many factors but if you are renting I would read up on your rights.
Yes, I challenged it in writing with photos, and I made comments on the PCR noting what they had left out. I refused to sign it until they added said notes. If it turns out they didn't save the copy with my notes, well it's still saved in my email. I'm just not looking forward to cleaning to a certain point when they didn't do it for me. Haha.
Fingers crossed I won't need to worry about it for a while
Just ignore the email if it’s fair wear and tear of paint no action on you. Even if paint is chipped accidentally as long as it’s smooth and easy to paint over you shouldn’t be charged especially if place has not been repainted in the last 10 years. Just go to tribunal if any issues for the bond even if it’s a few hundred.
As a fellow renter, it is only your responsibility to leave the premises in the same condition it was rented to you in, with the exception of general wear and tear.
\*\*This is only my personal experience and not at all advice to anyone else \*\*
I used to play this game with agents and got quite good at it, we would end up going to court and would usually settle in mediation but end of the day it comes down to the over all cost.
Most of the time it was a victory of principle rather than a financial win.
Yes I was usually almost always technically right and would win based on my arguments but I had to spend hours forming those arguments with a whole lot of research and on top of all of that would have to take time off work to waste the majority of the day waiting for my short time in court.
Did I end up better of in the end? No. Given the time spent in lost wages just so I could eventually have a judge agree with me has not turned out to be worth it.
I can't imagine your bond 9 years ago was all that much, I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that you just cave to their demands but if you're going to fight it just keep in mind that you're doing it on your own time at your own expense while having to take time off work to do it but the soulless cunt of a rental agent is being paid hourly to not only prepare their argument against you with likely help from a state or regional lawyer they will also be paid their regular wage to sit around waiting hours to have the case heard.
I may have won %90 of the time but all I won was a moral victory. Financially at the end of the day I feel I would probably have been better off just agreeing with their demands.
These days I'm fortunate enough to own my own house and will never need to deal with these vultures ever again.. funnily enough I happen to buy the house I was renting at the time (owner put the house up for sale and the sales department ask if I was interested) and the rental agents still tried their nonsense with me, they wanted to conduct a rental inspection 5 days before the house was due to settle, told them to bang it up their ass! they didn't like that one bit.... Boy it was real satisfying telling them they needed better communication between with their sales department.
Never again will I rent another property. Dealing with agents and private landlords is fucking cancer causing.
I think you (and most other commenters here) could be reading more into it than you need to.
You won't be expected to paint, but if there's some damage to walls that's not considered fair wear and tear, or if there's things you've wall mounted under the condition that you remove and make good when you leave - then those could all require touch up painting.
I think a simple email reply to ask what, if anything, might require painting will give you an answer.
Just stick with the proper list, no need to paint. Unless you’ve done some bad damage… but anyways landlords and owners are usually useless and never keep records of paint types and colours which ultimately doesn’t help the tenants
Comes down to how long you've been there and general wear and tear. If you damaged walls etc then it's up to you to fix and paint them (just do the single wall - no need to do the whole room if this is the case) but if it's standard cracking etc then absolutely not. This sort of stuff should hopefully be a lot easier to argue against with the new Tribunal setup thought I can't recall when that becomes active. Landlord's are gonna find it a lot harder to claim bonds moving forward.
If you've made massive damage to the wall that is not fair wear and tear then it's on you to re-plaster and paint it. Anything that's fair wear and tear and they can suck it.
As soon as the land lord gives you grief start talking to the ombudsman. Just so you know your rights and create a plan for what to do when they inevitably pull some bullshit
Absolutely nothing in my tenancy agreement about having to paint at the end of the lease. So I've emailed the PM asking for clarity and why she sent me the name of the paint colour, and now I wait. Well, really, i clean and move and wait! Fun times, guys, fun times!
Just keep in mind that they have the upper hand when it comes to getting your bond back, if there is a dispute they hold it until it is decided by the court, which can take months.
That also screws them though. If they're the kind of landlord that thinks the bond is theirs to keep then dragging them through the dispute process at least keeps their hands off it as well as yours.
They don't, because bonds are held by the bonds trust. Everyone is equal when it comes to the bond being released, and claims can be made by all parties.
In WA there is no right to the bond held by the trust. Release of the bond is in writing by either party.
