Below is a short calendar on what was happening during this time, keep reading for the rest.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Around 6pm
Two letters have been issued by the agent, one informing that the sale of the unit block in October has been finalized and the owner’s new details. The second is a notice saying the rent is to be increased effective from May 15 from $260 a week to $320. This is a $70 a week increase.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Between 10am and 11am
The owner appears to be working on units one and three which have been vacated recently by the tenants. He was accessing the roof through the trap door at the top of the stairwell which leads to the shared balcony for unit three (my apartment) and unit four. I was given a fright by several loud bangs made from the roof above my lounge room, but otherwise these renovations didn't concern me. He caught up with me outside my front door as I was making my way back from the laundry to my unit and told me work men required access to my flat on Monday, saying they were bringing a new toilet. I immediately told him he needed to contact the real estate agent in order to get the key as I'd be at work and to issue the written notification. He said he would contact Paul.
Monday, April 18, 2011
7:10am
As I'm leaving for work, two workmen show up with a cherry picker to be let into the unit. I ask if they’re here to put in the new toilet, which they confirm and I ask why they haven’t been given the key from the agent. There is no sign of the owner and the agency aren’t open yet, so I organise to work from home in order for the workmen to do their job, as having my entire unit open without any supervision for an indeterminable amount of time is unreasonable.
From then until the afternoon, the workmen drilled into the walls and floor of the inside and outside of the unit, replaced and removed the piping from outside of the building, as well as the replacing the piping under my bathroom sink.
Between 12 and 2pm
The existing, fully functioning toilet was dismantled and the bowl removed from my unit, leaving the cistern, rusted piping debris, dead and alive cockroaches, and a sizable puddle of water across the floor and the exposed new piping jutting out of the wall.
4:50pm
I hear the workmen loading the cherry picker up onto the truck and leave. There is still no toilet in my bathroom, and no one had spoken to me about not having a toilet overnight, or what to do in the meantime. I find the owner in unit four and ask if they are coming back as there’s no toilet in my apartment. He said he’d call the plumber to come back.
Around 5pm
Call Paul’s mobile, no answer. I speak to Justin at the R&W office and ask to speak to Paul, who is out of the office but is due back soon. I tell him I’d like to make a formal complaint and I explain what has happened today and that I’ve been left without toilet facilities. Justin tells me that they had no idea of this going on, that that situation is not acceptable and to put everything into an email and send it to Paul. Justin informs me that if the owner was planning on removing the toilet from the apartment, they need to issue a minimum one weeks’ notice and to organise alternative accommodation for the period that the unit was being worked on. He says they’ve had other troubles with the owner regarding issuing notification and that he’s not surprised to hear this has happened. He confirms that he will be in the office until close of business at 6pm and that when Paul returns he will get him to call.
Around 5:20pm
The owner returns with the plumber and we talk inside my apartment. The plumber told me that there was never the possibility of my having a new toilet installed and usable today, that I might have it installed tomorrow as they have ordered it but it has yet to be delivered, but they don't know when it would come, possibly not until Wednesday, which would mean a Thursday installation. Regardless, even after it has been installed, it needs 24 hours for the cement to settle before it can be used safely. This means even if it had been installed today, I would not have been able to use it until Wednesday, and no other arrangements had been made.
With the Easter and ANZAC day extra long public holidays coming up, this whole 'order but not yet delivered' situation is very concerning as, if the toilet isn't installed by Thursday, it would mean I'd have to wait until Thursday the 27th to have a functioning, usable toilet. That would be eleven days without a toilet, when there was nothing wrong with the existing one and I wasn't notified I would have to go a single day without one. The plumber agrees with me when I say they can’t reinstall the previous toilet bowl to make do with in the mean time, as it is currently sitting on the communal balcony, broken into two pieces. The plumber confirmed he understood, apologised for taking out the existing toilet as he assumed I’d known that I wouldn’t have one for several days, and didn’t known I was still planning on occupying the unit. Told the plumber I’m not mad with him, I’m mad with Jian as he hasn’t taken my tenancy into consideration, has broken the Lease Agreement, leaving me with an unlivable flat. Told Jian that I’d been very generous today by not just calling the police or Workcover when they showed up, and by staying home to give them access, and this was an unacceptable way to treat a paying tenant.
