Landlord discovered by tenant to be posing as handyman and coming into dwelling with out discover

By Freddy Pawle for Daily Mail Australia

05:59 03 Feb 2023, updated 07:46 03 Feb 2023

• Tenant horrified as landlord allegedly pretends to be a dealer
• The tenant had previously allowed him to repair property
• The real estate agent apparently knew it was the landlord

One tenant says she was shocked and upset to find out the handyman who had come to her home for a year was actually her landlord.

Melbourne woman Kate Ritchie shared a series of videos on Tuesday in which she talks about how she unknowingly allowed her landlord – who appears to be posing as a handyman – into her home.

Ms Ritchie posted the videos on her TikTok account, and people have responded by saying the landlord likely breached her lease.

The tenant was told by her real estate agent that after weeks of rain, a handyman would come to her home to clean gutters.

Thinking it was sensible, she welcomed the man – who had previously repaired parts of the house – into her home, but immediately realized something was wrong.

A tenant, Kate Ritchie (pictured) in a Melbourne rental flat, was shocked after discovering that the handyman who had been sent to clean her gutters was actually her landlord

“I can tell right away he’s a little angry,” Ms. Ritchie says in the TikTok video.

After some bickering about the man leaving doors open, he then started an argument with Mrs. Ritchie about the unkempt backyard.

Ms Ritchie rang alarm bells and wondered, “Why is this handyman, essentially a contractor, yelling at me about the state of my garden?”.

“Buddy, I don’t want my garden to look like that either. We’ve been raining for weeks and it’s extremely inappropriate,” she told the man.

‘What does it mean to you? It’s actually none of your business.’

After Ms. Ritchie hassled him, the man then turned out to be more than just the handyman.

“Well actually it’s my business because I own all these lots,” the landlord replied.

Ms Ritchie, now angry herself, removed herself from the situation to call the estate agent and ask if she knew the landlord was the handyman.

The landlord apparently got angry after noticing the backyard was unkempt, started an argument and revealed himself (pictured, stock).

The real estate agent admitted she knew, but it was a “little gray area because he’s the handyman.”

“She had zero empathy and we didn’t want a bar of that, to be honest,” Ms Ritchie said.

Ms Ritchie then contacted the consumer department, who informed her that the landlord’s action breached her lease.

However, Ms Ritchie did not pursue any legal action, instead they cleaned up the yard and told the estate agent that prior notice must be given if the landlord is to return.

‘I told her [the real estate agent] To take it as a warning…because we’re really, really fond of this house, we like living here,” she said.

“And the rental market is so upset anyway.

“I have great respect for landlords. I know most people don’t share that view…”

Ms Ritchie then found out her real estate agent knew it was the landlord, but it fell into a “little gray area” as the landlord was also the repairman for the property

Social media users were shocked by the story.

“Difficult situation as there is a high probability that next time they will refuse to renew the lease,” wrote one user.

“I have investment houses. There is no way I would go near the house that someone is renting without prior notice,” one landlord wrote.

One user had a very similar experience to Ms Ritchie, saying: “This sounds frighteningly familiar where my properties kept insisting that a ‘plumber’ come out. [It] was the owner who is not a plumber at all.’

“You are probably the fourth person to comment on this exact situation,” Ms. Ritchie replied.

“Seems like this is a common circumvention of formal inspection rules,” replied another user.