My real estate agent accidentally sent me an email meant for my landlord - you won't believe what he said about me: 'Everything wrong with Australia'
- An agent sent an email meant for a landlord to the tenant
- He says high maintenance tenant deserves 'exorbitant' rental increase
- READ MORE: Agent sends threatening email to tenant
A Melbourne rental agent has sparked fury after mistakenly sending a tenant an email intended for his landlord.
The harsh email, which was posted by the tenant on Reddit, saw the property manager touch on his 'high maintenance nature' before suggesting they hike up the rent.
He went on to complain that out of all the properties they manage, the tenant's requests had taken up the bulk of their time, especially with his complaints about the air conditioning.
'He called every day for two weeks, the receptions (sic) are sick of him,' he wrote.
But the email only got worse from there.
A Melbourne rental agent made an embarrassing mistake when he sent an email to a tenant that was intended for the landlord
'In order to play this smooth I think you should offer to renew the lease but with an exorbitant increase (I'm thinking go from $500 to $950) and attribute it to the current rental market,' the agent wrote.
Incriminating himself further, the agent reiterated that he didn't think $950 was a realistic relisting price, but they'd probably get a 'boost' in rental income while also getting rid of the offending tenant.
'If he agrees to the increase it's a surprise win,' he said.
With a rental availability crisis nationwide and high inflation making housing less affordable that ever, Redditors were up in arms over the agent's underhanded and potentially illegal tactics.
Victorian rental laws make urgent repairs actionable immediately and all other repairs classed as 'non urgent' need to be completed within two weeks of a written request.
The tenant's request to have their air conditioning fixed in a timely manner was potentially an urgent request as Victorian law requires minimum standards of heating.
'If it's during a very hot or very cold period of days the premises could very well be uninhabitable without aircon,' a Victorian wrote.
This could explain why the tenant had contacted the agent every two days about repairs.
The real estate agent's behaviour had Redditors fuming.
'Oh, that's straight to NCAT (in NSW). I would destroy these people,' and another agreed that email should be enough for the agent to lose their licence,' one said.
Many defended the tenant saying they wouldn't have to continue ringing about the air conditioner if it was repaired in a timely manner.
Another called the agent out for admitting to the landlord that they hadn't handled the tenant's complaint about the air conditioning properly.
Others said without more information it was hard to know whether the email recipient was indeed a difficult tenant.
Most thought the behaviour of the 'lazy' real estate agent was typical of what to expect when renting in Australia.
'The tenant didn't have a required service working and absolutely held us accountable. What a pest,' another wrote.
This is not the first time property managers have been under fire for outrageous comments.
Perth real estate agent Bronwyn Pollitt recently lost her licence for racist comments in an email to Indian tenants when she told them that 'Australian standards clean' was 'not an Indian standard clean.'
