Rental advocate looking to turn the tables on landlords and real estate agents

#rentersrights #tiktok #rentalcrisis #renterDocumenting recurring black mould, exposed asbestos and perpetually "soft" carpets, content creator Jordie van den Berg has racked up millions of views by exposing Australia's worst rental properties on TikTok. Manually verified more than 1,500 reviews within two weeks of launch. Manually verified more than 1,500 reviews within two weeks of launch Rental advocates hope momentum continues The 27-year-old trained lawyer, known on social media as purplepingers, is now using her viral momentum to launch a grassroots movement in the form of a review site Shit Rentals. It aims to hold real estate agents and homeowners accountable. Through the site, renters can anonymously submit detailed reviews of a property along with photos. Mr. van den Berg then verifies each submission individually before uploading it to a public spreadsheet that identifies the rental address and the representing entity. Mr van den Berg has manually verified more than 1,500 properties and agents within two weeks of the website's launch, with many more accumulating. Jordy van den Berg told The Drum that he was "angry" because he felt responsible for creating a database in favor of tenants. He told The Drum that the website exists to try to "correct the power imbalance" between landlords and tenants. “When apply to rent, give real estate agent and the landlord so much information yourself that have no transparency about how it be used, and also have no information where will be staying.” "to live or experience have," he said. "Nine out of 10 photos used in the rental advert are from when the property was last sold, which could have been 10 or 20 years ago. Citing comedian Tom Cashman, who had his rental application terminated after requesting a "landlord reference", Mr van den Berg said tenants were "laughed at" and punished for doing so when they tried to hold agents and landlords to account. Confirmation of crisis Data from PropTrack's August report shows that the power differential between renters and landlords has worsened, with vacancy rates falling to a record low of 1.1 percent. Census data says 31 per cent of Australians rent their home. Mr van den Berg says the website's success confirms the stark power imbalance between tenants and landlords. “The reception has been pretty phenomenal,” he said. "If the question were, 'Is renting a widespread problem?' "The purchases so far prove that yes, yes it is. Mr van den Berg said he was "frustrated" because he felt responsible for creating a database of bad rentals. "The rent crisis is a failure of successive governments over decades. It is not surprising that [the government] has not proposed a registration," he said. Mr van den Berg said the dynamic between tenants and landlords, given the tight rental market, meant tenants were even more vulnerable when reporting bad agent and landlord behaviour. “The government relies on tenants to be their own hired police,” he said. "T