Monday, December 14, 2009

My Ordeal

I took this residential unit on rent last year in June as my first residence in Sydney, and I got reference of this land lord from a relative in Pakistan. He was giving this unit on rent and I needed a place. The only friend I had here by that time, suggested that I should take what comes first because it is very hard to get rental property in Sydney. I was by that time not aware of the procedures as I was renting for the first time and did not know any one except for this friend of mine with whom I stayed and unfortunately he did not give me right guidance, he was busy in his own struggle. So I relied on the land lord (I will call him G here onwards) as he said he knew everything and he will fulfill all the procedures.
When we inspected the premises, it was under use by G and his family, and we were told everything is fine, except for what I observed immediately that washroom had a broken shower area, and carpet was very old, kitchen was old too. G said he will arrange to repair everything and that he will paint the unit as well as kitchen will be cleaned. He did paint the unit but no action was taken regarding kitchen and wash room. After moving in, we discovered that Oven was not working and the fittings in kitchen were damaged, rotten and decayed. We really put lot of efforts to fine clean the wash room as it was kept unhygienic for a long time. That was the start of our ordeal and continuous humiliation; we later found that the wash room floor and ceiling (floor of the resident upstairs) were leaking, hence whenever we used the wash room three or four times, carpet was getting soaked and wet, and then stinking. My son locked the room by mistake, and we found there were no keys of that room with us, we asked G, he came and broken the door lock. There was no fire alarm (as I came to know this is a must requirement), and the worst blow came when cockroaches started to appear by October 2008. After our complaint G came with some powder to spread across the walls and kitchen cabinets, which I did not prefer.
The after effects of all this were apparent on our health, my son has developed allergies, he was getting ill whenever there was dampness in the carpet, cockroaches became impossible to control and we lived in fear, you can imagine how would it look to see them roaming around every where, we were washing every utensil before use, we were spraying around the bed room before going to sleep, we were putting bets here and there to kill the insects, my son developed worst reactions in his mind, he started to cry whenever watching the cockroach.
I had communicated repeatedly to G, complained to him, requested him for fumigation and calling Strata management for repairs, but he take half actions, every now and then some plumber was coming to check the fittings, but no repair work, we had problem in water lines as well, cold water was coming in hot line, and we used to complaint then a plumber was repairing it every once and then. At last I asked G if he will not take action I will leave and started looking for alternate, at this notice he replied that I can not leave or I will have to pay the rent of two months to him. However after a very bitter argument, he arranged the fumigation in May 2009, but it turned out to be a cheap way of doing things, and the guy who came did it not in a professional thorough way, and result was that cockroaches started to appear again hardly in two weeks, but situation was much better for us as we had gone through the worst. Strata were also arranged after that and we got the washroom repaired. Did I forget to mention the leaking of taps in kitchen and washroom and a broken leaking and as a result full of algae and dirty pantry? Well if so, yes it was a head ache as well and never really resolved, because every plumber who came said that the setup is not made in a professional way and it needs to be done from scratch again, and G was never willing to do so. I also forget to mention the mice who are coming through holes in kitchen walls and rotting our ration. We have taken all efforts to keep them away, but they appear again after a brief period of calm. As a result we seized to use kitchen cabinets with holes and kept them closed, instead we are using plastic boxes to store the items.
In addition to all this he increased our rent during a fixed term agreement, which now I came to know is illegal. His letters still come to our mailbox, and he comes to collect them or his son or daughter is coming. It seems they did not change their address to ATO, Centerlink and banks, and as a friend told me this probably is illegal too. I have been asking him repeatedly throughout the time to change his address, and he always say that he has done so, and that he doesn’t know why we get his family’s letters.
After this entire ordeal and after fulfilling some financial obligations, I decided to move, and after finding a unit I gave him the notice. He asked me to serve a 60 days notice, which the real state agent (whom I met during my search and who proved to be my first source of real guidance) said is illegal and that only a 21 days notice is sufficient. I talked with G and he changed his statement without any shame that he never meant 21 days notice is not possible. I am still worried as I did not sent him 21 days new notice in writing, I however have SMS saved which I sent to him.
Last blow came after this notice, he asked us to provide him three days as he is intended to repair the kitchen and that the contractor will not change the dates and he will suffer the loss as he has already paid and ordered. The contractor on direction from G, started work without informing us the precautions we should take and scope of work, and they created a mess, they completely broken everything, all fittings and then tiles from walls and floor which resulted in heavy amount of dust across the unit, and now we are facing a huge hygienic problem, there is dust in everything. We asked him to provide professional cleaning and he refused that as we own the premises we should take care of it. In addition the work is not finished in three days, and the contractor suddenly disappeared, I asked G to finish the work on Monday but he said the worker is not available. So here we are, sitting by this pile of garbage and dust. We have tried hard to clean the mess and as a result my wife got ill, she is having continuous head ache and flu. My son started to bleed from nose and he has cough, he can not sleep in night. I have asked G to schedule the work as we had to leave and we had to pack and do all necessary arrangements for our shifting. But there is no action from him so far.
I asked G if he can release our bond money, and he said he will send his agent to check the premises. I consider it to be a clue of his intention to tease us for one more time, as it is stated in our agreement that Agent is not applicable, moreover he did not prepare a checklist at the time of renting (I came to know about this from web site tenants.org.au and then I went to fair trading web site, after a friend advised me day before yesterday, I was sadly not aware of these sites and other details they have provided before).
I am writing all this, to record my ordeal and to share it with the society I and my family live in. I do not know what law says about it, and I do not want any compensation, as all I want is a safe way to get out of this ordeal; me and my family are still suffering and it seems no one can help us out of it. I still have a fear in my mind that G will not let me get out of it that easily. I want moral support, as this gives strength.