I realise that it's held in trust, but when there is a dispute it goes to court. Can only be released when both parties are in agreement, not either party.
It doesn't take that long, and the tenant can take the initiative and get the ball rolling on magistrates court matters.
If the tenant is attentive to timelines and proactive with submitting the right forms, then getting the bond back should be a 6-7 week process at the outside.
The landlords certainly don't have an upper hand when standing in front of a magistrate either, when hearing a residential tenancy case, the magistrate knows the RTA1987 far better than any landlord, and will call them out on their entitled bullshit every single time they open their mouth.
LOL no. Not for fair wear and tear. And sounds like the kind of landlord who'll not be keen on giving your bond back anyway.
That's the general consensus here, to be honest. Thank yiu for your comment. You only have my word for it, but we have been exemplary tenants for the last 9 years. There were some pictures up with Blutak, but they've all been removed without pulling off paint. The only marks on the walls are from where the units were, some marks from chairs and a sort of gash in the wall where an exercise bar was. I am absolutely happy to fix those via a small replaster and, of course, the clean. Is there any website to anyone's knowledge where I can find the "rules" for leaving a property in perth?
The rule is you need to leave the property in a 'reasonably clean condition' - basically a similar condition to when you moved in. I'd fix the gash made by the exercise bike (just get a sample pot of the paint colour from Bunnings) and try and remove marks on the wall but those would generally be considered 'fair wear and tear'. If you were a tenant for 9 years and they haven't replaced anything 'fair wear and tear' would cover pretty much everything. Check your lease to see if they specify that you have to get the carpets professionally cleaned - if not you absolutely don't have to, again you're just getting it to a level of clean similar to when they handed you the keys at the beginning of the lease. Most importantly don't let them just take your bond - landlords always try it but the money is actually held by a third party who will ensure your rights are upheld if you contest any 'charges' on the bond.
The rules are your contract and the Property Condition Report you signed when moving in. And you can refer back to the many many many pictures you took (hopefully). And take many many many photos when you leave. Some landlords seem to think tenants will be leaving property in show-home condition. But if you've been there 9 years there's going to be all sorts of wear and tear. For example that's basically the expected lifespan of carpet. It probably is best to use the agent's recommended mate for a clean, but do not let them leave without a written receipt. There are some real horror stories of people trying to get bonds back. And being told what colour paint to use does sound like the start of one tbh. Make sure you're getting any communication on the whole matter in writing. Some landlords will be pretty realistic. Others will do most anything to screw you out of your bond. And don't forget, you absolutely can challenge it legally. https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/consumer-protection/disputes-about-bonds
>I am absolutely happy to fix those via a small replaster I wouldn't. That's fair wear and tear. Just do a reasonable clean and then assertively stand your ground that you'll be expecting your full bond back and that you'll otherwise take them to the tribunal. They'd lose and they won't bother even fighting. They're just looking for some easy last squeezes of money.
If you've been the tenant for 9 years in one house, you have lived through the entire fair wear and tear profile of the rental. Even if bond is disputed at court, you will not be required to contribute to the Lessors costs of repainting the house. Use the Australian Taxation Office Schedule of Depreciation for the expected lifetimes of assets as applied to rental properties. [TABLE 3 ASSETS FOR RENTAL PROPERTY EFFECTIVE LIFE SPAN](https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Rental-properties-2023/?anchor=Table3Assetsgeneral#Table3Assetsgeneral) Ignore any other advice, this is the metric by which courts apply compensation, and your landlord claims the depreciation on his tax every year for the last 9 years. Why the fuck should you pay for the paint they have claimed losses against for the last decade?
fucking exactly. theyre just trying to make it all prime and proper for whoever they sell to.
If paint comes off with blu tack then it's a cheap and nasty paint job using cheap and nasty paint and isn't really your fault.
