NSW Real Estate Agent mismanagement

[Ted North]

Good Evening

I have an investment property in NSW and we have recently been informed that the tenants moved out. We have found communication with our agent to be terrible and have started with a new agent. Our new agent has performed an inspection for us and has informed us that the house is in a terrible state.

Many walls have patches with mismatched paint
cheap floor boards installed in two rooms (no permission given)
we explicitly said no pets yet the tenants have installed a cat door in the back door and clearly had a pet roaming the house
many damaged items through house
many additions that were not approved (bathroom rails, locks on internal doors, broken clothes line, too many to list
Carpets are trashed
walls have writing all over them
broken blinds etc

Tenants moved out without notice and agent did not follow up for rent during the notice period

The tenant was a government agency providing accomodation and support to disabled people.


I would like to know if I am able to sue my agent for mismanagement. It is going to cost us approx $10,000 to bring the house back to the state it was in at the beginning of a two year tenancy. It is an expensive house renting for $700 per week.

Regards

Ted

 

[ArmandoMyers]

Just curious—did the new agent help you get everything back on track?

 

[karissatbeltran]

I had something similar with one of my rental properties where the tenants did a lot of unauthorized work. In your case, you might have grounds to take action against the old agent, especially if they didn’t follow up on rent or inspections properly. A lawyer who specializes in real estate could give you more solid advice on that front.On a side note, when I had to redo the skirting in one of my rentals, I found a place with free delivery on skirting boards, which saved a bit of hassle and cost. Little things help when dealing with big repair bills.