Kyle Sandilands and his rented mansion

Do I have to say out loud what I really think of Kyle Sandilands?




He’s in the public eye, and seems to be constantly doing stupid things. Maybe it’s time he stepped back from the lime light, so if he wants to continue acting the way he does no one needs to know about it.

I won’t go in to all of the acts he’s done that leave me shaking my head, but naturally being the topic of this blog, I will talk about his latest performance.

Kyle has just vacated this $20,000 odd a month property, citing that there were ongoing repairs that weren’t being attended to. The main repair in question being that the septic tank is blocked.

Maintenance is definitely something that all landlords need to take care of as quickly as possible, and if what Mr. Sandilands is saying is correct, then he absolutely has every right to complain. However he has gone down the wrong – and immature – pathway of stopping the rent.

You must always pay your rent for your property. Always. Regardless of what else may be going on, the rent should be constant. It is not up to you to decide whether you deserve a rent reduction, it is up to a Tribunal Member, or even before that you might be able to negotiate a deduction with your landlord, but it’s not something you can just decide.

What Mr. Sandilands is claiming though, is that the property is no longer livable, so he handed the keys back in. Now there is such a thing as a frustrated lease, which literally means if the house is not livable, then there really can’t be a lease on it. So he may have something here, but all the time that you’re living in a property you need to be paying rent for it. According to the landlord Mr. Sandilands owes over $70,000, that’s a lot of unpaid rent, but could also include cleaning or damages that needed to be fixed up after he vacated.

Mr. Symington, the landlord agreed that there had been maintenance issues at the property – what property doesn’t? He also went as far as saying "There were problems with the septic system and its pump - but they were also contributed to because items such as tampons and baby wipes had been put down the toilet which they shouldn't have been.'' I sure hope he can prove that, as that will not only mean that Mr. Sandilands is responsible for the remainder of his lease, but also for the repair to the septic system.

I don’t have all the facts, however I hope that when this matter goes to tribunal next week that he is required to pay his back rent. He should be let out of his lease if the problems he’s reported exist, however he needs to learn that all the while he was in possession of the property, he owes money for it.