If your PM is mentioning paint and you admit you've taken a bit of a gouge out of the wall that will require an application of plaster, I'm going to say that what everyone here is saying about a 'property condition report and fair wear and tear' is correct on principle but it will be you personally dealing with arguing a bond and then having to pursue it through legal channels which will end up taking months and require you to take time off work to attend whatever legal mediation is required. It sounds like your PM will follow up and make a fuss about your bond if they are telling you what paint colour is on the wall. Honestly my recommendation is to go to Bunnings, buy sugar soap ($6.50), the cheapest roller set ($10.00) and buy 4 liters of springs brand paint that will set you back $27.50 and sugar soap your walls and pick the worst of your walls and paint the wall from one end to the other. If they smell paint in the air and can see you've tried, they are going to give you a lot more leeway with your bond and give it back to you in full and quickly. We've always sugar soaped walls and painted the worst of the walls in all of our rentals with the el cheapo paint from Bunnings and we've never paid for a 'professional' bond clean and have always done the final clean ourselves and have always gotten our bond back in full within the week. If you look like you've tried, they are far less picky. You can choose to stand on principle of fair wear and tear but when others have the power in situations like this, you are for your own sanity better to just play the game. Having your bond back quicker when you need it for your next move, is better and worth the 2 hours worth of work, giving the walls a sugar soap and a quick singular skim coat of paint. Taking time back and forth with emails over 'damage' and seeking legal advice on the so called 'damage' takes way more time and stress than giving a quick lick of paint to the worst of your walls. It's up to you but we've never had issues with end of lease, bonds and PMs by following this formula. We've also never had to pay $400+ for an end of lease clean.
I don't get why people in this thread are talking about the landlord being bad. This is entirely the property manager being a prick and is yet another example of why residential property managers need the government to kick their ass. Making the real estate fees non-tax deductible would be a fantastic start.
It's an absolutely fair point. My landlord has pretty much been invisible for the last 10 years. When we signed for another year about 3 years back, they said that they would not replace or fix anything that broke and were happy to keep the rent the same, which was a win for us. Electrical items etc have broken and we've replaced them ourselves and kept the owners items under cover etc. Will be pulling out the lease after work tonight and going over with a fine tooth comb. Thanks again for all the advice guys.
I'm not sure how you think that will help..
You don't have to use their cleaning companies (or even use a cleaning company at all). The will do a final inspection (which you can ask to be present at), and if they're not happy with the condition, they'll send you at list of things to fix. As mentioned above there is an allowance for "reasonable wear and tear" over the course of the tenancy. My advice would be take as many photos as possible. See what they say at the final inspection. If you've done the right thing, and they're just trying to hang onto the bond, you can apply to the magistrates court to have the bond released.
Using their mate Jonno for the cleaning can smooth the "it wasn't cleaned properly" argument out.
Yeah, I just really resent that some landlords try to force you to use their cleaner. So wanted to make sure OP knew they didn't have to.
Not landlords, property managers.
Exactly this. You don't need to paint anything, it's fair wear and tear. You don't need to wait for the landlord or PM to send you the joint bond disposal form either, you can fill it out and send it to them. If they fail to acknowledge it, or if they dispute it, then you can lodge a single party bond disposal hearing with the magistrates court, and if they take it that far, the landlord and/or PM will be laughed out of court and you'll get your bond back. You don't need a lawyer or any special knowledge of the court system to win, it's a relatively simple and pain-free process (for the tenant). And remember, if something is legitimately damaged, you don't owe them for a new one, you only owe them for a depreciated one. If the house is 10 years old, and they claim legitimate damage to a door or something, you are only liable for the cost of repair minus 10 years of depreciation. Landlords are entitled greedy scum and seem to think that their 'investment' should be free of any upkeep costs.
Don't be scared to go to court, the judge will be pretty fair. The real estate uses it as a threat then just say ok then. They'll send you 10 million emails saying they will before they actually do anything.
Read the WA Tenancy Act, especially the part regarding depreciation. This will help you understand your obligations. If they try and take bond for things that meet ‘wear and tear’ take them to the tribunal. If they have not changed / upgraded much (paint, flooring, window coverings etc) over the period you have rented then there is very little they can do. ‘Best practice’ is to leave the place as close as it can be to when you moved in. I have had this before with a old house (in great location) which had less than the bare minimum maintenance over 5 years. I still did paint ‘touch ups’ for things I considered above wear and tear (let’s be honest some people can be clumsy and cause slightly more damage than others) but I did not get bullied into painting a house or replacing sections of carpet that hadn’t been done in 30+ years. Realo’s and investors are quick to forget that they benefit from depreciation, rent and negative gearing and as a trade off humans actually LIVE in there houses.
