A Melbourne tenancy company has issued an apology after it referred to the Christmas period as “eviction season” in an email sent to renters this week.
The email, sent by Professionals Taylors Lakes on Monday, was given the subject “Christmas time and your rent payments”.
“Christmas time is also known in property management circles as ‘eviction season’ as so many people choose to use their rental payments for Christmas spending instead of ensuring that their family accommodation remains top priority over this period,” the email said.
“We see so many tenants fall behind in their rent and then get into the position where they are not able to catch up, as this is their biggest financial obligation.
“We then have a difficult time with the unfortunate job of having to remove and evict these tenants from their homes.”
The email urged people to pay their rent on time so that living arrangements were not “jeopardised”.
Professionals apologised for the language in a seperate email sent on Tuesday. The company said they wanted to apologise “in advance” to people who took offence to the message.
“We can understand how the choice of words in the email may have offended you in anyway and for this we are sorry,” the email said.
“We assure you that the intention of the email was to provide a timely reminder about normal tenancy obligations.”
Responding to the email, Victorian Greens renters rights spokesperson Gabrielle de Vietri said that housing was a human right and everyone should feel secure in their homes.
“With the cost of living through the roof and rents at record highs many renters across the state will be worried about making it through the Christmas season,” she said in a statement provided to PEDESTRIAN.TV.
“For too long landlords and real estate agents have been allowed to jack up the rent and dangle the threat of homelessness in front of struggling tenants.”
The email was not the first time such language had been used to describe the Christmas period. In New Zealand, a property management company advised tenants to avoid “termination season”.
“Christmas time is also known in property management circles as ‘termination season’, as so many people choose to use their rental payments for Christmas spending instead of ensuring that accommodation for them and their family remains top priority over this period,” the Dunedin based property company said in an email.
When questioned by media, the company said the email was sent out every year.
Professionals Taylors Lakes did not respond to questions from PEDESTRIAN.TV.
