Oakleigh Community residents take rent hike dispute to VCAT

The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) might be set to rule over a rent dispute between residents of the Greek Orthodox Community of Oakleigh (GOCO) units, located next to the Sts Anargiri church and the community itself.

A number of elderly residents who contacted Neos Kosmos recently, complained about the "unfair" increases in rent.

In a letter sent to the residents, dated July 20, GOCO informed residents that as of the 10 November 2011 their rents would increase from $210.00 to $350.00 per fortnight. As indicated in the letter, the rent increase was deemed necessary in order for the community to cover "the expenses of maintenance of the property, the cover of gardening, the payment of council rates, the insurance of the building and water costs."

The residents reacted immediately. They told Neos Kosmos that having been informed about the 67 per cent rent increase, they had tried to contact the Board and sent a number of letters to the Community Operations Manager, Mr Panagiotis Andriopoulos, in order to explain to him that they couldn't afford this amount of money, but their requests were not responded to. As a result, they turned to Consumer Affairs Victoria complaining about the "exuberant" rent increase.

The complaint was taken on board from the Housing for the Aged Action Group (HAAG) an organisation funded by Consumer Affairs Victoria which overlooks similar cases for low income elders.

In a written response to the Oakleigh Community, Shanny Gordon, Retirement Housing Information Officer, HAAG, informed them that the letter served to residents regarding the rent increase did not comply with the Residential Tenancies Act and the increase imposed was not lawful.

"The letter should have had information about their rights and information on where to ask advice in case they opposed the rent increase" Ms Gordon told Neos Kosmos, adding that the residents who felt the rent increase was unfair were advised to challenge the issue in VCAT.

Vaya Blight, the daughter of one of the elderly residents of the units, told Neos Kosmos that there is no way her mother will pay this "unfair" rent increase. "She is living on a $770.00 pension a fortnight. She has no other assets. How can she afford this?" she asked.

"I am determined to challenge the case at VCAT. We tried to pay the rent we used to pay, last week but they did not accept it. I opened a special account at VCAT and my mother will pay the rent there. I think it is blatantly wrong to ask from the elderly to pay this amount."

Neos Kosmos contacted Mr Angelo Sardelis, the President of the Community asking him to comment on the issue. He said "the board of management decided back in June of this year, to review the rent of all their residential properties because they are getting as old as the tenants if not older."

"We went to the local real estate agent and had an appraisal on the units which was in the vicinity of $230 - $240 per week. The board decided that we can't charge the elderly that money, even though the upkeep and maintenance is costing a lot of money these days. We decided to increase the rent to $135, some $50 to $60 less than the market tells us they are worth" said Mr Sardelis.

It should be noted that the 14 units located next to the church of Sts Anargiri in Oakleigh, Victoria, were built with funds raised by the community and State government funding more than 25 years ago. Back then, they were classified as housing for the financially disadvantaged but this does not apply anymore as the 25 year window has passed. Now, the units are regarded as private property. This means that the GOCO has the right to impose whichever rent increase deems necessary.

When Mr Sardelis was asked how the community will tackle the issue of residents refusing to pay the increased rent.

He remained adamant that they will.

"Only two of the residents did not comply and if need be we will follow all the legal avenues to make sure that the Community will receive the rent the Board approved." he concluded.