Rental disputes over repair costs are surprisingly common—especially if the tenant made some damage to the property.

But recently, a tenant took to social media a feud with her landlord over a ‘minimal scratch on a panel of a timber floor’, which the latter claimed to cost $1,000 to repair.

The unnamed New South Wales renter shared a photo and an email online showing how the real estate agent demanded her to pay the repair price, which she found ‘ridiculous’.

‘Her plan is to remove and redo the whole flooring because I've unintentionally made a scratch on a panel,’ she wrote. ‘I repeat, a minimal, almost invisible scratch on one of the panels.’

A renter shared a photo of the ‘minimal’ damage to the floor. Credit: Facebook

Social media users were shocked by the steep quote and urged her to stand her ground.

‘Small scratches are to be expected, it's called wear and tear!’ a user commented.

Others suggested that the landlord was just trying to trick the tenant into funding a new set of floors.

Due to the encouragement of social media users, the renter replied to the agent, saying she ‘didn’t agree with paying $1,000’ and that she was going to raise the issue with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

‘The real estate agent came back to us and told us they had a heavy discussion with the owner, and the owner decided to lower the charge to $500,’ the renter revealed in an update.

She initially didn’t want to pay the lower amount, but her partner convinced her to settle it ‘because he doesn't wanna waste his time’.

‘I hope she spends the $500 well because if I weren't with my partner, I would've gone to court,’ the renter admitted, ending the dispute.

It is understood that reasonable wear and tear can happen in some rental properties. But what happens if a similar thing happened to you?

According to Property Solicitor Monica Rouvellas, renters can write to their real estate agents if they’ve received an ‘unreasonable’ repair request from their landlord.

If that doesn’t work, the tenants are encouraged to negotiate or waive the price.

If both parties disagree on the price, Ms Rouvellas suggested that the matter be escalated.

‘I would then tell the tenant to apply to the tribunal to dispute that particular cost,’ she said.

‘Tribunals tend to refer to the Australian Taxation Office's depreciation schedule for particular things like carpet or features of a house, and they use that to guide how long things should reasonably last,’ she added.

Key Takeaways

• A tenant in New South Wales was charged $1,000 to repair damage on their unit’s floor, which they contest is ‘minimal’.
  
• Taking to social media, the renter revealed that the real estate agent provided the quote and demanded the renter to pay the bill.
  
• The renter believed this was ‘ridiculous’ and replied that she would not pay that amount. The real estate agent and the landlord lowered the fee to $500.
  
• She initially didn’t want to pay the lower amount, but her partner convinced her to settle it to end the dispute.
  

What’s your take on this, members? Have you experienced something similar? Share them in the comments below!

 

[PLK]

A very greedy Landlord.

 

[JTrus]

Unfortunately a lot of landlords (or dodgy real estate agents) are like this. My daughter went to a tribunal when told she wasn't going to get her bond back. Order given to return total amount. Sometimes it is worth following these things up

 

[Rob44]

That looks like an artificial floor panel tarted up to look like wood. Problem is that whilst it is fair wear and tear, it is also damage of the sort that when it builds up leads to other tenants not giving a damn and doing yet more fair and tear unto the point where the floor panels do need completely replacing and that is a couple of thousand dollars plus. And being fair wear and tear, it is not covered by Landlord Insurance. And so rents get increased.......

 

[Kingpin]

Rental disputes over repair costs are surprisingly common—especially if the tenant made some damage to the property.

But recently, a tenant took to social media a feud with her landlord over a ‘minimal scratch on a panel of a timber floor’, which the latter claimed to cost $1,000 to repair.

The unnamed New South Wales renter shared a photo and an email online showing how the real estate agent demanded her to pay the repair price, which she found ‘ridiculous’.

‘Her plan is to remove and redo the whole flooring because I've unintentionally made a scratch on a panel,’ she wrote. ‘I repeat, a minimal, almost invisible scratch on one of the panels.’

View attachment 32735

A renter shared a photo of the ‘minimal’ damage to the floor. Credit: Facebook

Social media users were shocked by the steep quote and urged her to stand her ground.

