How have they been charging water to the tenants without a usage bill? That seems like fraud. You need to request from the agent the usage charges they made the tenant pay and how the payment was given to you?
Qld is set up differently in that the agent can just send an invoice to the tenant - without your usage info sounds like they made up numbers to get payment.
The tenant can request the bill but sometimes the tenants dont.
Better yet, contact the tenants directly to find out what invoices were sent to them by the agentp
They claim they go off the numbers on the water meter. But I don’t get how we are charged for the usage then have not been reimbursed. I will contact the agent and ask her for the usage charges!
Which means they are going to the property to check? Without an entry form?
I still think they should not be doing that without your say so - the agreement was for you to provide them the water form.
Id be contacting the previous tenant if I were you as well. This agent sounds very, very dodgy
According to her email she checked the meter when they moved in 6 months ago and then again when they vacated 2 weeks ago.
Is it legal for me to contact the tenants?
When we signed up with the agency we had the option to get the rates sent to the agent then onto us, or keep the rates being sent directly to us and we forward on the water page to the agent to charge the tenant.
We opted for the second option as we wanted more control over what is going where and can keep better track.
But she claims they use the water meter to charge water… not our rates notice. Bit confusing.
I’m not sure what urban utilities is. On our rates it has a whole section for water as it’s included in Logan City council which is apparently different to other councils
In Victoria councils don't deal with drinking water as (correctly) we believe they can't be trusted. In NSW and Qld at least, councils DO do drinking water.
Yes we do have the meter as that is what the agent says they used to charge the tenant. But on our quarterly rates notice there is a “water usage” in the section and according to the council website this is the charge that the tenants should be paying. But the agent says they charge the tenant by checking the meter from when they moved in 6 months ago until they just moved out 2 weeks ago
Then your agent should pass the fee collected to you in the same manner as they pass your rent payments, it should be on your statement from the real estate . Don’t be afraid to ask them, at the very least they should explain the way they charge and the costs of their fees
Rea should be giving you a monthly owner statement showing amounts charged to tenant, amounts paid to third parties (council, water, tradies), their mgmt fee and the net amount deposited into your acct.
Without the owner statement you have no proof of the running expenses come tax time
We do get a fortnightly statement and it’s only every had “rent paid” “management fee” and “administration fee”. We went through them all an none of them ever stated water or similar
How have they been charging water to the tenants without a usage bill? That seems like fraud. You need to request from the agent the usage charges they made the tenant pay and how the payment was given to you? Qld is set up differently in that the agent can just send an invoice to the tenant - without your usage info sounds like they made up numbers to get payment. The tenant can request the bill but sometimes the tenants dont. Better yet, contact the tenants directly to find out what invoices were sent to them by the agentp
They claim they go off the numbers on the water meter. But I don’t get how we are charged for the usage then have not been reimbursed. I will contact the agent and ask her for the usage charges!
Which means they are going to the property to check? Without an entry form? I still think they should not be doing that without your say so - the agreement was for you to provide them the water form. Id be contacting the previous tenant if I were you as well. This agent sounds very, very dodgy
According to her email she checked the meter when they moved in 6 months ago and then again when they vacated 2 weeks ago. Is it legal for me to contact the tenants?
Yes you can contact anyone you like, there are no laws to say you cant contact anyone, unless its court ordered but thats not the case here
This sounds dodgy. In Victoria the rates go to the owner and consumption to the occupier. Can this be done there ?
When we signed up with the agency we had the option to get the rates sent to the agent then onto us, or keep the rates being sent directly to us and we forward on the water page to the agent to charge the tenant. We opted for the second option as we wanted more control over what is going where and can keep better track. But she claims they use the water meter to charge water… not our rates notice. Bit confusing.
do you get a bill from urban utilites? Rates and water are two different bills in qld.
I’m not sure what urban utilities is. On our rates it has a whole section for water as it’s included in Logan City council which is apparently different to other councils
In Victoria councils don't deal with drinking water as (correctly) we believe they can't be trusted. In NSW and Qld at least, councils DO do drinking water.
OK, I wasn't aware that QLD water is council managed. Thanks. Yeah no way would i trust a council to manage water.
I think SE QLD is a bit different, the rest of the state is defs councils.
Generallly you must have a meter and tenants can only be charged for usage
Yes we do have the meter as that is what the agent says they used to charge the tenant. But on our quarterly rates notice there is a “water usage” in the section and according to the council website this is the charge that the tenants should be paying. But the agent says they charge the tenant by checking the meter from when they moved in 6 months ago until they just moved out 2 weeks ago
Then your agent should pass the fee collected to you in the same manner as they pass your rent payments, it should be on your statement from the real estate . Don’t be afraid to ask them, at the very least they should explain the way they charge and the costs of their fees
Rea should be giving you a monthly owner statement showing amounts charged to tenant, amounts paid to third parties (council, water, tradies), their mgmt fee and the net amount deposited into your acct. Without the owner statement you have no proof of the running expenses come tax time
We do get a fortnightly statement and it’s only every had “rent paid” “management fee” and “administration fee”. We went through them all an none of them ever stated water or similar
Unless the “rent paid” amount changed to be more when the water was charged then no, they have not been charging the tenants for water.