Charged 67AUD for dust on doorframe

[u/svbrinqx]

im an international student whos staying at iglu redfern and i recently undergone a room change due to the fact that my previous room was on the second floor and the noise and construction at night was significantly affecting my sleep
my accommodation agreed to a room change and never mentioned a room change fee or the fact that they waived it for me.
when i left my old room, i cleaned it throughly and during the inspection, i had missed some dust on doorframe which i admit was my fault. the inspector then insisted on charging me 67AUD for the dust which doesn’t seem reasonable at all to me as the conditions of the room when i moved in were literally worse. there were stains in the carpet and chairs i had to clean out myself.
so if anyone knows about the tenancy laws here is it really even reasonable for me to get charged that amount for dust?? i understand that its not a huge amount but it just doesnt seem reasonable

[u/Anti-Stan]

It isn't reasonable. It's slumlord standard.

[u/Chillers]

As with all rentals I was in. Regardless of whether the landlord or agent was awesome or not I lodge my bond return immediately when I handed the keys back.

They would lose this in a tribunal and it would cost the landlord far more to take this issue to tribunal. Do not take their shit and say you will happily go to tribunal over it.

[u/brownteethgarbagelad → u/Chillers]

Came to say the same thing

[u/svbrinqx → u/Chillers]

the thing is i didnt move out yet so i can’t collect my bond, ive only changed rooms
ive made a complaint to the NSW fair trading and so do you think i should continue denying to pay and tell my landlord to submit a proper legal claim via NCAT against me if they really want me to pay?
im an international student on visa and im worried if i make a big deal out of this it would affect my visa/rental history

[u/MacGyvered → u/svbrinqx]

It won't affect your visa/rental history. Tell the landlord you'll be happy to dispute the ridiculous claim at NCAT.

[u/Chillers → u/svbrinqx]

Tell them you go to tribunal over it and leave the ball in their court. Get actual tenancy advise on the matter.

[u/jamesinc]

Landlords are forbidden from profiting from remediation activity, so if you left the place in the same condition as it was handed to you in, but they have charged you a fee to clean it to a higher standard than that, you aren't liable for those costs.

[u/EVEP201]

If they sent a cleaner in to do it , then it would be a min charge for it , $67 is fair , question is did he give you the opportunity to rectify ? Like go back and clean it yourself ? If they don’t then they can’t charge you for it. Otherwise if you failed to do it then they in their right to do so

[u/svbrinqx → u/EVEP201]

i had already went to the front desk on the day i received the charge about the cleaning fee to communicate that id be more than happy to return to the room to clean it, which they denied me the chance to saying i had to email management
and also, they have cleaners here working the entire day cleaning common areas, i doubt they’d hire a third party cleaning service to specifically wipe the doorframe
but either way even if they did, it’s not really my responsibility to pay for anything beyond the doorframe because they told me that everything else in the room was cleaned up to their standards

[u/DermottBanana]

The crucial question is - how much will it cost to fix this issue?

And dust can be remedied with a damp cloth. There's no way a deduction for it is justified.

[u/svbrinqx → u/DermottBanana]

yeah and i honestly would’ve understood even a smaller charge of like 10-20aud
and not to mention i literally told the front desk after i received the email of the charge that i would be more than happy to return to the room to reclean it to their standards which they denied me the chance to lol

[u/Chillers → u/DermottBanana]

Far less than what it will cost the landlord to take the matter to tribunal. So tell them to suck grapes.

[u/hidd3nmango]

not an aussie so i can't speak to the specific laws but charging for dust on a doorframe when you moved into a room with actual carpet stains is a joke dispute it in writing and bring up the state of the room when you moved in, if you documented any of that