A Melbourne city renter, posting in r/AusRenters, has described a situation familiar in apartment buildings: water damage that begins in someone else’s home, but that makes their own home difficult to live in. They rented through a well-known real estate agency and say they were not told, before they signed, that the bedroom already had a leak. They later obtained a leak detection report dated one week before move-in, showing the problem was known before they took possession. According to the tenants, nobody disclosed it. A few weeks after moving in, they woke to find the entire bedroom carpet soaking wet. The agency sent a plumber, who cut open the wall and lifted the carpet. Underneath there was mould on the floor and inside the wall. The plumber called it a major leak and said repairs could take months. The source was traced to the bathroom of the apartment upstairs. Because the leak originates in another lot, the agency said it was not theirs to fix, only to coordinate with the owner above. The tenants are living with a mouldy bedroom, an open wall and a persistent smell of damp carpet. When they said they could not stay and wanted to move out, they were told it would be treated as a lease break, leaving them liable for the agency’s costs.
They lodged a notice about urgent repairs. That application failed. They report that Rental Dispute Resolution Victoria ruled against them because the repair is needed in the neighbouring apartment, and because their agent does not control that apartment, the notice was misconceived. The difficulty is real: the physical cause sits outside the rented property, and the agent cannot direct the owner above on a particular timeline. An urgent repairs order aimed at the managing agent may not fit the facts. Renters in this position are usually better served by framing the problem around the condition of the home they are paying for, rather than around forcing a repair the rental provider cannot physically perform. The leak detection report is significant because it speaks to what was known when the lease was entered into. Mould, an opened wall and a bedroom that smells of damp carpet go to whether the tenants are receiving what they pay rent for. Where part of a home is unusable for months, questions about a rent reduction are commonly raised, separately from who must fix the underlying cause.
The tenants are now considering the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and have asked other renters about rent reduction, compensation, or ending the lease without penalty. Anyone in a similar position should keep a copy of any leak report, note how and when it was obtained, and hold related correspondence. Damaged belongings, extra cleaning, alternative sleeping arrangements and other out-of-pocket costs should be recorded with receipts and dates. Photographs and video with visible dates — covering the wet carpet, the mould and the open wall cavity — create a record that does not depend on memory. Conversations by phone or in person should be followed up in writing, including the statement that leaving would be treated as a lease break. Ask the agency for timeframes in writing, and confirmation of what has been requested from the owner above. Tenancy laws differ across Australia, and free tenant advice services can explain which application is appropriate. Be careful about simply moving out. Leaving without a formal resolution can be treated as a lease break with costs attached. Where conditions are genuinely unliveable, the safer course is usually to seek a formal determination rather than assume the circumstances speak for themselves.