"I think the more people ask for things like this, the more normalized it will become, and then perhaps the reaction of real estate agents won't be so aggressive," he said.
The saga of a man looking for a "good landlord" landed him in trouble. Tom Cashman is an Australian comedian and TV writer. He dared to do the unexpected and asked his real estate agent for "landlord references" from past tenants. As you can imagine, they didn't take too kindly to his request.
Flipping the usual script of house hunting, Cashman wanted some assurance of his would-be landlord's "goodness." According to him, he had been let down by landlords in the past, which led to his unusual demand.
"I have had pretty bad experiences with landlords generally, mainly around bonds," he told ABC RN Breakfast. But, Cashman's request did not go down well with the proprietor.
His exchange with the estate agent turned sour. He shared: "I have been charged $100 for a pest investigation. I asked for evidence and got a picture of four ants on the kitchen bench." Considering such experiences, he thought to experiment and push things a little more. His cheeky request offended the dealers, and his appeal backfired.
"At this stage, I did get a bit cheeky. I was keen to see how far I could push this," Cashman said. "So, just to confirm, the owner doesn't have any previous tenants they could get in touch with to write a positive reference for them?"
The estate agent was confused why he would ask such a question. The agent, Stephanie, apparently couldn't understand the humor behind the request. "The owner does not wish to contact the previous tenants, and it is not a requirement," she wrote back to him. "Good luck with your property search."
What followed was unfair on the agent's part. Cashman's application was initially approved, but post his reference request, they unexpectedly rejected his application. He said, "I found myself in this unique position where I didn't need them. So I pushed back a tiny bit, asked, for one thing, they usually ask of us, and they had what I would describe as a bit of a hissy fit."
"The response was a bit more intense than I was expecting," Cashman shared, taking to his Instagram and TikTok accounts to share the news.
"I thought it was a reasonable request," he told Daily Mail Australia. "I have had good landlords and bad ones, and the difference can have a big impact on you."
Leo Patterson Ross, CEO of the Tenant's Union of NSW, reacted to Cashman's video and noted that tenants hold little to no power against landlords and face tough competition in house hunting. He added that landlords enjoy the decision-making power unless the vacancy rate doubles.
Cashman believes this whole episode revealed the dark side of the power dynamics to manipulate the needy. He said: "It seems pretty reasonable information to ask for before signing a contract for tens of thousands of dollars to ask who they are because, for some reason, it's a secret."
Landlord reference law update: Critics have emerged pic.twitter.com/ycY0yruJTE
— Tom Cashman (@_tomcashman) March 24, 2022
Cashman also suggests other tenants start this practice and "normalize" it. The tenants should not hold back or fear following his lead. "I think the more people ask for things like this, the more normalized it will become, and then perhaps the reaction of real estate agents won't be so aggressive," Cashman concluded.
Share on Facebook