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.

Tenants & Compensation Part 3

The saga unfortunately continues with this tenant.

Just as a recap, for those who are new to my blog. He put in a request that an old electric heater at the property be repaired, however the heater hasn't worked for many many years, and he's only lived at the property for just over 12 months now, and it's made clear in his lease that the heater doesn't work.

After many discussions between ourselves and the tenant's advocacy, it was explained to him that the heater would not be getting repaired, as it was unrepairable.

Unfortunately he doesn't seem to understand that this property does not have a heater, and the rent that he is paying does not include the use of a heater. So he's stopped paying his rent.

We haven't received any rent from him since June, so naturally our next step was to send him a termination notice for breach of his lease. The date on the termination notice came and went without any rent coming into our office, and without him vacating the property. So the next step was to apply to Tribunal for vacant possession of the property.

The Tribunal date came and went, without any rent coming into the office, and without him vacating the property. We were awarded vacant possession of the property, stating that he must return the keys on or before the 23rd of August.

On approximately the 20th of August we receive an application for rehearing of the Tribunal matter. Words can not convey emotions that start running when a landlord is told that the vacant possession that was ordered is put on hold indefinately and still no rent is coming in. It's a shame that the fact that the landlord has 2 mortgages to pay does not come into play in these instances.

So we submitted our reasons for believing that there shouldn't be a rehearing;

In response to the application for a rehearing of the above matter please find attached our reasons for believing that the existing Tribunal orders should be acted on, and that a rehearing is not necessary.

The tenant Mr. Tenant's rent is currently only paid to the 13th of May 2010, and no payments have been made since June. We have spoken to him about this issue several times and on the last occasion he informed us that he was not going to pay any rent.

As far as we are aware, the reason behind Mr. Tenant not paying his rent is due to the fact that there is an electric heater in the property that is not repairable. However this heater has not been repairable for several years, even before the commencement of the current lease, and this is noted in the condition report, dated September 14th 2006. Mr. Other Tenant, who is the original tenant on the lease, has also confirmed that he has always been aware that the heater is not repairable, and has never been included in the lease.

We have included a Statutory Declaration from Mr. Other Tenant to this effect, as well as a copy of the original condition report. Also included is a copy of the ledger for the premises showing that rent has not been paid for a long time.

We understand that Mr. Tenant is of ill health, and for that reason needs a heater, therefore we believe it is best if Mr. Tenant vacates the property, to find alternate accommodation which has heating.
If you have any questions regarding our submission please feel free to contact our office.

Now we wait. The landlord is still without rent, the tenant is still without a heater and the issue will not be resolved for some time now.