When I asked what I was to use in the mean time, the plumber (as the owner wasn't talking to me directly, instead directly the plumber to explain to me) told me to use the "communal toilet" in what must have previously been unit six or a grounds keepers unit. I protested that this unit is locked at all times, and therefore cannot be considered communal, and I refused to use it based off the unsafe and unhygienic nature of this unit. The plumber agreed, saying it wa pretty bad and missing the toilet seat. I've already been forced to use this bathroom twice today, multiple days is out of the question. Regardless, no one had given me the key to this unit, so if I hadn’t made the owner call back the plumber, I wouldn’t have been able to access it anyway.
After objecting, the plumber suggested I use the bathroom in unit one as they weren’t working in there yet, which the owner agreed and gave me the key for.
The plumber has also informed me that they have turned off the supply of gas to my unit until further notice as the pipes under the builder were “a mess”, so not to try to use the oven.
Around 7pm
Finalise and send email to Paul outline what has happened today, that the fortnightly rent payment is due into the account this week, but I will not be making any rental payments until a conclusion has been reached, and will not be making any back payments once it has. I also request a written confirmation that neither the renovations nor any possible damages to the property that have resulted from the renovations are to be claimed against my bond. Include that this is especially insulting after having received the recent $70-a-week rent increase notification, and having gotten no reply from Paul regarding my previous email about having mice in the apartment.
10:30pm
The new piping under the bathroom sink (which had already been replaced when I requested it last year due to it leaking) is leaking significantly, to the point of needing a bucket under the bend. The shower, bathroom sink, and hot water, meanwhile, appear to be working fine at this time. After using the sink three times, the bucket is almost half full.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
7:10am
Plumbers arrive at unit. Called Paul at the real estate and on his mobile, left a voicemail on both advising they were here and for him to come to the unit and speak to them as I was going to work. Told the plumber to ask for the key if needed, as I wasn’t leaving the unit unlocked all day and I wasn’t able to miss another day at work. Also advised him that the new pipes were leaking, which the apprentice was told to fix. Plumber didn’t ask for my keys, or give any indication of the toilet being ready today. Went to work.
Around 2pm
Spoke to Paul, who I haven’t spoken to directly at this point, after leaving voicemails and trying to contact him multiple times. Said the toilet is ready to be collected at 7am tomorrow, and could have been installed today if I had allowed the workmen access to the unit. Told Paul the plumbers didn’t say the toilet was ready and that I told him and them to use the agents’ key if needed in my messages this morning.
Paul has verbally agreed to not charge rent for four days, I advised I am not paying anything until a resolution has been met. Has also spoken to the plumbers who will fit the toilet, fix the leaking pipes and clean up the bathroom tomorrow. Asked for this in writing.
Around 6:30pm
Got home from work, and there has been a trench dug out of the length of the driveway, blocking the passage to all five units. I only noticed the trench was there due to the light from my iPod (which I was using as a torch to check my letterbox) reflecting off of exposed piping. The light on the verandas was not left on, and Paul had not mentioned this, so had no warning. Trench is about 2-3 foot wide and a foot deep, with dirt piles lining the way. The was a low-lying sting of tape around the area, unreflective and not visible in the dark, so acts more like a trip-wire then a protective barrier.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
7:06am
Plumbers arrive. Speak to plumbers on way out to work, advise I have left the unit unlocked with the key for the screen door in the keyhole and if they could please lock this when they are done. Said no problem, toilet will definitely go in today. Went to work.
11:30am
Called Paul to check in on toilet installation, said he hasn’t heard anything and hasn’t been around to the unit. He said he assumed I would stay for the duration of the fitting, told him I’d never had any intentions of doing this. Told him I will be escalating this to the Tribunal, said this was fine as it was the owner not himself who would be on the line. Asked about the trench, said this was the first he’d heard of it, will follow it up with the owner. The owner has not told Paul of any of these adjustments, so is finding it very difficult to meet my requests. Asked again for a response in writing.
