Read the outrageous email a real estate agent accidentally sent a tenant instead of landlord – and the ridiculous reason they wanted to nearly DOUBLE the rent
- Tenant accidentally received email from estate agent
- The email was intended for the landlord of the flat
- Stunned tenant has now shared the email on socials
Aussies were left stunned after a tenant shared an email that their estate agent mistakenly sent to them instead of the landlord.
The anonymous renter, based in Victoria, posted the email on Facebook.
The message showed the real estate agent encouraging the landlord, named Tony, to raise their rent from $500 a week to $950.
Tony was told the tenant was ‘high maintenance’ because they kept sending requests to the real estate agent for faults to be repaired at the property.
The email claimed the renter had contacted the real estate agent ‘every day for two weeks’ because their air con wasn’t working.
The anonymous renter, based in Victoria, posted the email on Facebook and it showed the estate agent encouraging the landlord to raise their rent from $500 a week to $950
On one occasion, the renter supposedly contacted the estate agent ‘every day for two weeks’ because their air con wasn’t working
‘You’ll recall the discussions I had with you earlier in the year about the ‘high maintenance’ nature of this particular tenant,’ the real estate agent wrote.
‘Out of all the properties I manage he has the most maintenance requests and occupies of the most of my (and therefore your) time. On one occasion (the aircon) he called every day for two weeks. The receptions are sick of him.’
‘In order to play this smooth you should offer to renew the lease but with an exorbitant increase.
No details have been shared about the estate agent or tenant – but the post attracted shock and anger online
‘I don’t think we’d get this much if we relisted, but we’d certainly get a bit of a boost not to mention the peace of mind of having a better tenant.
‘If he agrees to the increase it’s a surprise win’.
The tenant was left fuming as they shared the email on social media.
‘The scam is out in the open. Given that they’ve admitted to a punitive increase because I’ve asked them to repair their broken down flat, can I take them to VCAT??’ they wrote.
VCAT refers to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and the tenant was encouraged to report the estate agent.
One user said: ‘Imagine needing s*** fixed at a property you rent and have someone call you high maintenance! That’s disgusting!’
Another asked: ‘I’ve never got why tenants requesting repairs is a bad thing? You want to know about things early to prevent them getting bad and costing more.’
A third said: ‘You have them by the balls… go for gold.’
Another added: ‘I can guarantee that this wouldn’t be the first time a RE has done something like this.’
The email is the latest example of the cost-of-living crisis gripping the country as tenants contend with rent increases.
The estate agent appears to encourage Tony to nearly double the rent to price the tenant out of the property
Rents have been spiking all over Australia as low housing supply and flow-on effects from 11 consecutive mortgage rate rises combine with borders re-opening and waves of foreign workers and students returning.
Between March 2022 and March 2023, the median unit rent jumped 24 per cent in Sydney, equivalent to an extra $120-a-week, according to the Domain Rent Report.
Melbourne rose by nearly as much, surging by 23.1 per cent, while Brisbane rents rose by 16.3 per cent.
Adelaide and Perth rents grew by 13.5 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively and Darwin and Hobart grew by about 6 per cent each.
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