rentals a lesson on what not to do, page-14

Hi Molonski,

After witnessing friends of ours who rented a property for nearly 10 years without ever missing a payment and finally being told by the landlord that they were not getting their bond back with excuses that the property was not left clean. My wife and i helped them clean the place and also the moving process. Therefore we knew that this landlord had one thing on his mind and that was to keep the bond.

Its rather funny, it turns out that the Landlord who had built the house failed in his duties on several fronts.

1) He didn't lodge the bond with the respective regulatory body.
2) Didn't provide a condition report.
3) Over the course of 10 years, each year he would send a letter to increase the rent without the 60 day notice required by law. The rent increases were deemed invalid.

In this case the landlord failed in his duty.

Suppose one could argue that he didn't know the law.
English was his second language.
As well, the tenant should have known the requirements.

However, its the Landlords responsibility and not the tenants given the landlord is the one who has the vested interest in the property.

When in business or even in sharetrading try using that excuse to the ATO by saying "We didn't know the Law" and see how far that gets you.

I wonder how many other landlords out there don't even know the law.

Thats why i agree that if an investor is too lazy to take the time to study their responsibilities, or does not want the involvement as a landlord they should either pass the responsibilities onto an agent or property manager.

Just a different viewpoint.

Cheers markco2