Perth tenant shares outrageous list of demands for routine inspection

A tenant has been left shocked after being given an outrageous list of cleaning demands ahead of a ‘routine’ property inspection.

The Perth renter posted the 20-point schedule to Reddit, which included a threat that ‘failure’ to follow it would result in a warning they are in breach of their lease.

Among the demands outlined were that the garden should be ‘healthy’ with the ‘soil turned’, all cobwebs outside the house needed to be removed and the inside of all cupboards should be cleaned.

The renter posted the fastidious 20-point schedule to social media, which included a threat that ‘failure’ to follow it would result in a warning they are in breach of their lease

Inside the garage any oil stains should be removed, all fans and extractors should be cleaned too.

It also specified fly screens, light switches, eaves, window sills, splashbacks, pool equipment and the entire bathroom should be cleaned. 

‘I was just surprised a little by the list but was really surprised by the threat of a breach notice,’ the tenant said. 

It drew furious and disbelieving responses from not just other tenants but also the landlords who saw the post on reddit.

‘This is not a breachable list. This is a wishlist at best,’ a man who claimed to be a landlord wrote.

Several tenants had their own horror stories about property manager’s demands for inspections.

‘Our most recent checklist stated we had to ‘soak our cutlery’ and ‘wipe down the sauce bottles’. I nearly fell over when I read it.’

‘Next they’ll have tenants dressed in smart casual for inspection days.’ joked another.

An American now living in Australia was shocked by how demanding his property manager was.

‘One of ours stated ‘dirty laundry cleaned and put away’… I was like, the f*** you think you are, my mom?

‘It was such an invasion of our space and lives…I hated them. I come from the USA and they do not ever ever enter your property throughout tenancy. 

The list was so detailed it was extremely similar to cleaning instructions that might be issued when a property is vacated

Among the demands outlined were that the garden should be ‘healthy’ with the ‘soil turned’, all cobwebs outside the house need to be removed and the inside of all cupboards should be cleaned

‘When I first moved here I was mind blown this was a thing.’

One woman pointed out property inspections are supposed to be about reporting damage not cleanliness.

‘Property management agencies have perverted the purpose of rental inspections to the point of ridiculousness, mainly because reporting back to landlords about the cleanliness of their tenants is a way to demonstrate that the landlord is actually getting some sort of service in exchange for their property management fees,’ she wrote.

‘Rental inspections are supposed to be about making sure you’re not damaging the property; i.e. no holes in the walls, mould in the bathroom, chips in the paint. That sort of thing,’ she continued. 

‘Cleanliness doesn’t really factor into it unless you’ve let the place get filthy to the point that there’s an insect/rodent infestation or something like that.’