Discover the outrageous demand this landlord asks of his renter
- Replies 13
Moving into a new rental property should be an exciting time, a chance to make a fresh start in a new home.
However, for one Adelaide tenant, the experience quickly turned sour due to an unexpected and outrageous demand from their landlord.
The landlord allegedly imposed a strict limit on the use of the property's ducted air conditioning system, allowing it to run for only two to three hours each night, even during sweltering summer temperatures.
The tenant, who shared their story on social media, was further frustrated to discover that the landlord had tampered with the air conditioning controls.
This prevented the renter to set the temperature below 24°C.
This restriction was not mentioned when the tenant viewed the property and only came to light after they had moved in.
'I moved into a two-bedroom townhouse in the CBD a couple of weeks ago. My rent is $340 per week, which includes all bills,' the tenant wrote.
'I'm technically subletting it from a person who himself pays rent to a real estate agent. I'll refer to this person as “the dude”.'
'When I went for the house inspection, there was no mention of any resource restrictions by the dude.'
'However, on my first night, I went to turn on the aircon (it is a ducted aircon with the temperature panel in the living room).'
'The dude came down to see what was going on…and said, “I can't let you run the AC all night” and put on a timer for an hour. I protested, and he increased the timer to two hours.'
The tenant's ordeal didn't end there.
After a sleepless night in a room that felt like an oven due to the 38°C outside temperature, the tenant confronted the landlord.
'The next day, I brought it up, and he said that I could run the air conditioning “when it’s more than 30c outside and for 2-3 hours a night”.'
'He never mentioned anything of that sort on the lease or orally during the inspection,' she recalled.
The tenant negotiated an informal deal with the landlord, agreeing to pay an extra $50 for eight hours of air conditioning per week.
'I had asked to split the utilities but he said he can’t do that because he just got a Tesla and will be charging it at home so it would rack up the bill there.'
However, the tenant soon began to question their arrangement.
'Now that it’s been two weeks since the deal and I finally got some time to ponder, I was wondering how fair or legal this deal and situation is. I lived with very controlling people for a few years in the past and this situation has me quite on edge while living here.'
'We signed a lease together which is the standard lease template you can get from the South Australia government’s website which doesn’t mention any restrictions about house amenities.'
'He does have a clause that if the utilities exceed $1200 for a duration of 12 weeks, the excess amount will be split 50 per cent.'
The tenant's story sparked outrage among users, many of whom were appalled by the landlord's demand.
'I live in a townhouse. I know how hot it gets,' one commented. 'The bill is the bill. That’s summer. We all should have solar but we don’t.'
While another replied: '[The] landlord sounds like the kind of guy who notices if “too much” toilet paper is being used.'
A third agreed, saying: 'He’s obsessive about saving every penny.'
Some users suggested that the tenant push the landlord on a clause in the lease, saying, 'Push him on the 12-week clause. It’ll cost less than this 50 bucks for eight hours of AC a week nonsense.'
'It doesn’t cost six bucks an hour to run even the hungriest appliance. If you really want to keep the peace, then get the rate he pays per kW/h out of him and pay what the AC actually uses.'
'It sounds like he’s basically got you paying the electricity bill (and therefore his car expenses) anyway.'
Another added, 'When I’m running my aircon 24/7, the cost is between $7 to $11 a day.'
What are your thoughts on this situation? Have you ever faced similar issues with your landlord? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.
However, for one Adelaide tenant, the experience quickly turned sour due to an unexpected and outrageous demand from their landlord.
The landlord allegedly imposed a strict limit on the use of the property's ducted air conditioning system, allowing it to run for only two to three hours each night, even during sweltering summer temperatures.
The tenant, who shared their story on social media, was further frustrated to discover that the landlord had tampered with the air conditioning controls.
An Adelaide tenant was asked by their landlord to only use the airconditioning system for two to three hours a night. Image source: Shutterstock.
This prevented the renter to set the temperature below 24°C.
This restriction was not mentioned when the tenant viewed the property and only came to light after they had moved in.
'I moved into a two-bedroom townhouse in the CBD a couple of weeks ago. My rent is $340 per week, which includes all bills,' the tenant wrote.
'I'm technically subletting it from a person who himself pays rent to a real estate agent. I'll refer to this person as “the dude”.'
'When I went for the house inspection, there was no mention of any resource restrictions by the dude.'
'However, on my first night, I went to turn on the aircon (it is a ducted aircon with the temperature panel in the living room).'
'The dude came down to see what was going on…and said, “I can't let you run the AC all night” and put on a timer for an hour. I protested, and he increased the timer to two hours.'
The tenant's ordeal didn't end there.
After a sleepless night in a room that felt like an oven due to the 38°C outside temperature, the tenant confronted the landlord.
'The next day, I brought it up, and he said that I could run the air conditioning “when it’s more than 30c outside and for 2-3 hours a night”.'
'He never mentioned anything of that sort on the lease or orally during the inspection,' she recalled.
The tenant negotiated an informal deal with the landlord, agreeing to pay an extra $50 for eight hours of air conditioning per week.
'I had asked to split the utilities but he said he can’t do that because he just got a Tesla and will be charging it at home so it would rack up the bill there.'
However, the tenant soon began to question their arrangement.
'Now that it’s been two weeks since the deal and I finally got some time to ponder, I was wondering how fair or legal this deal and situation is. I lived with very controlling people for a few years in the past and this situation has me quite on edge while living here.'
'We signed a lease together which is the standard lease template you can get from the South Australia government’s website which doesn’t mention any restrictions about house amenities.'
'He does have a clause that if the utilities exceed $1200 for a duration of 12 weeks, the excess amount will be split 50 per cent.'
The tenant's story sparked outrage among users, many of whom were appalled by the landlord's demand.
'I live in a townhouse. I know how hot it gets,' one commented. 'The bill is the bill. That’s summer. We all should have solar but we don’t.'
While another replied: '[The] landlord sounds like the kind of guy who notices if “too much” toilet paper is being used.'
A third agreed, saying: 'He’s obsessive about saving every penny.'
Some users suggested that the tenant push the landlord on a clause in the lease, saying, 'Push him on the 12-week clause. It’ll cost less than this 50 bucks for eight hours of AC a week nonsense.'
'It doesn’t cost six bucks an hour to run even the hungriest appliance. If you really want to keep the peace, then get the rate he pays per kW/h out of him and pay what the AC actually uses.'
'It sounds like he’s basically got you paying the electricity bill (and therefore his car expenses) anyway.'
Another added, 'When I’m running my aircon 24/7, the cost is between $7 to $11 a day.'
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