Property Manager Showed Up Without Notice - Can I Do Anything?

LL-Tech on 16/04/2019 - 17:19
Last edited 17/04/2019 - 10:31

I'm renting and our Property Manager showed up for a "Routine Inspection" without any notice. She emailed today (2 weeks after this supposed inspection) to let me know that my house was too untidy for her to perform the inspection, so she didn't, and that she opened my front door, looked inside and then left. I was completely shocked and called her telling her I didn't even receive any notice she was coming, and according to Consumer Affairs it's a breach of Section 67 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to show up without notice.

I escalated to her manager, who advised me that she acted in "good faith" by not following through with the inspection because she assumed we were not expecting her. They have no evidence and have admitted that their notice to me for this inspection "failed" to be sent to me due to technical difficulties.

Some back story on why this is an issue - on our last inspection with her I had a basket of laundry blocking the back door and she sent a huge email kicking up a fuss that our entire unit was untidy, that she was taking permanent notes on our "file", and for us to remove anything in the house that doesn't allow her to perform a thorough inspection - like the laundry basket sitting in the laundry, in front of the back door. We obviously had a chat about this, given our house is very clean, and there's been a bit of tension in communications since then.

Is there anything worth pursuing here with Consumer Affairs?

TLDR: Property Manager showed up without notice. Claims email notice failed to send due to technical difficulties. Is there still a breach or anything worth pursuing?

Follow up: I’m going to serve a formal notice of breach. The General Manager of the branch has advised our Property Manager will now be accompanied by her during inspection. But this is all she is willing to do regarding this incident.

In my breach notice, to remedy the situation, am I going too far to ask for that specific property manager to be removed and a new one assigned?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2019 - 17:39
    +2

    Property Manager showed up without notice. Claims email notice failed to send due to technical difficulties. Is there still a breach or anything worth pursuing?

    Unlawful entry. Inform them you'll be taking action.

  • Almost Banned on 16/04/2019 - 17:55

    While technically this is unlawful see: https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/renting/during-a-lea…

    • sassa on 16/04/2019 - 20:02
      -1

      from article " If a landlord enters rented premises without the agreement of the tenant or without serving the adequate and appropriate written notice, they do not have a legal right of entry and have committed an offence. "

  • Gersman on 16/04/2019 - 19:49

    If they can't get you by email or phone then they can send you a registered letter, drop a note in your letterbox,call around and knock on your door and leave a card in your door for you to call them they didn't do any of this to inform you about a forthcoming inspection.
    I don't believe that they tried hard enough to get you and to use keys without your consent is a definite no, contact consumer affairs.

  • L-Tech on 16/04/2019 - 20:23
    +2

    Thanks so much everyone. I have notified them I will proceed with a formal notice of breach via Consumer Affairs. You're correct, they didn't try hard enough and their excuse on the phone was "many people don't check their emails or reply back to confirm, so we didn't know if you saw it. It happens all the time with other tenants too." I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking this is a complete BS response. Appreciate it again.

  • robbyjones on 16/04/2019 - 20:23
    +1

    Your agent sounds like an anal retentive douchebag. An untidy house is not a reason to not perform an inspection, unless the whole floor is covered and she literally cant walk without treading on something. Don't let the agent bully you to conform to what they want, you pay rent and it is your home and how you choose to live is up to you not them, if you are messy then that is your right unless it negatively impacts on the structure. Tell them if they enter your property again without consent you will make a trespass complaint to the police. You will find the consumer authorities very helpful, from experience they are fed up with agents behaving this way and thinking they can get away with it.

  • [Deactivated] on 16/04/2019 - 22:01

    on our last inspection with her I had a basket of laundry blocking the back door and she sent a huge email kicking up a fuss that our entire unit was untidy, that she was taking permanent notes on our "file"

    That sounds really petty. This is why I gave up renting and bought a house. Many agents are quite nice but it just takes a few like the above to ruin it. I had one who refused to refund my bond because he wiped his finger (in a white cotton glove) on the door frame and it had dust on it. Total jerk.

    Absolutely take it up with Consumer Affairs. Let them know they're failing inspections because they found a basket of dirty laundry! Holy smokes, I'd have lost it and said something impolite if that happened to me.

  • L-Tech on 17/04/2019 - 10:31

    Follow up: I’m going to serve a formal notice of breach. The General Manager of the branch has advised our Property Manager will now be accompanied by her during inspection. But this is all she is willing to do regarding this incident.

    In my breach notice, to remedy the situation, am I going too far to ask for that specific property manager to be removed and a new one assigned?

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