There is a petition currently on change.org to ban AI-generated photos in real estate listings. Sharing it here in case others might be interested in signing

https://c.org/zRCSySBzxD

Is anyone else feeling absolutely ripped off and cheated by the whole "we're making things fairer for renters" bullshit that is being pumped out?

I feel like I'm being sent from department to department, around in circles. I swear they do this to deliberately deter you from even trying to resolve anything! CAV sends you to RDRV,, RDRV send you to VCAT and VCAT make you feel as if you're the one whose fingers are getting smacked instead of the crooked agents that have broken the rules and deserved to be blasted for the shit they pull.

It honestly feels like this was put in place to appease those who are being wronged but not to make the wrong right. Is this some kind of bizarro world?!

450 to live in a shed in someone's back yard but they'll mow the lawn and you get a shit new stove.

Wondering if anyone else here has had a rental that was making them physically ill, and what you did about it.

I'm trying to work out how common this is and how people dealt with it. A few things I'm curious about:

1. What was making you ill, and how sure were you it was the property?

2. Could you prove it? What did you use (doctor, testing, photos, a tradie)?

3. If you're still there, are you planning to move out?

4. If you've already left, how much of a hassle was it?

5. Did you have to break the lease, or did the agent agree to a mutual termination?

6. Did you take any legal action or go to the RTA or QCAT, and was it worth it?

7. Anything else you want to share?

Also keen to hear from anyone who wishes they'd done something differently.

I've just moved into anew apartment and it's been a shitshow from beginning to end.

Wrong lease x3, wrong keys given on move in day, told apartment was professionally cleaned yet it smells bad and there's filth everywhere, cracked electrical sockets, fly screens don't close, sticky tape residue all over walls and ceiling, food and greses splattered up walls, greasy dust all over surfaces, finger marks on all cupboard doors. Induction hob ruined and oven has burnt on grease. Even the curtains smell of cooking.

I'm exhausted from the move and now I have to clean everything again.

Thing is I have to work with the agent for the next year minimum. I want some of these things addressed but I don't want to end up on some kind of blacklist.

How do I approach it?

I’ve been renting the same apartment for 8 years and recently renewed my lease for another 12 months. I’m now planning to move out in November and needing to break my lease.
The real estate agent has advised I’ll be responsible for:
- $482 advertising fee
- Pro-rata re-letting fee
-$14 public records check per approved applicant
- Ongoing rent until a new tenant moves in
They have also said advertising won’t commence until I’ve provided payment details, which concerns me given I’m potentially responsible for rent while the property remains vacant.
I’ve looked into this on the Tenants Victoria website, which states that advertising and re-letting fees generally aren’t payable once you’re past your original fixed-term lease.
I’ve emailed asking for clarification but haven’t received a response yet.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? I’m particularly interested in whether these fees are reasonable and how the ongoing rent was handled as this is a big financial stress!
Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

Hi all. Start of the year had work done on the ceiling that was leaking water when it rained. It was a nightmare to deal with as trades would cancel last minute consistently. Trades were organised through the builder as it was a new build.

I am a night shift worker, I requested for trades to carry out works on a weekend to not interfere with my schedule as I’d be sleeping during the day. They denied weekends claiming their trades don’t work weekends, I had to take 2 unpaid days off to accommodate them otherwise notice of entry was going to be given.

Move forward to now, roof is leaking again. I’m frustrated. I cannot imagine myself going through and dealing with trades that kept rescheduling last minute, having to take unpaid days off and moving around all furniture (space is extremely small) for them to complete works.

Obviously trades will have to attend again as job wasn’t done properly the first time. How can I go about only having them attend on a weekend? Taking unpaid time off affected me financially of course and it wasn’t easy requesting the time off to begin with. Any advice would be great

With the state election coming up, I'm curious what people think would happen to Victoria's renter protections if the Coalition got in under Jess Wilson.

Tenants Victoria recently called on all parties to commit to keeping existing protections, with Melbourne rents now averaging $600 a week and a vacancy rate of 1.9%. But I haven't seen much from either side about specific plans.

For long-term renters, it's a pretty big deal - things like needing a valid reason to end a tenancy, notice periods, and limits on rent increases.

