Return of bond - timescale
 

Hello
We left WA on 17 November and were present at the final inspection of our flat. The property manager agreed everything looked perfect however since she was new I pointed out that the marble in the bathroom was stained and that the owner of the property was aware of this. (It was a new flat when we rented it and the owner told me a cleaner had used an incorrect product).

The property manager told me she was aware of this as the owner had also spoken to her about this.

Fast forward a week and we get an email saying that the owner was going to get quotes for the resealing to take place and our bond to be adjusted accordingly!

I have sent an email reminding them of the situation and that the situation was all documented at the time ( email and photographs ) yet at today's date I still have not had a response.

What do I do next? How long do they have to return our nearly $4 deposit?

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

$4k deposit of course!

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Bastards :frown: They should have given you a copy of your rental agreement with contact details in case of a dispute about the bond. Hang on, I'll see if I can find it for you. No WAY should you have money deducted from your bond for this!

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Not sure if you're still in Oz, but there's this http://www.murdoch.edu.au/School-of-...ern-Australia/

and this
http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/Consum...ewRTALaws.html

Good luck.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Not sure about WA but in Vic they cannot relet a property while a bond is still held...check your WA bond regulations and if it is applicable, advise them of this...they often 'forget'.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Hope you manage to get your money back

I'm dreading this, we have our bond clean a week on tues which is costing over $1000 and because the agent has changed our move in date to the new house last minute we've struggled to get a new bond cleaner so we've got to pay an extra weeks rent on the old place because no bond cleaners are available that week, (we had removals and bond clean booked but had to cancel last min as agent rang to say we couldn't move in when they said we could).

One of the houses i viewed when we were looking for somewhere new was having a final inspection done whilst i was looking around and the agent was on the floor with her eye on the floor looking for marks, she then pulled the ex tennant to one side complaining the worksurfaces weren't clean enough, i was shocked, i couldn't see anything wrong with them, he looked annoyed and i was totally put off taking the house with a property manager like that.

I'm hoping we will get our bond back, but if they get on their hands and knees we may not :/ Its a shame they don't pay a bond to the tennants to ensure a half decent service, although i doubt they'd ever get it back!

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Not sure how they can come back and claim issues after the final inspection?!
Also, re-sealing is something that the property owner (estate agent) should take care of, not you! Surely that comes under wear and tear? We had a number of issues with the taps and sink in our rental (old 1960's vanity) and we always had the estate agent get a plumber to try to fix them.

We had our final inspection for our last rental just 2 weeks ago. The property agent was VERY thorough and despite two of us spending the guts of 2 days scrubbing the place to within an inch of it's life and painting over scuff marks, she still found issues (light dust on parts of the skirting boards from behind furniture), speck of dust on shelving which required a re-clean of the cupboards etc. She had a bag of cleaning supplies so gave them to me to finish things off so I was on my hands and knees for a bit. It was rather hard to take but I really wanted every cent of our deposit back.

When she gave the all clear, she signed the bond return document (as did I) and she said that once the water usage was paid, we'd be reimbursed. I paid the water rates that day and we received our full bond returned about 4 working days later.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Scrudu - you're right. How can they claim issues after a final inspection. I'm getting angrier about this by the day.

The agents are being really stupid because if they try to screw us I will feel totally within my rights to spread the word about them. The internet can be a powerful tool. I have written documentation about this issue.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Answer to avoid withheld bonds--

Don't pay the last months rent in advance and settle up when you move out -- :)

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

To the OP: Sorry about your frustrating situation. Read page 26 here, hopefully it'll be a help.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

To another rental ? ... with a rental history that includes not paying the rent on time and having part of your bond withheld ?

Good luck with that :)

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

This is Australia--either you manage them or they screw you--your call.

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Once you've "managed them" and shown them who's boss...how do you repair your rental record ?

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

It never gets stuffed in the first place.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

You said earlier....

"Don't pay the last months rent in advance and settle up when you move out"

And you feel that doing this won't affect your rental record ?

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

To be honest if we'd anticipated this happening we wouldn't have paid our last month's rent up front. We didn't anticipate this happening as we had a very good relationship with the landlord and the agency. We were very good and obliging tenants, helping the landlord out on a few occasions (he owned several flats in the complex) We are back in the UK so it wouldn't have had any effect on future rentals.

Paulry - thanks for the link. As we are in the UK I don't think that is going to help us.

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If your powers of reasoning and negotiation are so poor as to not be able to understand how this works nothing I can write will help you reason this through , it is beyond you .

