ACT Tenant Renting Out Unit without Telling Landlord - How to Report?

[Max6296]

Hi, I've recently posted about a landlord not giving my bond back (ACT - No Lease Signed - Can I Get Rental Deposit Back? | LawAnswers.com.au Legal Aid Forums ) In a nutshell, I recently moved in a unit and moved out 20 days later, and he didn't give my bond back because he insists he told me on the first day that I have to live at least two months. I didn't write any sign contract, everything was done orally.

I've done my research and I found out that I can get my bond back.

However, in the process, it turned out that he isn't actually the landlord of the unit. He is just a tenant and he has been renting out the unit to Koreans, (me, him, and everyone living in that unit are Korean. There are 3 rooms, and 6 people, including me, lived there. He doesn't live there) who have come to Australia on working holiday visa, without telling the landlord. I heard that he is doing the same thing with 8 other units. He isn't paying tax for them, he is doing the same thing he has done to me to everyone (not giving bond back to people who leave before 2 months), and he is on a student visa (I assume that it would be 573 higher education visa because he is a student of ANU).

He has been doing this for a relatively long period of time (I heard it has been around 3 years) without getting in big trouble because people who come here on working holiday don't speak English well enough to seek help.

So, it makes me angry, and I don't expect everything I heard will turn out to be true but, judging by what I experienced and witnessed, I'm positive that some will. At least I'm 90% sure of the part of him renting out the unit I lived in without telling the landlord is true, because he actually mentioned it on his advertisement (I'm keeping the screenshots).

So, here are the questions.
1. How do you confirm if he is the actual landlord or not?
2. Is there a way to find out the units he is renting out?
3. How do you report all these?

 

[AnnaLJ]

Hi Max

Sorry about the situation you have found yourself in - doesn't seem very fair at all.

You could go to the website of the titles office in your state to pay for a title search on the property. However, there will be a fee for this and there may be a simpler way to do it - you could google the property address and pull up the last time the property was listed for rent or for sale. Then see which real estate agency posted the listing. You could then call that agency and ask if they still manage that property. If they do, you could advise them of what's happening and go from there.

What this person is doing is very likely in breach of his lease, as it is considered to be a sub-lease. Generally, sub-leases are not allowed unless formally approved by the landlord. This is because the landlord needs to have a chance to approve each individual tenant that will be living in the property. So unless you filled out a formal application for the landlord to review, then your sub-lease was in breach of the lease.

If you really wanted to make him accountable for his actions, you could make an anonymous report about his activities to the tax office (Australian Taxation Office and also the rental tenancy board in your state.

Please keep me updated with how you go and I wish you the best of luck. (And remember in future to protect yourself to always get any rental agreement in writing. If you do make a private arrangement with someone then make sure your bond is lodged with the rental tenancies board in your state and not ever given direct to a private individual other than a real estate agency).

 

[Max6296]

Hi Max

Sorry about the situation you have found yourself in - doesn't seem very fair at all.

You could go to the website of the titles office in your state to pay for a title search on the property. However, there will be a fee for this and there may be a simpler way to do it - you could google the property address and pull up the last time the property was listed for rent or for sale. Then see which real estate agency posted the listing. You could then call that agency and ask if they still manage that property. If they do, you could advise them of what's happening and go from there.

What this person is doing is very likely in breach of his lease, as it is considered to be a sub-lease. Generally, sub-leases are not allowed unless formally approved by the landlord. This is because the landlord needs to have a chance to approve each individual tenant that will be living in the property. So unless you filled out a formal application for the landlord to review, then your sub-lease was in breach of the lease.

If you really wanted to make him accountable for his actions, you could make an anonymous report about his activities to the tax office (Australian Taxation Office and also the rental tenancy board in your state.

Please keep me updated with how you go and I wish you the best of luck. (And remember in future to protect yourself to always get any rental agreement in writing. If you do make a private arrangement with someone then make sure your bond is lodged with the rental tenancies board in your state and not ever given direct to a private individual other than a real estate agency).

Anna

Thank you! It helps a lot, really! XDXD