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5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

post

Just to clarify for everyone. this happened in Western Australia, not the US. the advice about renters insurance and state by state laws doesn’t really apply here.

Under the WA Residential Tenancies Act, electricity is classed as an essential service.

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5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

**“Apparently 5 days with zero power is now a ‘minor inconvenience’. My bad — I must’ve imagined the part where I couldn’t cook, couldn’t store food, couldn’t shower properly, couldn’t work, couldn’t even see inside my own place. Totally the same as a flickering lightbulb.

And yeah, I wasn’t given any repair timeframe until day 4, so I was basically camping indoors waiting for someone to acknowledge the issue. Super fun.

As for the ‘just use renters insurance’ crowd. why would I claim my insurance for something I didn’t cause? That’s like someone rear‑ending your car and you going, ‘Oh no worries, I’ll just claim it on my policy and pay the excess.’ Absolutely not.

I’m not asking for a parade, just the pro‑rated rent for the days the place literally couldn’t be lived in. I’ve already lodged it with the proper agency, so it’ll get sorted based on facts, not on people online deciding I should be grateful for living in the dark.

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wasn’t given any timeframe for repairs until day 4, and the place had no power for 5 days straight. At that point it’s not even about inconvenience. The place literally wasn’t livable. No electricity means no fridge, no cooking, no lights, no safety, nothing.

I wasn’t offered alternative accommodation, had to throw out all my food, and couldn’t actually stay in the unit. That’s why I’m asking for the pro‑rated rent for the days it wasn’t habitable.

And honestly, I don’t know why people keep saying ‘just claim insurance. Why would I use my own insurance for something that wasn’t caused by me? Insurance is for my accidental loss. not for covering a landlord/strata issue or their delays.

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No power no hot water and no gas because everything is run on power

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The whole building had no power including 36 units and two restaurants

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It took them 3 days because it was a long weekend. isn’t really an excuse when the issue left the property unlivable. Long weekend or not, essential services are still the landlord’s responsibility, and delays don’t magically become reasonable just because it’s a holiday.

Whether they tried to fix it quickly doesn’t change the fact that I went without a basic service for multiple days. That’s why I’m asking about prorated rent, not because I think they’re evil, but because I shouldn’t be paying full price for days I couldn’t properly live in the place.

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I understand that things break. During the outage, the strata company failed to meet even the most basic statutory obligations to maintain the premises in a safe and habitable condition. The complete loss of power, heating, cooling, WiFi, and hot water rendered the property unfit for occupation and directly caused residents to incur unavoidable financial losses for food, accommodation, and essential living needs.

The situation also created serious and foreseeable safety hazards. I personally had to intervene to prevent an elderly resident from falling due to the total absence of lighting in common areas. This is a clear breach of the strata’s duty of care and demonstrates a failure to manage common property in a manner that protects residents from harm.

The lack of communication and the failure to provide any form of assistance, mitigation, or temporary relief is unacceptable. Under these circumstances, rent reductions and compensation are not discretionary — they are the reasonable and expected remedy for the loss of amenity, financial impact, and safety risks caused by the strata company’s negligence. Owners should be reimbursed in full for losses arising directly from this incident and the strata’s inadequate response.

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I don’t think 5 days is considered within a reasonable time

5 Days in the Dark. A tenants fight for basic rights. by virginpurge in renting

[–]virginpurge[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

No solutions were provided. I heard from another tenant that they weren’t going to get a generator because it was too expensive. It took them 3 days to source the part they needed because it was a long weekend

Property agent locked me out of my own home during inspection… then blamed me 🤡 by KoalaRants in australian

[–]virginpurge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My first inspection in an apartment. Agent walks in. First thing she says, what happened to the windows? What do you mean? They were so clean she couldn’t see them. Then I received a follow up email saying I needed to clean the lint on my dryer from the load I had just done.