The answere to your question here is, for me , no , it won't.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

We've received another reply from the agent saying that she cannot send us the bond until the landlord gives the ok on the refund. What is this all about?? Is our contract not with the agent? Does this mean that we might never get it back if the landlord decides to hold on to it?

The agency has several of his flats on their books so they probably don't want to lose him as a customer.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Is your deposit lodged with an independent office of rental bonds?

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

I'm not sure if you need a hand with this but I'll throw in my two bobs worth anyhoo.:)

To start with could I suggest that you contact 1/--- The agent and ask what are the specific reasons/reason that the bond is not being released and that includes the landlords reason as the agent is citing the landlord as being the chain dragger.------

---2/ The rental tennancy/bond board, -- see below (Par 8 on)

Ascertaining this issue (if indeed there is anything to know) will enable you to formulate a clear course of action.

It may be that the landlord is uncontactable for some (to me in the 3rd millenium unbelievable) reason .

You are now in the Australian silly (or more stupid than normal) season , this will not help.

Get the claimed reason, if any, in writing, email is good, if you have to chase them through the tennancy tribunal/small claims you need stuff in writing , also take notes of the day, date, time, content of any conversations with the agent regarding this.--or anyone for that matter.

2/---TENNANCY/BOND BOARD Your bond should have been lodged and be being held by the Rental Bond Board or it's equivalent in the respective state or terriory , you should have received a receipt for it from this body---do you have it ?

Just had a quick gooooooooogul 'ere's a link http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/Consum...onds/index.htm

If the bond is being held by the rental bond wallahs get on to them pronto and make sure the agent and/or the landlord aren't trying to slide it out the back door on a bogus, 'left in bad condition tennant shot through to the UK,' claim / pretext.

Lodge an immediate claim for the bond with the board citing agent/landlords refusal to release , unless you get some sense out of the agent and a 'you will have the money by , DATE ,' very quickly , IN WRITING , you need to take control of ther situation.

It will serve you well to remember that the real estate industry has a filthy reputation for very bad reasons , many , many , very very bad reasons.

Hope this helps a bit ----???:):)

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Thanks Basho. Can we do this without being in Australia? We are back in the UK. Would a small claims court not need us to be there?

I think it is a fairly clear cut case. We took possession of a brand new flat. We pointed out staining to the marbling in the bathroom to the owner. He agreed and told us that it was a cleaner who had used the wrong product before we took occupancy. We documented this to the agents. At checkout I pointed out the markings to the agent and she advised me that she'd be made aware of the issue by the landlord.

The landlord is now saying he wants us to pay for the re-sealing of the marble.

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Your being out of the country should make no difference at all. The advice in Basho's last post is what I recommend you do. Maybe get yourself a Skype account if you don't already have one so that you can telephone the various agencies direct without it costing you fortune.

Good luck, right is on your side :thumbup:

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

:goodpost:

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I think the landlord is trying to pull a fast one, probably because he knows you've left the country.
If you documented it prior to moving in then he won't have a leg to stand on in a tribunal.

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

Exactly. And if you indicate that you will dispute it the EA will release the money. Distance doesn't really matter thanks to Skype and the internet. :cool:

Re: Return of bond - timescale
 

:sneaky: scammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmers

Sorry for late reply , I've been having, or more correctly my computer anti virus programs has been having a virus fight with this site which seemed determined to introduce something nasty into my computer.

Hyperthetically if I were this situation there are several courses of action that I personaly would persue.

THIS IS NOT OFFERED AS ADVICE . Just thinking out loud--

The objective would be to stop them getting the bond in the first instance which is why it's important to act quickly , it will only go to small claims if they get the money and I want to try to retrieve it this would be very difficult if not impossible as the rental bond people will have already ruled .

So--

.---RENTAL BOND BOARD---lodge a claim for or a stay of disbursment of the bond I would do this absolutely urgently---and-

--- RENTAL BOND BOARD AGAIN --Send a message to the complaints department stating the issues and citing the facts. --urgently.

Depending on just how the situation sat I would also consider--

---- REIWA Real Estate Institute of WA-- lodge a
complaint citing the facts.---

----Real Estae Ombudsman WA lodge a complaint citing the facts.

I would be able to find all the forms online for lodging the foregoing online with a bit of searching.

There will also be a residents and tennants association in WA I would imagine , I'd do a bit of Guuuuuuuuglin' and see what I could find for sure this has happened before so there's probably some very helpfull info I could glean.

Depending on how much money was involved and how the situation sat.
I would also consider making a formal complaint to the police although without being in WA and given the general police distain of civil matters probably good luck with that one , Alan Bond didn't pick WA by accident.

Hope this helps a bit , good luck :)