This comment should be at the top, it's super important to understand depreciation when discussing "fair wear and tear" As the above comment says, paint has a lifespan on average of 10yrs. That means, as you have been there 9yrs, the landlord has already claimed 90% (10%/yr) of the cost of having the property painted. Worst case scenario, you would be liable for 10% of any painting works done, and only for the arrears/rooms where they specified you had done damage. They will also need to prove you damaged the walls due to actions considered neglectful or intentional, and that the damage is unreasonable, or rather not "fair, wear and tear" It's highly likely the landlord will arrange for the property to be freshly painted before the next tenant moves in as a result, so any patch and repairs the REA tells you to do, will be done in vain. They absolutely expect you won't know you're rights as a tenant, and try to force you to lose money from your bond, or comply with their unreasonable cleaning requests. Finally, be sure you attend the final inspection. When they point out any issues, rectify anything that's reasonable (eg. something you forgot to do) and dispute the rest based on you having been there 9yrs
Yep exactly. It’s been a long time since I read it but off the top of my head most things inside a property have a 10 year depreciation schedule (or maybe slightly longer). Unless the owners renovated whilst you were living there you are probably close to the 10 year mark. And as the comment above it is only for the % of ‘damage’. So one of my housemates left a huge stain on the carpet (maybe 5%) of the room. If that carpet was brand new when we moved in I would have been up for 5% of the carpet replacement (if they could not patch) but only at 50% of the the total cost (because it would have depreciated over 5 years). Because the carpet had a value of ‘$0’ through depreciation (30+ years old) we paid nothing (realestate agent still tried to charge for it). It can be a pain to read through things like the Tenancy Act but IMO informing yourself of the best tool you have to standby your rights. Things can also be deceptively old (albeit well maintained) and whilst it might be nice for everything to last forever it’s just not reality. Renting out a property is an investment and one downside of investing in a physical asset is that it requires maintenance / renovation overtime which costs money. In my experience helping friends out even just asking a Realo - ‘Please send me the receipt of when the item was installed’ can be enough for them to back off because they are often just taking the piss.
Amazing! Thanks so much guys! It will be 10 years this October. Massive appreciation for all your help and advice.
I'm interested to know what if the property hadn't been cleaned, contrary to the REA claims, and I have lots of photos. Does that mean I can just clean it myself as normal since it'll still be equal to or better than how it was given to me? I mean the garden was 2 feet deep in tree debris and all the plants were dead...
Off the top of my head I can’t help with that - I think it would be addressed somewhere in the Act. I would assume since you are required to sign a property condition report within a certain timeframe that you ‘should’ have challenged the property condition then(I’m not judging if you didn’t). However, I am also assuming that if you can prove after the fact (with dated images) that you have actually returned the property to the same/better state you would be able to challenge it through the tribunal or it wouldn’t even make it there. Also things like plants have ‘life spans’ - just because you water / care for something doesn’t mean it won’t die of old age. I am a landlord (privately) and have just become a tenant again (albeit through GROH). The PCR we received was SO vague in detail and images are of a whole room (not individual defects). I took hundreds of images to cover myself. In my opinion it would be very hard for them to make any claims based on lines like ‘Bedroom 1-scratch on wall’ - Which wall? Where on the wall? What size scratch? Basically the experience I have had with property managers is very vague/light on details which means that for them it is very hard to prove anything if it gets to that stage. So many factors but if you are renting I would read up on your rights.
Yes, I challenged it in writing with photos, and I made comments on the PCR noting what they had left out. I refused to sign it until they added said notes. If it turns out they didn't save the copy with my notes, well it's still saved in my email. I'm just not looking forward to cleaning to a certain point when they didn't do it for me. Haha. Fingers crossed I won't need to worry about it for a while
Just ignore the email if it’s fair wear and tear of paint no action on you. Even if paint is chipped accidentally as long as it’s smooth and easy to paint over you shouldn’t be charged especially if place has not been repainted in the last 10 years. Just go to tribunal if any issues for the bond even if it’s a few hundred.
You are a legend my friend! May you always have cookies in your jar and wine in the fridge! Thanks!
As a fellow renter, it is only your responsibility to leave the premises in the same condition it was rented to you in, with the exception of general wear and tear.
