They call it “Don’t Rent Me” – a social media group established during the pandemic as a safe space for unloading “horror” rental stories, and swapping advice to tackle dodgy agents and landlords.
In just shy of two-and-a-half years, it has amassed 41,000 members.
Group admin Fallan Ziebel said the original idea was to establish a landlord review system after she and her partner, Anthony Ziebel, had their own terrible rental experience, and no recourse to take action.
“It was nothing compared to some of the horror stories we’ve heard, but Anthony realised back then there was nothing for tenants,” she said.
“There’s plenty of landlord help and blacklists, but nothing for a tenant to rate an agent or address for rent. Landlords have zero accountability for their actions.”
Since the couple created the group, it has evolved into a grassroots community online, with dozens of posts and replies each day – from nightmare stories of snap evictions and mould infestations to advice on cost-efficient air-conditioners.
But it isn’t a free-for-all. There are a number of rules before people can gain access. Landlords and agents are banned, mutual trust is key and using aggressive, abusive or baiting language risks getting blocked.
Poor advice likely to lead to tenant eviction – like not paying rent – is also an instant block.
As the rental crisis drags on, though, the community has become a metaphorical shoulder to cry on amid $200 rent increases and bond withholdings.
Ziebel said despite record low vacancy rates and sharply increasing rents, tenants still lacked a grasp on their rights, which often varied by state and territory.
“The group is now a massive community for tenants to have a safe space to ask questions, voice their concerns and get advice,” she said. “You don’t feel so alone in the fight for fair rights.”
Tenants will often pour their anguish out in a series of posts, updating fellow members on their progress or continued frustrations.
In one, a tenant received an email informing them to vacate or risk police removal after expressing fears they would be homeless with two children when their lease wasn’t renewed.
After paying $1,000 for cleaning and $300 for gardening, they were told their bond would be withheld.
The Tenants’ Union of NSW chief executive, Leo Patterson Ross, said despite Fair Trading NSW requiring landlords to provide their contact details on rental agreements, agents would instead provide their own emails, leaving tenants with no ability to contact the owner of their properties.
“Although the law is there, the routine experience is they’re not given it,” he said. “Landlords aren’t being held to account because it’s up to the tenant to hold them to account, and they’re vulnerable to eviction.”
Patterson Ross said the group was a “really useful, positive thing” as a generalised support group to remind tenants they weren’t alone.
“People have that ability to have conversations about their shared experiences,” he said.
“Knowing it’s not you who’s failed, it’s a systemic problem – you being evicted, you struggling to find a home isn’t a reflection of you as a person, it’s a signal the system is broken.”
But he said the existence of the group was a reminder of the barrier tenants faced to accessing services and receiving reputable advice.
“Services aren’t funded well enough to meet the needs of people seeking advice, and there’s an element of knowing your rights in a fundamentally unfair system not doing you a lot of good,” he said.
“A better fix would be a landlord licensing scheme run by the government, currently there’s no barrier to entry apart from wealth.
“A registration system would enforce standards by a third party, not tenants at risk of eviction. You put it all on to the renter without the tools to navigate it.”
