A tenant has taken legal action against his landlord after he was evicted when he asked for a discount because his flat’s two balconies were deemed unusable.
Pius Binder revealed he and his housemates had asked for a rent reduction on their apartment in North Bondi, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
Their request came after the balcony fell off the wall of their apartment block in October and was deemed unusable along with the second.
Mr. Binder asked for a 40 percent cut in his rent, which amounted to $364 per week, but received a reduction of only $50 per week.
Just days later, he and two other tenants received notices to immediately terminate their lease under the “frustration” clause of the Residential Tenancies Act.
Pius Binder says his landlord slapped him and two other tenants with a “retaliatory eviction” after he asked for a 40 percent rent reduction over his apartment’s broken balconies.
The frustrated businessman has since taken the matter to the New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Binder claimed in court papers that he had only requested a rent reduction after the incident on the balcony last year.
“There were two people there the night before and they could have been injured,” he states in the documents.
“Fortunately nothing happened.”
The balcony and another of the building were unusable at Christmas.
As a result, tenants in the same apartment block were also unable to use their balconies.
Mr. Binder was one of several tenants who asked their landlord for a rent reduction under the law.
He claimed in documents that his landlord sent an eviction notice to him and two other tenants within days of making the request.
The termination notice said that because the balconies had been deemed unsafe, the North Bondi property was “partly uninhabitable”.
Mr. Binder and the other tenant who invoked their legal right to a rent reduction claimed they were subject to a retaliatory eviction.
Tenants Union chief executive Leo Patterson Ross said the owners were able to use the safety risk to argue their property was uninhabitable.
Businessman Pius Binder claims he was evicted from his North Bondi unit after invoking his legal right to a rent reduction for two broken balconies (block of units pictured)
However, this argument is void if the safety risk is caused by a breach of contract by either party, which includes adequate repairs to the property.
Mr Binder’s case will be heard at the NCAT later this month.
You will need to show that your landlord was motivated, at least in part, to issue the termination notice after you requested a rent reduction.
The action is being defended by the other party.
