Yahoo Finance Mould in a rental property: Is the tenant or landlord responsible?
An Aussie renter says her real estate agent tried to blame her for the mould in her bedroom.
An Aussie renter's battle with a real estate agent over black mould that appeared on her bedroom ceiling has prompted the question: is the tenant or landlord responsible?
The Melbourne woman said the real estate agent initially tried to blame the mould problem on her for failing to ventilate the room correctly during winter.
"After a back and forth, they sent a mould doctor to remove and fog the house after acknowledging we weren't the cause," she said, before adding that the mould had returned less than a year later and was spreading to her furniture.
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Concerned tenants urged the woman - via social media - to vacate the property for her own health, and said the owner was "recklessly negligent" for failing to address the problem.
What landlords must tell you
According to Tenants Victoria, rental properties need to be "free from mould and damp and meet minimum standards for ventilation".
"The rental provider (landlord) must tell you if a property you want to rent has a history of mould and damp," it said. "Before you sign a lease, legally called the rental agreement, the rental provider must tell you certain information about the property to help you make an informed decision about renting it.
"For mould and damp, this includes telling you if the rental provider has received a repair notice for mould or damp related to the building or structure within the last three years."
Mouldy properties not fit to lease
Tenants Victoria says landlords are legally obliged to make sure rooms are free from mould and damp caused by or related to the building structure and meet Building Code of Australia standards.
"If the property does not meet the minimum standards or falls below the minimum standards during your agreement, the rental provider needs to arrange for urgent repairs to bring it up to standard," the Tenants Victoria website states.
"Fixing mould or damp caused by — or related to — the building structure is an urgent repair under rental laws."
The organisation urged renters to take photos and videos of the mould in case repairs were not done or the problem got worse. If the repairs were not done or were not done properly, renters could apply for an order at a tribunal to ensure the rental provider urgently carried out the work.
Key to determining responsibility
According to consumer-advocacy group CHOICE, the person responsible for mould depends on how it developed and, in some cases, a tribunal will decide whether the landlord or tenant needs to fix the problem.
If mould was caused by a leaky roof, faulty pipe, gutters or other structural problems, the landlord was responsible for fixing it and remediating the damages.
When tenants are responsible
However, tenants may be contributing to the problem by failing to regularly air out or clean the house, allowing condensation to build up in the home, or getting the carpet wet.
Hayden Groves, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia, told Yahoo Finance, "It is the landlord's responsibility to ensure a rental home is safe for their tenant, including the health risks associated with persistent mould.
"However, mould is mostly caused due to poor ventilation practices in places like bathrooms and laundries where the occupants of the property have the capacity to manage proper ventilation. Using exhaust fans, opening windows and the like are important practices to mitigate mould growth and this is the tenant's responsibility.
"In circumstances where the tenant is undertaking these positive practices to mitigate mould, and the problem persists, then it could be there is an underlying problem (such as a poorly sealed shower recess) that the landlord will need to address for their tenant."
Fair Trading NSW said if mould developed during the tenancy because the tenant allowed a build-up of moisture by never opening any windows or using ventilation fans, then the onus could be on the renter.
In some cases, mould could be considered pre-existing damage if it developed close to the start of the tenancy but renters should report all incidents of mould to their real estate agent or landlord.
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