Irish Echo News

Unsuspecting new Irish arrivals in Australia are being hit with a host of “illegal” charges by unscrupulous Sydney property rental groups and landlords, the Irish Echo has learned.

One Irish victim has claimed that tenants are getting “ripped off left, right and centre”.

Adel Burke, from Dublin, says she was landed with a host of undisclosed charges related to the short-term lease of a property in the eastern suburbs of Sydney – money which was taken out of her bond.

Adel then took the company in question to the Consumer, Trade and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) where she and her friends finally received the refund they were due in an out-of-court settlement.

Adel says she would have taken the case even further and not settled at all only for the fact that she was due to go home to Ireland.

 She did say, however, that she was delighted to expose a phenomenon from which many of her other friends have also suffered.

 “People are being charged $600 for bills that should only come to around $100 but these groups think they can get away with it. They’re advertising directly at backpackers who don’t know any better and they’re taking advantage of them,” Adel said.

“We thought it was a great deal when we came over first, and that the charges were reasonable. But it was only when we looked into it further that we realised we were getting screwed, so we decided to fight them tooth and nail.

“Backpackers just getting off the plane are thinking the same thing and signing these rental agreements thinking it’s the handiest way to get set up, but really you’re better off just finding somewhere on Gumtree and avoiding these groups altogether.”

Michael Hampton of the Eastern Sydney Area Tenants Service says his group regularly receive complaints from Irish and British backpackers who have been duped by landlords and rental agencies.

Mr Hampton told the Echo that many rental agencies that offer short-term rentals to backpackers are acting “illegally” and flouting the New South Wales Residential Tenancy Act, which protects tenants’ rights.

“In the eastern suburbs area we get a high proportion of backpackers calling us who are often keen to move in somewhere quickly and who don’t know the residential tenancy laws and they call us when things go bad.”

He took a look at Adel’s particular case and said that there were a host of illegal charges being applied.

Adel  rented a two-bedroom apartment with friends in Coogee from November until mid-February, paying $850 per week between four people as well as a bond of $2,000.

It was when Adel went to reclaim her bond that things began to go wrong with unexplained charges popping up all over the place. Mr Hampton took a look at her particular case explaining that several clauses on her rental agreement were “illegal”.

Part of the agreement was that Adel and her friends would be charged a “non-refundable” agency fee of $100 per person to cover the drawing up of the tenancy agreement and administrative costs.

 Mr Hampton explained that under NSW residential tenancy law it is illegal to charge any more than $15 for the preparation of a rental agreement, but that he had seen similar cases where agencies can charge anywhere between $100-$150.

Second, Adel and her friends agreed to pay $2 per day for water, gas and electricity, amounting to a whopping $664. Mr Hampton again pointed out that these charges were illegal, while Adel said she researched how much this should have cost, estimating that $100 would have been the correct amount.

“To charge this daily fee – an all-in fee of electricity and water – is an offence in NSW and under the Electricity Supply Act. Your property must be individually metered or the bill must be in your name,” he explained.

A further $575 was also deducted from Adel’s bond – $542 for cleaning costs and $33 for rubbish collection.

However, Adel explained that she had taken two days off work to clean the apartment before her departure, making sure to take photos documenting the cleanliness of the property.

Another charge written into the rental agreement was that of an $11 fee for every missed rental payment.

Again, Mr Hampton said that such a charge was illegal, explaining that “under residential law here there are no late fees”, but that he had also seen such charges written into agreements in other similar cases.

He urged new arrivals to be cautious about signing agreements before understanding their rights.

by Aileen Lee