Rip Off Real Estate Agents

Hi,

For those who are heading over to Perth and are going to rent accommodation, there is a clause in the standard lease agreement that requires the lessee to give usually one month's notice that they are NOT going to continue renting the home AFTER the lease expires. Not all agents will send you a reminder, especially the dodgy ones. If you plan to move out and do not notify the agent they will most likely expect you to pay another months rent even though your lease has expired.

One particular agent we dealt with was a force to be reckoned with (not going to mention names,pm me if you want more info). Our story is that we got stung for our entire deposit. We rented a short term rental (break lease) that was only available to the end of March 2016. This suited us perfectly as we were returning to the UK. We discussed with the agent why we only wanted a short term lease because of our plans to go back to the UK. Moved in in mid January 2016 believing that there was no option to go beyond the end of March and knowing the agent was fully aware of our plans and why we took the lease. Come the end of March we contacted the agent to find out about getting our deposit back once we vacated. The agent told us that because we had not notified them a month before the end of the lease they demanded another month's rent. We were sold the lease on the basis that it was only available to the end of March but then the agent just used the clause described above. I spoke to a tenants rights association who said that the agents behavior was totally immoral but there was probably nothing we could do legally. As a result we decided not to clean the place when we moved out and funny enough, someone left a large pile of old furniture and unwanted junk just outside the property . I guess it probably cost them a significant chunk of our money to get the place ready for the next victim.

Please be aware of the clause as it is not something that is common in the UK.

Sorry, that should have read: the lessee (person renting the house from the landlord) having to give a months notice.

Sorry to hear of your problem and sounds like the agent could have done better, but if it's a standard clause then you would have had some obligation to notify them (if you signed a contract then you agreed to this). I'd have set up a reminder to do it personally. Looks like you got your own back not cleaning the property and leaving unwanted items for them to shift - guess there'll be a lot of new clauses added to their contracts for the next renters now lol.

They were notified on the signing of the short lease, my problem is I didn't keep a copy of the original.

I don't know why leaving junk as you left taught the real estate a lesson. The landlord/lady who may not have known anything about it would be clearing it up?

Thanks for the replies. The bond more than covered the cost of cleaning and removal of junk. If the owner wanted to take on the job themselves then may have kept an extra few hundred dollars but believe me they would not have been out of pocket. It was also the landlord's requirement that property only be rented out until the end of March. I would sympathise with the owner if they had made a genuine loss but they did not. I'm sure there are several landlords on this forum but I imagine there would be very few who thought the behavior of this agent was acceptable.

It was your responsibility to honour the terms of your lease, you signed it. It may sound a bit much, a months notice for a 3 month tenancy but if thats what you signed for thats what you give, no point trying to bad mouth the agent now!

Morally your behaviour is just as reprehensible as that of the agent.

Sure :rolleyes:Well it is either a case of being clearly ripped off by a real estate agent and turning the other cheek or make their unethical actions less profitable so that they may behave in an ethical way when dealing with new tenants in the future. As I said there would be a few real estate agents and landlords on this forum but I don't think very many would see the behavior of this agent remotely acceptable, do you?

Why do you keep saying they ripped you off? You signed the lease, this clause was in the lease, it was your own negligence! If you had read your lease conditions you would have known. They have not been unethical, it was all there in black and white and you agreed to it.

Sure :rolleyes:Well it is either a case of being clearly ripped off by a real estate agent and turning the other cheek or make their unethical actions less profitable so that they may behave in an ethical way when dealing with new tenants in the future. As I said there would be a few real estate agents and landlords on this forum but I don't think very many would see the behavior of this agent remotely acceptable, do you?

Not at all. Nobody is saying that. However, 2 wrongs don't make a right and your actions were childish and inappropriate and would not have punished the agent in anyway. It was done to make you feel better, no more no less.

Please read or re-read first before posting, "They were notified on the signing of the short lease" I posted earlier and yes it was in writing.

The agents took advantage of our imminent plans to return to the UK basically. Not all agents will behave in this manner and the agents in Western Australia are no worse or better than they are in Darwin, Brisbane or in the UK. I have lived in all of them and more.

There are two points to my post, one is an extreme case where we got ripped off (not the norm) and the other point is to help new arrivals to WA renting for the first time avoid something which might cause them grief as it has for many others.

As far as the clause which we had complied with but they used illegitimately for the sake of denying us our bond, it is the source of a large number of disputes according to the REIWA and I'm sure most property managers & real estate agents would be well aware of it. The REIWA strongly recommends that agent / property managers send reminders when the tenants lease is going to expire well before the deadline. We did not need a reminder as we had already complied but the agent did not send one which raised my suspicions.

The title of this thread may get under the collar of a few posters, especially if they work in real estate but the main point of this thread is to make people moving to Western Australia aware that there are probably only a small number of agents that will not do the right (ethical) thing. The problem is that it is not compulsory for agents to send reminders and some do not. Not everyone remembers what was in the lease they signed (although I was very aware of it) and yes they should set up a reminder if they haven't already given notice that they are not renewing the lease. There are very many cases of people thinking that a contract that commits you to a set period would not be something that go beyond the final date of the lease. During the new rental hunting and moving process, kids crying chaos & boxes etc some may not realise this needs to be done given that some agents do not send reminders. They get a nasty shock when they enquire about how they will collect their bond only to find they are committed to a months rent beyond the planned 6 or 12 month lease.

Oh, and just incase anyone is daft enough to think I'm anti Australian, I have three children born in Australia and lived over there for over 20 years, it's a fantastic country.

Not at all. Nobody is saying that. However, 2 wrongs don't make a right and your actions were childish and inappropriate and would not have punished the agent in anyway. It was done to make you feel better, no more no less.

Lets just say it took up a lot of unchargeable time for the agents to deal with me and I had time on my hands. Yes, it made me feel better that their property manager was tied up for hours dealing with it. Did it cost the agent, of course it did. Did it cost the landlord, no. The point of this is to point out to new arrivals or those unaware of how some agents behave.

It is also to make others particularly aware of the clause about providing notice that one does not intend to stay beyond ones agreed lease as there is a reasonable chance they will not be reminded. So ultimately this is about helping others, not about making me feel better, but I guess a few here are missing the point.

I must say Wildbriz I agree with you, if the lease cannot run passed the end of March, how is it they can charge you a months rent?? I think I would of been inclined to keep the keys and tell them that no one is to enter until the month you had paid for is up, then send keys in post. Although I see other peoples points saying you signed and this is a clause, surely if the place can only be leased for a short period then at the end of that short period you move out as agreed at the beginning!! To say you owe us another months rent on a place that you possibly couldn't have stayed in is fraud.

I disagree. I think you are in the wrong. It is the norm in Australia to stay on after your lease has expired on a month to month basis unless you want a new lease.

Not sure about WA but in NSW, the law is that the tenant needs to give 21 days notice when wanting to vacate (either before the end of the lease or when no fixed term lease is in place). The landlord needs to give 60 / 90 days (can't remember which) again either before the end of the lease or on a month to month basis.

It appears that you were ignorant of the law & custom, all you had to do was to notify the agent of your intention to vacate in advance.

I have lived in my place for nearly 5 years and have been out of lease for nearly 3 years. Landlord puts the rent up a little each year/18 months and gives 60 days notice in writing.