‘Small scratches are to be expected, it's called wear and tear!’ a user commented.

Others suggested that the landlord was just trying to trick the tenant into funding a new set of floors.

Due to the encouragement of social media users, the renter replied to the agent, saying she ‘didn’t agree with paying $1,000’ and that she was going to raise the issue with the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

‘The real estate agent came back to us and told us they had a heavy discussion with the owner, and the owner decided to lower the charge to $500,’ the renter revealed in an update.

She initially didn’t want to pay the lower amount, but her partner convinced her to settle it ‘because he doesn't wanna waste his time’.

‘I hope she spends the $500 well because if I weren't with my partner, I would've gone to court,’ the renter admitted, ending the dispute.

It is understood that reasonable wear and tear can happen in some rental properties. But what happens if a similar thing happened to you?

According to Property Solicitor Monica Rouvellas, renters can write to their real estate agents if they’ve received an ‘unreasonable’ repair request from their landlord.

If that doesn’t work, the tenants are encouraged to negotiate or waive the price.

If both parties disagree on the price, Ms Rouvellas suggested that the matter be escalated.

‘I would then tell the tenant to apply to the tribunal to dispute that particular cost,’ she said.

‘Tribunals tend to refer to the Australian Taxation Office's depreciation schedule for particular things like carpet or features of a house, and they use that to guide how long things should reasonably last,’ she added.

Key Takeaways

• A tenant in New South Wales was charged $1,000 to repair damage on their unit’s floor, which they contest is ‘minimal’.
• Taking to social media, the renter revealed that the real estate agent provided the quote and demanded the renter to pay the bill.
• The renter believed this was ‘ridiculous’ and replied that she would not pay that amount. The real estate agent and the landlord lowered the fee to $500.
• She initially didn’t want to pay the lower amount, but her partner convinced her to settle it to end the dispute.

What’s your take on this, members? Have you experienced something similar? Share them in the comments below!

The fix that, the board needs replacing if that pattern is still available. To do that, probably half or more of the floor must be removed to get to that board then it will need to be relaid. Not as simple a job as people think.

 

[Leanne01]

The fix that, the board needs replacing if that pattern is still available. To do that, probably half or more of the floor must be removed to get to that board then it will need to be relaid. Not as simple a job as people think.

 

[Leanne01]

I am afraid it works 2 ways!!
I have just spent $10,00 repairing my rental property that has been trashed by "the tenants from hell". The tenants were in the property when I bought it and had a long lease. Their rent was very low when they first rented it so their bond barely covered the bond clean (required for the nesting cockroaches), apart from the destroyed blinds, broken air conditioning panels, broken doors, holes in the walls, smashed vanity unit and so it goes. No one hears about the other side of the story and what the landlords have to go through. I bought this unit with my inheritance when my parents passed away. It was probably the worst decision I have ever made.
Having said this, $1,000 is extremely unfair for a scratch, the scratched panels could probably be replaced instead of the whole floor.

 

[Rob44]

Long-term tenants can do a lot of "fair wear and tear" simply by allowing water to lie around on floors in bathroom and laundry and rot floorboards, cause damage to tiled walls by not bothering to clean mould (the tenant's job) in bathrooms,cause damage to ceilings (mould again), to bedroom paintwork (mould again) etc etc simply because they are too lazy to keep a place clean. Repairing such damage is extremely expensive, even when one can do it oneself. The price of timber has gone through the roof; plumbers charge harder than wounded bulls and Landlord Insurance does not cover such fair wear and tear and even if bonds did, the bonds are far too low to do so. Rough handling of tenants' furniture by tenants can led to damage to carpets, vinyl on floors, walls, doors paintwork etc and is deemed fair wear and tear. Use of stiletto heels on sanded and polished floorboards will pit those floorboards quite deeply and how much does floor-sanding cost these days? More than 4 weeks' bond, that is certain. And again, that's fair wear and tear; uninsurable as well.

Then gardens and lawns and clearing tenants' rubbish from lawns and from under the house; I will say no more.

 

[Clancieblue]

Having been on both sides of the fence, make sure you take photos of everything when you move into a rental. Is there any proof that the scratch wasn't already there?