PHOTO: Sydney comedian Tom Cashman knew he was being cheeky but many agreed he had a point when he asked about a landlord’s references.
When comedian Tom Cashman had his rental application approved for an apartment in Sydney, he decided to run an experiment.
The property wasn’t his top pick, so he put a request to the real estate agent before deciding whether to sign the lease.
“I’ve had pretty bad experiences with landlords generally, mainly around bonds,” he told ABC RN Breakfast.
“I’ve been charged $100 for a ‘pest investigation’. I asked for evidence and got sent a picture of four ants on the kitchen bench.”
With experiences like that in mind, he wrote to the real estate agent asking if the property owner could provide any references from past tenants.
The real estate agent was confused.
Mr Cashman explained this would help him confirm the owner was a good landlord.
The agent wrote back again, politely rebuffing the request, and saying the owner was no longer in contact with past tenants.
“At this stage … I did get a bit cheeky,” Mr Cashman said.
“I was … keen to see how far I could push this.”
So he responded:
“So just to confirm, the owner doesn’t have any previous tenants they could get in touch with to write a positive reference for them?”
This time, the real estate agent was blunt. They said the owner didn’t wish to contact previous tenants, and pointed out there was no requirement to do so.
Mr Cashman also received another email. His application – which had already been approved – had now been withdrawn.
“I found myself in this … unique position where I didn’t really need them. So I pushed back a tiny bit, asked for one thing that they usually ask of us, and they had what I would describe as a bit of a hissy fit,” he said.
As a comedian, he has a sizeable social media following and he decided to share the story with his followers on TikTok and Twitter.
Renters have little power
One of those who saw the video was Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenants’ Union of NSW.
He said renters in Australia face serious competition when they look for a home and they don’t have much power to make demands of landlords.
According to Domain’s latest vacancy rate report, the number of empty properties in most major cities is low, with the national vacancy rate at just 1.5 per cent. The report predicts that tenants will likely face rent increases.
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