A horrific experience

We rented a house from the above agency in July 2023. The agent, Eric Olwage took us briefly through the house, or rather my wife took him. He made notes for an Entry inspection and my wife signed. I had to pay double deposit, their admin fee and provisional rent for two weeks. The first red flag came when they invoiced me for a full month! I checked with the agent and was told that I can pay a half month rent on the next due date -(No refunds). Three days after we moved in, I send the agent a complete report with pictures of all the faults inside the house, that included the ceilings in the living areas and kitchen cracking, no isotherm in the ceiling/roof cavity, broken cupboard hinges, lack of drainage in the shower that was so bad that we stood in a dam of water while showering. In a year nothing was done to afford any repairs inside the house. Their Maintenance contractor made 3 appointments with me for repair work outside the house, but never pitched up for the work. I ended up doing the work myself and sending the agency an invoice, as agreed by the agent. I informed Eric Olwage in July 2023 that their is no proper drainage in the backyard and when it rains, my whole backyard floods. Again nothing was done in a year.

During June and July 2024, with heavy rains, the area became so flooded that the water ran through my garage. The roof of the garage also leaked so badly, that the water was running down the walls. I tried contacting Eric, but was informed that he has tendered his resignation and now I am dealing with Jurie. I send Jurie pictures, videos and a report of the damages to items - including inverters - that were stored in my garage and how bad the situation was. In fact, it took me 4 days to sweep out the mud and debris from my garage. To date - 09 August 2024, I have heard nothing from Purpose Realty. I can accept if they try and convince me to claim from my insurance, but they had a year to rectify the drainage and did absolutely nothing. I do not know who the Landlord is, nor do I have any contact details, so I am stuck with dealing with Purpose Realty. I lost close to R24k worth of electronic equipment and electrical powertools.

We gave notice on the right time, as the lease actually expired end of July 2024. My wife and I not only cleaned the house, but I also repaired and painted the walls. Another new agent met us at the house, walked through the house with me, where I not only showed him problem areas, but also explained that Purpose Realty has a report from as far back as July 2023, that lists all the issues and nothing was done about it. He never made notes, not requested my signature.

My wife and I app**** for a new home and obviously had to pay double deposit, admin fee and rent. I started tracking our deposit with Jurie and was assured that the deposit was paid on the 7th of August. Note that in the interim, while waiting on the payment from Realty, I had to rent a storage unit and temporary accommodation for us, that is pet friendly. Accommodation that is pet friendly is not cheap in Cape Town.

I have kept a record of my whatsapp conversation with Jurie, as yesterday late afternoon, he send me a voice note that informed me that he cannot get hold of Francua - the director that makes the payments - nor can he get Francua to send me the Proof of Payment. I have also requested a copy of the exit inspection and a deposit statement, so that I can see in advance what Purpose Realty are going to deduct, again I have received nothing to date!!

In closure - I want to warn everybody considering dealing with this Agency, as my wife and I have been treated badly for a year. Today is Friday 09 August 2024. I have paid the rental and admin fee for the new house, but if I do not pay the deposit, the lease will be declared null and void and my wife and I will be homeless from Sunday 11 August 2024 after 10h00 check-out.

Great way of messing up people's lives Purpose Realty!!