Adelaide property manager catches out tenant’s sneaky lie during routine inspection

A property manager has revealed the moment she discovered a tenant secretly keeping a cat in a rental property – and issued a warning that every renter needs to read.

Skye Taylor from Taylored Property Management in Adelaide made the discovery during a routine inspection earlier this month, after taking over the property from another agent.

During the check, she immediately knew the tenant was keeping a cat as the unmistakable smell of cat urine filled the air. 

‘It was so disappointing to see that the apartment smelled like cat urine. And when I questioned the tenant, I asked are you keeping a cat here?

The tenant denied knowing anything about a cat being in the home. 

When Ms Taylor pressed further, the tenant claimed that a friend had brought a cat to the property. 

Ms Taylor, not backing down, replied bluntly: ‘Babes. I can smell it.

She added that the tenant was clearly aware of their wrongdoing for keeping the cat in the home.

‘They know they did the wrong thing but it was just so blatantly obvious that I can only assume they thought I was as rubbish as the old agent and wouldn’t notice or call them out on it. ‘

She said that it was ‘extremely disappointing’ the tenant chose to conceal the fact that she had a pet, especially given the new legislation in South Australia that allows tenants to keep anima;s.

‘I said to her you are entitled to apply for permission to keep a pet.

‘But keeping a pet in the property unapproved is a reason for a breach notice,’ she said.

Ms Taylor said she now has to have a ‘chat with the landlord’ and check if they would like to proceed with the notice.

‘This is extremely disappointing when people hide it,’ she said. 

‘You might not be able to smell it because you’re living with it.

‘But I walk in and I can smell it.

‘As for the tenants, they know they did the wrong thing.’

She offered a firm warning to tenants trying to pull the wool over their landlord’s eyes. 

‘Tenants, please don’t think your property manager is stupid,’ she said.

Many Aussies agreed that cat urine is ‘impossible to get rid of, especially if it has seeped into carpets (pictured file photo of a cat and litter box)

Australians were split on the issue, with some arguing that the tenant was at fault for not disclosing that her cat was living in the property. 

‘It’s not that they have a cat, it’s that they tried to deceive you. Nothing annoys me more!’ one wrote.

‘Cat pee, or any animal pee, in a house is unmistakeable. Cat pee is the worst because it crystallises under the carpet,’ one said.

However, others said the woman had no choice but to lie about having a cat, as she likely wouldn’t have been approved to rent the property if she had disclosed it. 

‘Maybe people hide it because there’s a rental crisis and property managers like yourself will just approve people without pet,’ one wrote.

‘Babes, have you ever stopped to consider that maybe renters are anxious and terrified of being kicked out of their homes?’ another added.

Tenancy laws that allow pets in properties differ in each Australian state and territory.

Many Aussies believed the tenant would have been scared at losing her home and the estate agent should have been more compassionate (pictured file photo of a cat and litter box)

In South Australia  tenants can no longer have their request to keep a pet in a property refused ‘unless the refusal is based on a ground listed in the Residential Tenancies Act 1995’.

But it also notes it is grounds for a termination if a tenant has a non-approved pet on the premises. 

In NSW, pets are allowed but permission solely rests with the landlord, but if approved property owners are not permitted to charge a higher bond.

In Queensland, recent changes to laws mean property owners can only refuse a tenant’s request to keep a pet if there are ‘identified reasonable grounds’, such as by-laws, according to rentbetter.

But in Western Australia landlords can ask for a pet bond but it must not exceed $260 and property owners there aren’t required to provide grounds for the refusal of pets.