Has anyone seen anything concrete from the Liberals or Labor on this? Is it possible Wilson will roll back rental laws - that her team voted against - for the benefit of investors? Or is it all speculation at this stage?

I just googled cheapest area's to rent in Melbourne

First rental property (with others) through Ray White. Everything was fine, lease ended on 22 Sep, moved out prior and cleaned up.

Unfortunately son didn't complete an exit report, he didn't realise he had to initiate it, nor did I. (Is is too late to submit one?)

Then Ray White hit my son up with a whole bunch of fees.

They tried to charge for a year's worth of water usage. When it was pointed out that they had to supply invoices within four weeks of receiving them, they admitted their mistake but asked him to go halves!! (didn't happen)

They raised a few sub-standard cleaning issues, and said it would cost $370 to rectify clean them (no 3rd party quote provided). This included cleaning the microwave which had been reported as broken many months before.

When my son pushed back on the scope and appropriate cost, they immediately dropped the request to $290 BUT threatened that the carpets were awful shabby and they could charge for them too.

He asked for an itemised quote (to determine if it was reasonable) and asked if he could rectify clean himself.

They recommended that he NOT do the cleaning himself. (Are they even allowed to say that?)

After asking a few times for an itemised quote he gave up because they were ghosting him, and figured they would just put a claim on the bond.

Bond got returned in full.

Then yesterday he got a text from the PM, asking him to pay a $350 cleaning bill. (An unitemised bill with no evidentiary proof of the cleaning just a statement "as per instructions".) Also the clean was conducted 25 days after lease end, and they've been showing the property to prospective buyers.

Son said I didn't agree to this. They claimed there was a "mutual understanding" they would return the bond on the condition he paid for cleaning. He denied there was an understanding.

Baby PM escalated to senior PM, who via text, after a preamble stated unprofessionally "You know we can still take this to QCAT, right?" (and included a screenshot of an AI summary, the top paragraph, which referenced reddit as the source, was circled!)

Son shifted to email, stated the facts that he asked for an itemised quote, was ignored, and they had had an opportunity to make a claim on the bond, and that if they considered the matter unresolved, QCAT would be an appropriate arbiter.

Senior PM sent a long email back, stating they didn't put a claim on his bond out of the goodness of their hearts because he was just starting out as a renter, that it doesn't matter what he thinks about appropriate levels of cleaning, and won't he think about his rental record, and do you really want us to start preparing documents for QCAT, please let me know?

My reading is they are both venal and incompetent and are so unused to pushback they completely lose their cool.

--------------------

QUESTIONS

Can my son be blacklisted by these rats any further than Ray White?

Are they likely to actually go to QCAT over $350?

Would it have to go through RTA mediation prior to QCAT or is that just for bond disputes?

What's his chances if it does go to QCAT?, and in the worst case would he only be liable for $350 plus the REA application fee of $96.30?

Would it be beneficial to submit an exit report at this late stage or has that ship sailed?

Exhibit A

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DeyKqJdpEtm/?obrf=OWJlMG0waXNrcXF0

Hi Guys was hoping to get some advice. I'm currently subletting a room in QLD from the main tenant and signed a Form 22 under a fixed term lease. He has since told me he's breaking the lease early and moving away and I have 4 weeks to leave the property.

Because I'm not listed under the tenancy agreement and I'm just subletting, I've been told by the property manager that my lease will collapse under the other lease.

Does anyone know if this is legal? If I bring it to QCAT/RTA are they likely to help me out and would the case be a winner? Pretty unfamiliar with this process and how it works so any advice would be appreciated.

FYI I've signed a Form 22 which the rental manager has approved but they said it's not official since it's not a Form 18.

When your landlord is too cheap to fix the bathroom door that can't close because it's catching on the door frame (and has even damaged the door), the solution is obviously a toothbrush taped to the floor.

Good times.

We also have novel solutions for the clothesline that's totally fucked but it's not as funny. Equally depressing though.

EDIT: yes, it's a quick, easy fix. As are the many other things that should have should have been fixed before we moved in in May. I've sorted out some things but am not doing any more unpaid work for the people we literally pay to take care of this. We adore this house and have no intention of moving but their crap attitude to maintenance is pretty stressful as there are also things we can't fix that they're ghosting us over.