12pm
Paul called, trench is for the piping and the concreters will be in tomorrow, step over it in the mean time. He has spoken to the plumbers who are on their way to pick up the toilet and will install it this afternoon. Advised that I quite often get home after dark and would appreciate a warning on anything that is in planning to happen, as it is a safety risk. Paul will speak to the owner to try and find out what the future plans are for the building and let me know. He is having difficulty with the owner as well.
6pm
Quick trip back to the unit to make sure the property has been locked before I go out to a birthday dinner. The key had been left in the screen door but not locked and the bathroom light left on. Plumber had left a note on the toilet advising not to use until 6pm tomorrow night so the cement can set.
Around 9pm
Spoke to owner as I was entering property – he appeared to be doing painting in unit one, he apologized for the issues with the toilet but the new unit is now installed. I asked if the key would be left in unit one for me to use the bathroom in there are the plumber had said not to use the new toilet until 6pm the next day for the cement to set. He said yes, this is fine.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
6:30am
Go down to unit one to use bathroom, find the toilet has been removed. No other toilet facilities have been made available to me.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Around 9am
Water to the unit has been shut off and all that is currently available is cold water to the toilet and bathroom sink. Called the agency, the receptionist told me Paul is off sick and gave me Daniela’s mobile number. Spoke to Daniela who advised that because of the long weekend, plumbers will be on triple rates and that if they did get someone to come out to look at the water, the owner would only pay the usual rates and I would have to pay the excess. I asked if this was the case even if the owner was the one who shut off the water, she said I can’t prove that it was the owner. Daniela said she would call the owner and call me back to let me know if they were going to do anything about the water.
10:05am
Advised Daniella that I would be leaving the unit for the rest of the day shortly and to use the agency key if they required access to the unit to fix the water. Daniela asked if I knew if the hot water was gas or electric, said I didn’t know as this has not been my responsibility to know previously.
5pm
Hadn’t heard from Daniela, so arranged to stay with family for the long weekend until the water was back on.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Around 9pm
Water still not on when I returned to the unit.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
6:30am
Water still not on. Delayed leaving the unit in case the plumbers come so I can ask them myself to fix the water. Plumbers don’t arrive before 7:20 when I have to leave; I am unable to shower before going to work.
9am
Left voicemail for Daniela on her mobile about the water.
11:30am
Left second voicemail for Daniela on her mobile about water. Called office, spoke to Daniela, she had tried calling the owners on Saturday but weren’t answering. Finally got through to someone who said the owners were away, but they would organized for someone to go out over the weekend. Told her there’s been no change so this hasn’t happened and the plumbers didn’t turn up today, Daniela will chase this up now.
11:39am
Daniela has spoken to the owner who will call the plumber to come out hopefully today. Daniela called back around half an hour later to confirm the plumber is coming out and that it is okay to use the agency key. Said this is fine as long as it is fixed.
12pm
Registered complain with CTTT.
Around 6pm
Hot water is back in apartment when I get home.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Around 8pm
A note from the company Jemena has been left in my letterbox stating they have changed the gas meters over in the building and to check any gas appliances are now working.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Around 10-11am
Following the steps outlined on the note from Jemena, I checked the gas connections. Gas to the oven was running fine, but the hot water has again been turned off. Called the Jemena hotline on the note and spoke to James, explained that I’d received the note and the oven was fine but my hot water was now off. James said he could send someone out, but needs to know where the hot water system is and for me to be there to give access to the apartment so they can check everything else. Told James I don’t know, as it hasn’t been my responsibility to know, but that it is not inside the apartment. James said he can’t send someone out if they don’t know where they’re going, and to contact the agency.
Hung up with James and called the agency office line, no answer, so left a voicemail explaining the hot water was off again for Paul/Daniela to follow up on Monday.
Around 2pm
Emptied letterbox for unit one as it was overflowing with junk mail. Note from Jemena indicated that there was a leak in the gas and to follow it up with your own plumber. Sticky taped the note to unit one’s door so the owner would find it.
