A Sydney renter needed to threaten to take their landlord to court after copping a $628 demand over a tiny, barely visible blemish on the ground.
Their landlord reportedly claimed they would want to exchange all the ground boards due to the damage incurred.
Because of this, the tenant received a requirement for a $628 USD payment.
The renter labelled this as “ridiculous” and advised the owner that they might be taking the matter to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).
Taking to Reddit, the unnamed renter implored those on the social network “Just need to ask if it sounds ridiculous to you that my landlord desires to charge $628 USD for a minimal scratch on a panel of a timber floor?”
Social media users thought it was a rort.
“Yeah it seems like the owner is attempting to get them to pay for brand spanking new floors,” one person wrote.
“If it’s careless damage the tenant may very well be up for paying … but $1k [$628 USD] seems excessive if it’s not a big scratch,” one other added.
After warning the owner of their plans to go to court, the poster said they and their partner eventually reached an agreement to pay $314 USD to the owner and to drop their NCAT case.
Even that was considered steep for the small scratch.
“I hope she spends that $500 [$314 USD] well because if I wasn’t with my partner, I might’ve gone to court,” the tenant added.
It comes as other renters have taken to social media to vent concerning the ways during which their landlords have tried to squeeze them for each penny that they had.
Another bizarre demands included $62 USD for a tea towel left in the cabinet after a renter moved out and $10 USD for “leaving a teaspoon within the dishwasher”.
The latter renter claimed they were charged this despite there being rubbish within the garage and cockroaches throughout the kitchen once they first moved into the property.
There have been multiple individuals who claimed they were told it might cost anywhere between $63 USD and $189 USD to alter a light-weight bulb.
One other also experienced issues around light bulbs, being charged a “rubbish removal” fee for spare bulbs left in the cabinet once they moved out, despite them being there once they moved in and documented within the condition report.
A number of the more shocking examples include one real estate allegedly attempting to take a tenant’s whole $1,800 USD bond over a 6mm mark on “42-year-old carpets”.
