Tenants divided over handwritten note exposing house issues for prospective renters
Tenants divided over brutal tactics to warn potential tenants about real estate problems: ‘Brilliant idea’
- Warning notices taped to the wall of a rented house
- They describe the problems in the building
A council member has split opinion after advising tenants to expose a home’s flaws and tape notes around the home during rental property inspections.
Green Councilor Jonathan Sriranganathan for Brisbane’s Gabba Ward shared some strange advice to Facebook on Friday.
One photo shows eight handwritten notes taped to a wall warning that the house has rats, mold in several rooms and a lot of outside noise.
A cheeky tenant has divided opinion by leaving warnings during an inspection of a rental detailing the home’s flaws
A photo of the warning notes was shared online as a suggestion for departing tenants, by Jonathan Sriranganathan, a Brisbane Greens councilor
The mold was described in large capital letters as ‘danger’.
Another note reveals that the last rent increase was $75 a week and it went up six months ago.
“If you are moving out of a rental property and your landlord/estate agent is showing the property to new potential tenants, consider leaving some notes or posters like this in a few prominent places around the house,” Mr Sriranganathan wrote.
“Legally, a real estate agent or landlord cannot touch or interfere with them in any way.”
The Facebook post appears to have divided social media users, with some agreeing with the suggestion.
“Brilliant idea,” one wrote.
Another added, “I like this strategy.”
‘Yes. For far too long, landlords have had free reign to abuse their power without any form of record or accountability for their behavior,” a third wrote.
One of them revealed they had already used the tactic after sticking a note on her refrigerator detailing plumbing and mold issues that had not been addressed by the landlord.
Another social media user thought the suggestion didn’t go far enough and shared his method.
The tenant wanted the notes to be read by potential tenants (pictured people queuing to inspect a property in Sydney)
A woman from Geelong shared a note she taped to her fridge detailing plumbing and mold issues that had not been resolved even though she had reported them a year earlier
“I used to pull prospective tenants apart and fill them in,” he wrote.
The post also provoked reactions from social media users claiming it was not fair to the landlord.
“Good luck getting a positive rental reference after pulling such a stunt,” one wrote.
One called the tactic “evil” and questioned whether Mr. Sriranganathan would cover a tenant’s legal costs if an owner objected to the notes.
“Quasi legal advice is worse than no legal advice,” he wrote.
“You encourage tenants to act maliciously in a way that could take them to court. Will you cover their legal costs?’
Daily Mail Australia contacted Jonathan Sriranganathan for comment.
The debate comes as the rental crisis continues to spiral out of control across Australia.
Nationally, rents rose 6.7 percent to a median of $495 a week in 2022, but the problem was much worse in capital cities.
In cities such as Melbourne and Sydney, higher post-Covid demand for fewer homes drove unit rents up 9.3 percent, while houses rose 8.3 percent.