Monday, May 2, 2011
2pm
Called the agency's office to speak to Daniela or Paul as hadn’t heard from them yet. Receptionist said she had passed on the voicemail message to Daniela, but she wasn’t in the office and to try her mobile. Called Daniela, she said they’d fixed that last week, hadn’t they? Explained that the water had been fixed up on Wednesday, thank you for that, but the gas meter had been changed by Jemena on Friday and now it was off again. Daniela said the plumber had already been out to the property over the weekend to fix it. Told her if they had been, I wasn’t informed and my hot water was not running, but they might have been out to see unit one because I stuck the Jemena note to the door. Daniela to call the owner.
Daniela called back shortly after to confirm they’re sorting it out and will try to have it back on today.
4:30pm
Daniela called, her colleague Adrian was at the apartment waiting for the plumber but needs to leave, and wanted to confirm if it was okay for the owner to wait in the apartment alone. I told her I really would prefer he didn’t as I don’t trust him in my apartment by himself as I didn’t want to run the risk of him deciding to start renovating while he was in there. Daniela didn’t understand what I meant; I asked if Paul had told her the troubles I’d been having with the owner up until this point, which he had not. Informed her of the previous issues, she said she understands and that she will make sure Adrian explains to the owner fully that he is not able to make any changes or touch anything, and to only let the plumber in the apartment in order to assess the water has been re-established.
Around 8:30pm
Get home after Tafe, water back on.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
4:30pm
Call CTTT to check on progress of Order, spoke to Sean. Said the order has been processed and the Hearing set for May 25, at 9:15am. Notices were sent out today.
Around 5:15pm
Submit tenancy termination notice to Paul and Daniela by email. Explain the dates of which the rent has and has not been paid, and when I will be leaving the unit by. Notified that the CTTT notice will be with them shortly and the date and time set.
Around 6pm
Daniela replies saying the conditions of my contract in my email are incorrect, (to which I apologies – I’d looked at the wrong section and agreed with her in my response the next morning). She said she hadn’t received the Tribunal notice yet, which I explained she should receive by the end of the week, addressed to the owner.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Around 4pm
Daniela calls, they have received the Tribunal notice but it doesn’t state what it is I want and would like to offer a negotiation outside of the court, such as not paying rent for the two weeks the renovations were going on as outlined in my tenancy termination note. I told her I’d already offered negotiating with Paul and he’d told me to do whatever I wanted, so that’s why I’d gone to the Tribunal. Paul had told me the equivalent of “get stuffed”. Daniela laughed, I said I didn’t think it was a laughing matter, Daniela explained she wasn’t laughing at that but that Paul was sitting across from her. This leads me to believe she might have had me on speakerphone without telling me, and that Paul was reacting to me.
I told Daniela that I would be happy to sit down with the owner at some point before the Hearing to negotiate if she wanted to set a time, but that I was at work, on deadline right now so didn’t have the time to pay it the necessary thought. She said having a meeting isn’t needed as she’d have to approach the owner with my conditions anyway, to which I said I’d want it all done at once with us all in the same room so things aren’t misunderstood. Told her I would think over the situation and call her back.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
7:23am
I am woken up by the sounds of six men yelling to one another and a diesel cherry picker outside my unit, where they are rendering the walls with cement. This includes every 5-10 minutes, revving the picker’s engine in order to move the riser to the needed level.
Around 8am
Left voicemail on Daniela’s mobile about the renderers, and to add this to the list of reasons we’re going to Tribunal. She doesn’t call me back.
After having showered and dressed, I take a basket of laundry downstairs, where I have been barricaded in by the garbage bins lining the wall. Ask the renderers to move everything out of the way, which they do. I ask them what they are doing here anyways, an older man said “We are fixing” and waved his hand at the wall. Due to English skills, wasn’t able to explain it further.
Take washing out to the laundry at the rear of the property, where a large pile of debris has accumulated and the sand for the cement mixer has knocked over one of the two only clothes lines provided for the tenants.