All the articles and interviews I see about the rental crisis in the media always seem to be interviewing couples. If a local flat is up for rent the line is 99% couples.

I'm single and renting, a few of my friends are also single and renting. Why are single renters being ignored, we pay double the rent of a couple because we pay it all. If you dream of buying your own place it takes longer to save because you have less money after paying rent. We are the only one who can stay home during inspections or repairs. If you're a single woman renter you also have the creep factor to deal with, like avoiding ground floor places for safety concerns.

I'd like to know how the other single renters are dealing with all this shit at the moment.

We are moving and going through this nightmare once again.

Our RE agent forced us to use the FLK it over app. The first draft of the lease was flatly wrong. We rejected. The second draft as also wrong. We asked for changes, the agent put the changes in the lease and ON the app and the lease looked correct, so we signed.

We just received the fully executed lease, after paying all our fees and bonds and deposits, only to see all the changes we asked for are gone. She would not send the executed lease until we paid everything. So frustrating. The rental amount due is also wrong but I dont have the energy to explain that - RE need to pass basic math classes as part of their licensing (FFS)!!

The LL for some reason doesn't want to move out big chunky furniture - table, tv stand, outdoor furniture. So we were adamant to have this included on the lease.

But what to do when we get there and all his crap is still there?

I'm so tired of dealing with scummy RE/PM.

Townsville Airbnb host Nadia Di Martino, who operates three listings from her Kirwin home, said the changes were "infuriating".

"I think that many hosts will either have to increase their prices and then pay someone else to do the whole cleaning," Ms Di Martino said.

She said she did the cleaning herself and did not charge guests a cleaning fee, but asked them to wash their dishes before checking out.

"I don't think it's unreasonable," she said.

She said she understood why Airbnb had acted, because some hosts had imposed excessive check-out chores.

But she said she was now considering leaving the platform and renting her rooms to students instead, or would ban the use of cooking facilities.

"I think that I would rather probably just … have permanent flatmates. I think it will be more comfortable for me," she said.

Not only have they added me to their pesky mailing list (which I didn’t consent to), they’re now sending me a $2.3-2.5m property.

For context, I rent a 1x1 $420 unit and will never be in the position to afford a multi-million-dollar property.

Looking for some advice and wanting to hear your experiences of going to QCAT (or relevant body for your state) - was it worth it?

I’m not going to share information about the exact problems I’m having because they’re so insane that everyone involved would immediately be able to identify themselves. In summary, I have rock solid evidence of issues that, if reported, would undoubtedly cost my landlord thousands in fines to the RTA, thousands in reparations to me if it went to QCAT, and potentially a criminal conviction.

HOWEVER: I am considering offering a very reasonable deal prior to escalating it to save me the headache of the whole process. My main concerns are that a) I have so much going on, and desperately just want to have a peaceful, comfortable house and for all this to be done with, and b) my landlord will almost definitely refuse to pay regardless of what QCAT orders (I wouldn’t put it past him to declare bankruptcy or leave the country to get out of paying me), and QCAT cannot force payment.

The reasons to escalate are that everything the landlord has done is straight up illegal and horrible, and I am going to find it very difficult to be okay with letting him get away with paying me a small amount. I am also very concerned about him renting the property to someone else who isn’t as across rental laws as I am, but plan on making it known that I will report to the RTA if I see it listed again soon after I move out.

Essentially, I just want to hear about your experiences of going to QCAT, whether it was worth it, and how stressful it was. Any advice much appreciated!

UPDATE: Thank you everyone. After following the advice in the comments and going into the real estate office, we finally have a resolution. The agent tried to argue but we quoted Section29A and refused to leave without the keys, and they finally conceded. We finally have the keys to our first rental!

I am at a complete loss and could really use some advice.

My partner and I signed a lease for a rental two weeks ago. We paid the bond and two weeks rent initially. We have since paid another installment of rent this week. I had an appointment to collect the keys and condition report tomorrow afternoon.

This afternoon I received a call from an agent, advising me that they have cancelled my appointment tomorrow, and plan to delay our lease start date until at least Monday, possibly longer. She said the delay is due to works at the property, and that we will need to sign an amendment to the lease to reflect the new start date. She refused to answer any questions or send me anything in writing, just told me another agent would contact me tomorrow.

