Aussie rent crisis: Queensland tenant wins battle against landlord after two years of living in her home with major problems
- Tenant had been in ‘unsuitable’ home for two years
- Took her landlord to tenancy court and won
A young Aussie tenant has refused to be pushed by her landlord after a two-year battle to have several major flaws in her home repaired.
Chelsea Shishkin, from Logan south of Brisbane, took her case to tenancy court where her landlord was ordered to pay more than $3,000 this week.
The 23-year-old moved into the mansion with her fiancé in August 2020 and noticed problems almost immediately. The oven was not working properly, parts of the house were dirty and some light switches were disconnected.
As a young couple, Mrs. Shishkin and her partner struggled to get through the house’s many problems because the rent was cheap.
A year after they moved in, the couple noticed damage to the bathroom ceiling and water leaking through a laundry room skylight.
Ms Shiskin said the water damage gradually got worse over the next 12 months, while multiple calls to property begging for something to be done fell on deaf ears.
Chelsea Shishkin took on her landlord after they failed to fix her house for two years and won in Queensland rent tribunal
Eventually, their agent acted on one of their requests, but instead of having any urgency to fix the problem, three different tradesmen all came to the house to inspect the damage for the sole purpose of preparing a quote.
“At that point, the carpet outside the bathroom was discolored, the door frames at the bottom were rotting, the ceiling in the wax was soft and chipping,” Ms Shiskin recalled. 7news.com.au.
After the leak was fixed for an entire year despite complaints, the landlord increased the rent by $50 per week.
One of the tradesmen who visited her told her he was concerned that the floor was at risk of collapse if the water leak continued for another 12 months.
One of the holes in the house was created by a leaking roof that the landlord had allowed to persist for over 12 months
The quotes started coming back in November 2022, over a year after she first reported the problem.
But it would be another two months before work began, while the real estate and craftsmen went to enjoy their Christmas break.
“When the repairs started, they took out the tub and shower,” Ms. Shiskin said.
With the shower not working, construction dragged on for over a month, with no real estate or trades prioritizing it over their other jobs.
Ms. Shishkin, who had to travel to the PCYC community facility to shower, asked the landlord to reduce the rent because the house lacked basic amenities.
They agreed, but made no changes to her actual rental bill.
When the shower was finally fixed, workers left a hole in the bathroom wall and another under the bath, leaving Mrs. Shishkin and her partner tired of moving.
When their bathroom was finally repaired, tradies left damaged sections of the wall (pictured)
But the problems didn’t end there, with the property not returning their four-week deposit despite leaving the house in the condition they found it.
The real estate also stopped answering the couple’s phone calls and emails.
The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal this week awarded Ms Shishkin $3,028, which included bail, the rent deduction the agent had promised, an inconvenience charge and administrative costs.
A relieved Ms. Shishkin said the process was incredibly long and drawn out, but she was glad it worked out in their favour.