When I return to my unit, the renderers ask if they can use the space outside my balcony to throw garbage. I say not if it is going to block my access to and from my unit, as there are already paint buckets, bags of cement, tools and an oven on the balcony from the work happening in unit three. Meanwhile a man has turned up to work on the inside of unit three, which includes using a drill to mix what I assume is paint or plaster.
I now have seven unknown men with access to my balcony, a drill and a diesel cherry picker all working before 9am in the morning on a weekend. I don’t see the owner before I leave around 10:30-11am.
Around 6pm
Return to the unit where the renderers are finishing up clearing out bags of cement and other debris from the communal space outside units one and two.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
8:30am
Renderers haven’t returned.
Around 4pm
I am taken home from Mothers’ Day lunch by my older brother to find the owner’s car in the driveway, blocking the entire access to the unit. My brother is a builder and wants to talk to him about what has been going on at the unit as he doesn’t believe he’s going through the proper channels to get his work done, especially having workmen on a residential site on a weekend. I tell him he is from overseas and doesn’t speak very good English so don’t expect to get too much information out of him because he appears to not understand the rules in Australia.
My brother asks if he has gotten council approval for the work on the unit, which the owner says he doesn’t have to obtain as it is only on the outside of the building. My brother and I both explain that regardless of if the work is inside or outside a building, it needs to be approved by the council before it goes ahead and if it is done without approval he can be shut down and fined. The owner said approval doesn’t matter as he only changed the toilet in my apartment and if I don’t like it he can change it back but that he doesn’t need council approval. Tried to explain that it is not just regarding the toilet, that any work needs to be approved.
When asked if he thought it was appropriate to disrupt the residential neighbourhood with workmen and a cherry picker on a site without warning when the property is occupied by a young, single woman at an hour when most people would be in bed, the owner said he had told Paul beforehand. I explained that Paul appears to be no longer taking my calls, is no longer talking to me or acting out my requests, such as finding out what the owner had planned so I can be prepared, and that I’ve been dealing with Daniela. The owner said he had told Paul a month ago that the rendering was going to happen, which I agreed that regardless there should have been notifications issued.
The owner seemed to be stuck on the toilet situation and didn’t understand, or care, how the work on the rest of the building was impacting on my residing there. I said that my main concern was that I come home everyday not knowing what I return to as I haven’t received any warnings from himself or the agency, or any replies in writing from Paul or Daniela, other than regarding my leaving the property.
The owner didn’t fully understand what we were saying so we ended the conversation, my brother left and the owner moved his car for me to access the property. I spoke to the owner myself and he confirmed that in one week all the work on the property would be over with.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Moved out of unit.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
7:30pm
Return to unit to check clean up quality of unit and to gather mail. Find the mail boxes have been changed and the new boxes are locked. Check in with Mother who had been at the unit on Monday, says the boxes were the same and that she remembers it as she was going to check the box for me but didn’t have the padlock key.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Around 9am
Leave voicemail for Daniela. Speak to Paul to arrange a time to conduct the final inspection. Ask about the mail boxes and what is happening with the mail that would have been in the boxes before it changed. Paul says he wasn’t aware of the letterboxes being changed and will let me know. Daniela will call me to set up inspection time.
Spoke to Daniela later and set up final inspection time for 9am Monday.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Around 8:30am
Receive text message from Daniela asking to post-pone inspection to 9:30. Text back saying it is fine and to please follow up with Paul about the mail and to bring it if able.
Around 9:40am
Final inspection of the unit conducted by Daniela. Daniela says the unit meets all requirements and can’t see any problems, but needs someone else to check it firsts. Asks if I would sign the Bond return form and they’ll fill in the dollar amount later, which I decline. Ask again about the mail, Daniela still doesn’t have a key for the new boxes but says will follow it up and call when I can collect it. Discuss Tribunal conditions, advise her of what I’m looking for in compensation.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
No further contact has been made from real estate agent or myself.
I have not been contacted about Bond return.
I have not been contacted about mail being returned.
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