Horror Moving Tales from the Crypt Part III

Yup, unfortunately the saga did not end there.  I wish it did, but it doesn't.  Don't get me wrong, I love our new apartment with the beautiful city night lights, and especially after replacing the blinds and the damaged carpet, and it already feels like home, but we have barely moved in nine days, when another calamity strikes. (And this is not even counting finding a stuck bathroom door handle, and the parts of one of the doors that the tradesman apparently "fixed" suddenly falling out on its own one day!!!)


Back to the topic.  My mother was in the kitchen cooking.  She had a big pot of oil on the stove when range hood (grate) above the stove suddenly comes crashing down unprovoked, right onto her pot oil oil, splashing the oil all over her FACE and body, and all over the kitchen floor.  It was only VERY lucky that the oil was only just starting to heat, not boiling and that she was not burnt at all.  (Note that we did NOT touch the range hood at all since moving in and we only cooked in the kitchen once or twice)


We turn the fallen range hood around, wondering if the clips had come loose or something, instead it looks like both sides have been broken and one side looks suspiciously like someone did a shoddy job of trying to glue it back.


There was no point in calling the real estate agent, cos I know what he would say "the property is no longer a rental property so I can give you the contacts if you want and you have to deal with it yourselves."  So we call the maintenance guy ourselves and he comes and says yes, the range hood is broken, definitely by rough handling.


So of course, we have to wait till he finds us a replacement part, and of course, we're paying for it all ourselves once again.


This is a health hazard - someone could have been seriously injured.  Who knows if the range hood had been previously broken and someone tried to fix it themselves or what, but it is very, very dodgy.  And seems fishy to me that it comes crashing just a week after we moved in.  I mean, how did a broken range hood miraculously fix itself and reattach itself is what I'm wondering.  If that oil had been boiling hot, if anyone in my family had suffered burns because of it, trust me, the agency would have heard from me. 


Early Misgivings


I already had my misgivings about the company right after we settled end of August.  I get an email from the real estate rental agent, saying earlier in the month the tenants reported the washing machine was not working and he had arranged for it to be fixed.  It was going to cost over $260 and he would be deducting this from my incoming rent.  


WTF?  I ask when EXACTLY the tenants reported the faulty washing machine and why I'm paying for it from my incoming rent when the report was made prior to my settlement?  He replies the maintenance was reported prior to my settlement date and as I'm the new owner, I'm liable for the cost of all repairs.


Bullshit.  That doesn't sound right to me, so I called my lawyer the next day and ran it by him.  (Stan from Nuri & Kiratzis, recommended to me by the Commonwealthbank loans officer - he does a great job, happy to explain everything in detail and happy to be contacted and ensure everything is A-ok even after we settled and paid him :D) 


Anyway yes, Stan confirmed that legally we were not liable for the cost.  Explanation: The damage occurred between when we signed the contract (July) and settlement (end of Aug). According to the terms of the contract, the vendor carries the risk of the loss or damage to the property until settlement.  I told the Melcorp agent, apparently according to the report, the washing machine was working when we inspected it prior to signing.  Therefore the damage occurred BETWEEN signing of the contract and the actual settlement, which means the vendor did not deliver the property to us in the same condition it was on the day of sale and is therefore liable to the cost of repairs.  I tell him too, sorry if this is a hassle for you (the vendor is overseas) but your company should have notified us of the faulty washing machine prior to settlement since you were already aware of it weeks before, and I would have insisted it be fixed prior or claim compensation from the vendor after settlement as stated under the Conditions of sale (I also gave him a page and index number in case he wanted to read it LOL).  Hmph.  Told him too if he's not happy or if he has any issues with this to kindly contact my lawyer.  :P


He couldn't argue with that.  Don't screw with me.  I'm not stupid enough to pay something blindly like that.  It's disgraceful that he as a real estate agent didn't know who is legally liable to pay for repairs and just slaps me with the costs of repairs just because I'm here, because it's more "convenient" as the vendor is overseas.  And extremely shady that he sat there through the settlement and not one word of this came out.  I'm a landlord, not a real estate agent.  I don't want to tell you how to do your job, but I will if you give me no choice.