Tenants Union says boarders and lodgers are largely unprotected

Three Indonesian backpackers recently spoke to The Area News about the appalling conditions they claim they were met with when they arrived at a Griffith rental.

The workers, who found the accommodation unliveable, say they are still fighting to have their bond returned.

The backpackers, who arrived in Griffith from Sydney to work for 88 days in the agricultural industry to qualify for their holiday visas, believed they had secured quality accommodation from social media.

When Flora Vineza, Rizaldi Adikusumah and Poriyo Poriyo arrived at their rental property, they said they found the place filled with garbage, the toilet door had been replaced by a curtain and there was even livestock wandering around the house.

"The virtual inspection was done by one of the tenants there," Miss Vineza said.

"He took us around the room - there was someone who occupied the room at the time, so it was messy but we understood. We thought it was going to be clean when we arrived, so we agreed.

"We arrived around 9pm, it was freezing. One of the tenants picked us up at the station. We were shocked when we entered the place."

The house had four other occupants - two men, one woman and one child, and the three had a single room to share.

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The trio, who had been told there would be three beds, said they were met with a single, unconstructed bunk bed and two dirty mattresses.

"It was disgusting for us to sleep, it's not proper to provide that room to a new tenant," Mr Adikusumah said.

"There were stains everywhere, like yellow stains on mattresses," Miss Vineza said.

Shocked at the conditions the group stayed for just one night before leaving in the morning, finding a new place and asking for their money back.

"We only stayed there for eight hours, we left very early in the morning," Miss Vineza said.

After efforts to have their bond money returned were unsuccessful, the backpackers approached Griffith solicitor Piers Blomfield for legal advice.

Mr Blomfield said this was a recurring issue across Griffith.

"To charge $2000 for a grotty room with two beds is just unfair ... how do they lose their bond, they were there for 30 seconds?" Mr Blomfield said.

He said the number of people boarding in single houses was also a point of concern, not just for backpackers, but for Griffith as a whole.

"It just doesn't pass the pub test that you can have nine people in a house with one bathroom."

CEO of the Tenants' Union of NSW Leo Patterson Ross explained that boarders and lodgers received less protections than tenants due to not falling under the 2010 Residential Tenancies Act.

While far from comprehensive, the Act provides renters and tenants with protection against unfair evictions, rental hikes or any surprise visits from the landlord.

Without the Act, there is no legal requirement to pay a bond to a third party, which Mr Ross said made it very difficult to get any bond back during a falling out.

"The situation is significantly less stable than tenants, who are already not stable enough," he said.

"One of the issues in boarding houses generally is that bonds haven't had to be lodged. That means even if there's a valid dispute - if one side already has the money in their hands, it's that bit more difficult to get a fair resolution."

In addition to making it harder to get a bond back or settle a dispute, it can also prevent boarders and lodgers from speaking out or asking for help.

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Mr Ross added that the fragile nature of renting as a lodger put anyone speaking out in a precarious position.

"The issue that people face is that there's very little protection against eviction in response, that puts a real chilling effect on people's willingness to push matters."

He described it as a 'spiralling effect' - in which people feel unsafe to speak up, and problems go unnoticed or unheeded because of it.

Mr Ross said that despite the outlook, there was some good news for temporary tenants in the works, with the previous NSW government putting forth a new 'Shared Accommodation Act.'

"The Boarding Houses Act went under a statutory review two or three years ago - the resolution of that was a recognition that it needs to be strengthened, and that it didn't cover enough people," he said.

"The previous government has been working on a draft bill called the Shared Accommodation Act and that's supposed to cover anywhere people are living together ... I think it recognises that people are using these places as their home for a significant time and it's important to have them be healthy, safe and properly habitable."

The Area News contacted the owner of the property, however they declined to comment.

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