‘Crazy’: Aussie told to rip up lawn or lose bond

An Australian woman has revealed how she lost her entire rental bond after being told her lawn hadn’t grown well enough and would need to be replaced by a professional landscaper.

Chelsea Solman said the agency managing her rental property kept her $2000 bond and was asking for $1000 more to pay for the lawn’s replacement after giving her a month to grow it.

She reached out for help on the Lawn Tips Australia Facebook group after receiving the ultimatum.

“My real estate gave us a month to get this lawn to grow (in winter) or we would be liable for the cost when we move,” she posted recently.

“Well we did but they still weren’t happy, said it’s only winter grass and would die in summer so they are hiring a landscaper to rip it all out and replace with turf, at our expense.

“Am I crazy or if it was winter grass it would have grown … when the sun finally arrive?

“They are only ripping out the large bottom section which is pretty much filled.

“I’m just so frustrated that we have lost our whole bond because of this and want to know if I should contact someone to escalate this further.”

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Commenters on Ms Solman’s post were quick to urge her to seek legal advice on the matter and challenge the decision.

One commenter, Barb Arnott, said she was a former property manager of 20 years and said Ms Solman’s bond could not legally be kept over the state of the lawn.

“I would make an application to NCAT or alternatively, if you are vacating, as soon as you return the keys, make a claim on your bond immediately and they will need to apply to tribunal to stop you getting it,” Ms Arnott said.

“I have been at tribunal many, many times over the years where agents have tried to claim tenants bonds for lawns and have only seen one successful and that was malicious damage where the tenants had literally done burnouts on the front lawn.”

Ms Solman has since sought legal advice on the matter.

“They’ve already ripped all this out and put new lawn down and kept my 2k bond and asking for another 1k out of me. It’s insane,” Ms Solman said.

Unfortunately, lawn crackdowns are not an unusual focus for rental properties or councils.

Just weeks ago, it was reported how thousands of dollars worth of artificial turf could be ripped up and never replaced, as councils across Australia move to ban synthetic lawns.

It came after concerns about plastic pollution, microplastics in waterways, and the environmental impact of artificial turf – which were shown to heat up to extreme temperatures as high as 56C in hot summer days when normal grass was around 30.

Among councils taking a hard line stance already are the City of Gold Coast. The council had already fined homeowners, warning that charges could be $834 if prosecuted.

In NSW, the state government’s housing and construction rules indicates a tenant could lose their bond over damage however “fair wear and tear” was acceptable. But there’s a grey area.

Most of the rules in NSW relates to the actual structure of the home and the website provided no examples of lawns or gardens.

“At the end of a tenancy, the tenant is responsible for leaving the property as near as possible to the same condition as when they started living in it,” the website states.

“The tenant is responsible for negligent, irresponsible or intentional actions that cause damage to the property. They will need to organise and pay for repairs for damage they have caused or allowed (for example, by other occupants or guests).

“However, the tenant is not responsible for ‘fair wear and tear’.”

Principal solicitor Ben Bartl from the Tenants’ Union of Tasmania/Lutruwita told the ABC in March many Australians spent hundreds of dollars on their lawns in fear they would not get their bonds back.

“A tenant does not have to live in a property that looks like some sort of display home,” he said.

“It’s definitely not the case that the lawn, the garden, the courtyard needs to be perfect with everything immaculate, that standard is too high.

“At the end of the tenancy, you need to return the property, including the garden or backyard or courtyard, in a similar condition to how the garden courtyard or backyard was when you moved in.

“By having evidence of the condition of the garden or courtyard … it makes it a lot easier for you to argue that the bond should be returned to you at the end of the tenancy.”

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