Rental rape

In the short while I've been gone, I've once again been forced to seek alternative living arrangements (long story) so I've spent a bit of time checking out rental properties online.

It's a pretty harmless activity some would think. Harmless until I get on the bandwagon and then it's going to create drama (necessary or otherwise) for all concerned.

What pisses me off about the rental situation in this country is the fact that Realtors and lessors are allowed to get away with blue fucking murder should they so choose.

In every other industry (employment, retail, hospitality etc) it is ILLEGAL to exclude any member of society based on any aspect of their personal life. When you're a real estate agent or a lessor on the other hand, you're evidently allowed to nominate who you will and won't rent to based on any personal detail they see fit.

My situation is due to the fact that I have a dog. I can find very few available rental premises that suit my budget and my needs, but that difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that "No pets" is apparently legally acceptable criteria. I checked it out with (of all places) the Anti-Discrimination Commission. Yes, it's legal. Apparently they'd even call it ethical.

According to the law, Agents cannot make that determination of their own accord. Instead they hide behind "it's the lessors decision" like a limp-wristed, pre-pubescent teenager hiding from school bullies behind his mothers skirt.

You have to wonder then, after scouring through rental property advertising, how SO MANY Australian lessors became dog-hating Nazi's. Are they like lesbians? Did some "mongrel" sink his teeth into them in their youth and cause them a lifetime of paranoia and phobia?

The reality is that Agents decide to advertise no pets because when they fraudulently withhold your bond money (or portions of it) at the termination of a lease (let's face it, no agent has EVER legitimately withheld bond monies), they don't actually want to part with any of those ill-gotten-gains to address claning or pest control issues.

They steal that money from us because they can. And why can they do it? Because the Residential Tenancies Authority is a token department whose sole purpose is to pay lip service to the rights of tenants. They're like a falsely sympathetic mother-in-law who tells you that you have every right to be angry at her child for spending your money without consultation and in the next breath they're pissing up with the offending offspring laughing at you behind your back.

The same goes for our Government which has never seen fit to protect the rights of those of us whose situations determine that our money pays someones mortgage. John Howard certainly didn't give a rats ass and it remains to be seen whether or not Kevin Rudd will honour his campaign promises to address the housing shortage and homelessness.