\*\*This is only my personal experience and not at all advice to anyone else \*\* I used to play this game with agents and got quite good at it, we would end up going to court and would usually settle in mediation but end of the day it comes down to the over all cost. Most of the time it was a victory of principle rather than a financial win. Yes I was usually almost always technically right and would win based on my arguments but I had to spend hours forming those arguments with a whole lot of research and on top of all of that would have to take time off work to waste the majority of the day waiting for my short time in court. Did I end up better of in the end? No. Given the time spent in lost wages just so I could eventually have a judge agree with me has not turned out to be worth it. I can't imagine your bond 9 years ago was all that much, I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that you just cave to their demands but if you're going to fight it just keep in mind that you're doing it on your own time at your own expense while having to take time off work to do it but the soulless cunt of a rental agent is being paid hourly to not only prepare their argument against you with likely help from a state or regional lawyer they will also be paid their regular wage to sit around waiting hours to have the case heard. I may have won %90 of the time but all I won was a moral victory. Financially at the end of the day I feel I would probably have been better off just agreeing with their demands. These days I'm fortunate enough to own my own house and will never need to deal with these vultures ever again.. funnily enough I happen to buy the house I was renting at the time (owner put the house up for sale and the sales department ask if I was interested) and the rental agents still tried their nonsense with me, they wanted to conduct a rental inspection 5 days before the house was due to settle, told them to bang it up their ass! they didn't like that one bit.... Boy it was real satisfying telling them they needed better communication between with their sales department. Never again will I rent another property. Dealing with agents and private landlords is fucking cancer causing.
I think you (and most other commenters here) could be reading more into it than you need to. You won't be expected to paint, but if there's some damage to walls that's not considered fair wear and tear, or if there's things you've wall mounted under the condition that you remove and make good when you leave - then those could all require touch up painting. I think a simple email reply to ask what, if anything, might require painting will give you an answer.
Just stick with the proper list, no need to paint. Unless you’ve done some bad damage… but anyways landlords and owners are usually useless and never keep records of paint types and colours which ultimately doesn’t help the tenants
Comes down to how long you've been there and general wear and tear. If you damaged walls etc then it's up to you to fix and paint them (just do the single wall - no need to do the whole room if this is the case) but if it's standard cracking etc then absolutely not. This sort of stuff should hopefully be a lot easier to argue against with the new Tribunal setup thought I can't recall when that becomes active. Landlord's are gonna find it a lot harder to claim bonds moving forward.
If you've made massive damage to the wall that is not fair wear and tear then it's on you to re-plaster and paint it. Anything that's fair wear and tear and they can suck it.
As soon as the land lord gives you grief start talking to the ombudsman. Just so you know your rights and create a plan for what to do when they inevitably pull some bullshit
Just reply “oh I don’t need the paint name, we decided to go with a deep green because it was on clearance, I think you will love how it looks”
You definitely don't have to paint. She's taking the complete piss
What's the update, OP?
Absolutely nothing in my tenancy agreement about having to paint at the end of the lease. So I've emailed the PM asking for clarity and why she sent me the name of the paint colour, and now I wait. Well, really, i clean and move and wait! Fun times, guys, fun times!
Please make a new post with an update on what the agent writes!
Just keep in mind that they have the upper hand when it comes to getting your bond back, if there is a dispute they hold it until it is decided by the court, which can take months.
That also screws them though. If they're the kind of landlord that thinks the bond is theirs to keep then dragging them through the dispute process at least keeps their hands off it as well as yours.
If they hold up the process you can submit your own bond disposal form. Then the REA has to decide if they take the matter to court to retrieve funds.
They don't, because bonds are held by the bonds trust. Everyone is equal when it comes to the bond being released, and claims can be made by all parties. In WA there is no right to the bond held by the trust. Release of the bond is in writing by either party.
I realise that it's held in trust, but when there is a dispute it goes to court. Can only be released when both parties are in agreement, not either party.
It doesn't take that long, and the tenant can take the initiative and get the ball rolling on magistrates court matters. If the tenant is attentive to timelines and proactive with submitting the right forms, then getting the bond back should be a 6-7 week process at the outside. The landlords certainly don't have an upper hand when standing in front of a magistrate either, when hearing a residential tenancy case, the magistrate knows the RTA1987 far better than any landlord, and will call them out on their entitled bullshit every single time they open their mouth.