Tenancy Tribunal, Debt Repayment Garnish 80% income?? Need help ASAP please!!

[CaseyorMarshall]

Hi all,

I have just been evicted from a house the real estate claim from cleaning & hygiene issues. We were given 2 weeks to vacate premises. Only managed to secure another house 4 days before the eviction date, didnt have enough time to clean anything & real estate would not give me a further extension. Today I had a meeting with the real estate & they said I have 2 options rectify issue by cleaning (have given me 2 days to do so) then it would be reassessed on Monday or it goes to Tenancy Tribunal, I will be black listed also my income will be garnished 80% to cover the costs for repairs/cleaning that exceeds my bond. I am leaning more towards letting them take the matter to the tribunal, as the attitude I have been getting it seems like no matter how much I go in & clean they are going to nitpick & they are going to send cleaners in, arrange for trash removal & carpet cleaning so its a waste of time & money even bothering with it.
Question is can they really garnish 80% of my income?
Would they garnish 80% from both my husbands & I income or 40/40?
Surely this amount is excessive, we wouldnt be able to afford to live

[Niknak0013]

I hate real estates! I can't answer your question, but just wanted to put my 2 cents in. That's ridiculous! How can they justify how much they can take from you weekly?! What is wrong with people! My friend rented while building & their real estate whinged about a crumb in the cutlery drawer, a scratch on the toilet seat (which working at a bathroom shop she replaced it, no one wants to sit on a strangers toilet seat! Lol) they nitpick so bad it should be illegal! I'm so glad we are private renting off a friend. Hope someone can answer your question! Have you tried speaking to fair trading? Or their website?

[ES2010]

Were you on a periodic lease or Were you given a notice to remedy breach before the eviction notice??

[Elijahs Mum]

Firstly how bad was the house left if they think your bond ( 4 weeks rent )wouldn't cover it? That seems like a lot? What damage is done and what do you mean they evicted you for hygiene reasons?
They can get an order to garnishee your wages only if the tribunal finds you liable for the cleaning and repairs, again it must be a lot of money to warrant this as the legal costs alone would be quite expensive, in my 20 years in real estate ( and no we are not all bad!) we have only once had to get a garnishee order when the tenant actually trashed the house, was 8 weeks in arrears which in total was about $13,000 ( that was before landlord insurance was in place)
They can put you on a bad tenant database but you can be taken off once the debt is paid

[veggiemama]

Not sure which state you are in but in vic I know there's a residential tennants union and they have a service with free legal advice. Maybe see if there is something similar you can access where you are. All the best.

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[2Bboys]

I think they've missed quite a few steps in the process of obtaining a garnishee order. I'd be taking it to tribunal for mediation.

[fairyflossfairy]

I feel for you we had a realtor like this, YET her house was not clean or immaculate. I happened to drive past her dump(messy house/yard) but she was a total bish. WE left house clean yet she still claimed we wrecked it. I think sometimes they power trip. I hope you get it sorted. The house when we moved in still had poo/blood on loo at back and septic system never treated and we ended up with BOTH loos backing up into house then they said WE trashed house and made it smell

[Plan2bamummy]

Can you do both? If your going to the tribunal anyway maybe try and clean a bit. That will a) show the tribunal that they were unfair and b) may reduce cleaning costs for you if it goes that way as you have done some of the work = less time cleaners will need to be in there

[HarvestMoon]

I was in a somewhat similar situation a few years ago. We were living in a house the owner offered for us to sign another lease. He waited til 2 weeks before our current lease was up, got us to go around to sign the new one, he up'ed the rent $80 a week. When we said that was excessive and we couldn't afford it we were given our 2 weeks notice to get out.
It was bloody difficult. We didn't get another place in time so we had to put everything into storage and stay with in-laws and motels until we finally got something.
I made sure i lodged the bond return forms as i knew there would more than likely be trouble from the owner. Because i lodged the form, the owner had to take us to court at his expense.
When we went to court he made up a whole booklet of 'evidence'. He tried to claim just about everything. The judge saw through it all and he never got all our bond plus some like he wanted.
So in your situation i would take the opportunity to go around and clean. You can get a lot done in 2 days. I would take photos of all the rooms that you have cleaned. Maybe even up close ones to prove there is no dust in window rails (whatever the are called), on fans, etc.. Then just see it out in court. You have to do your part to prove that you are being reasonable. Even if you don't want to do it, get professionals in. You can probably get cheaper ones then the real estate and you will have receipts to show in court.

As someone else suggested getting in touch with your local tenancy advocacy service might be a good idea.