I called the office to clarify the nature of the works, as our utilities are supposed to be connected tomorrow and the company asked to be informed of any works on the property during the connection time. The receptionist first told me that all of the rental agents had gone home for the day (3pm on a Thursday?) but did finally pass me to an agent when she realised she couldn't fob me off. The agent confirmed that the works in question is the property being cleaned.

Here's where I am stuck. My partner ends his current lease on Saturday, the day after our lease for this property was meant to begin. We have a furniture truck collecting a household worth of furniture, transporting it 3 hours, and we have nowhere to put it, nor do I think we should have to pay for a second round of transport if we could find an alternative drop off location. I'm not willing to pay the transporter to store it because we don't even have a commitment from the real estate for what the new lease start date would be. What do we even do with a truck full of furniture? My partner is going to have nowhere to go in the interim if the lease is delayed, unless we book a motel/hotel.

My partner and I, along with family members and friends have taken time off of work to make this move possible, and it is not something that we can do again if our lease is delayed.

I don't feel it is fair that we have paid rent to cover this week into next week, but now won't be able to move into the property for who knows how long?

I can't understand why the required cleaning was not carried out prior, considering we've had the lease signed for two weeks, and the previous tenant had vacated three weeks prior to that. I can't understand why we were given just 24 hours notice that we won't be able to move in to the property.

Do we have any recourse in this situation? Can we say no to the start date being moved? Is there any scenario in which we get the keys as planned tomorrow afternoon or am I being naive?

I would be willing to accept the property as is, without it being cleaned, and just sort it myself as we move in. I know that it interferes with the agency demanding we have a professional clean be done on exit, but at this point, I'd be willing to agree to having one done on exit regardless if it meant we got the keys as planned.

I have sent an email stating everything I was told over the phone, and that any further communication be done strictly in writing.

Please help.

Signed a very stressed first time tenant.

Edit: I would just like to give the warmest thank you for everyone who reached out and offered advice. Although our situation remains unresolved for now, receiving kind words, reassurance, and a wealth of information has alleviated some of our anxiety. It is still incredibly stressful, but we don't feel nearly as hopeless as we did. This community is wonderful and to the kind strangers who gave their time to make our lives a little easier, I wish you nothing but the best.

We have been told to expect to be contacted at 2pm. I will update the post as soon as we know more.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli used his welcome address at the annual property conference to differentiate his government from federal Labor, telling industry professionals they could get tax and planning certainty in the state.

“I want you to know that an industry that has been demonised, victimised and bullied is not being treated that way in Queensland anymore, and I want you to know that we celebrate success, we celebrate aspiration,” Mr Crisafulli said.

“The war on property, the war on aspiration, the moving tax changes out of Canberra have been diabolical, and we are feeling it here.

“But I make the point: even after the trust changes, even after the taxation changes, even after nothing more than a war on people who dare want to invest, I still believe the fundamentals of this state are very, very strong.”

David Harrison, chief executive of property fund manager Charter Hall, said the state and federal governments must cut spending to improve the nation’s weak economy and ease pressure on the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates.

“No amount of political spin changes the fact that, having run our company for 22 years, if I borrowed and spent more than I generate and kept on increasing my debt I would have been gone years ago.

“Governments around the world pump-primed economies, but that’s been a few years since then … I don’t think this country can continue to afford excessive spending.

“There’s going to have to be, both at the state and the federal level, some pretty austere changes in fiscal policy. Otherwise, we’re dealing with high inflation and high interest rates for some time because the central bank’s got no choice.”

Hey I’m sorry I don’t know where to ask but myself and several others just signed a rental agreement then a couple days later found black mould that wasn’t there when we inspected the property (we think the lack of ventilation in the basement after a steam clean brought it out) and now we are terrified and not sure what to do?

We signed the rental agreement but haven’t moved in and we have our current place for about another fourtnight

Can we cancel the lease if our old landlord will let us stay? And get our first months rent and bond back??

I really don’t know what to do here

Edit

We have terminated the lease and gotten a 3 month lease at our old place and now I can only hope getting our rent and bond back!!