Renting
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For free legal help:
Legal Aid Queensland
Phone1300 65 11 88 (for the cost of a local call from a landline in Australia)
www.legalaid.qld.gov.au
Community Legal Centres Queensland
Phone 07 3392 0092
www.communitylegalqld.org.au
Or look under “Community Legal Centres” in your local phone book.
Tenants Queensland
Phone 1300 744 263
www.tenantsqld.org.au
For information and support:
Tenant Advice and Advocacy Services
Look under “T” for tenancy advice in your local phone book
If you need an interpreter to help you contact a service phone TIS 131 450
Activity sheets for this story:
Video transcript
Title: Renting—New South Wales and Queensland
Nan: This unit is perfect for us!
Saw Paw: Yeah, it’s good. Let’s go back to the agent and fill in the forms.
Agent: OK, so sign this lease. You have to pay the rent in advance plus four weeks rent for the bond. If the property is not damaged at the end of the lease you will get the bond back. And you need to fill in this condition report. It lists all the damage that already exists. Check it is right so you will not have to pay for
damage you did not do.
Saw Paw: OK, let’s go to our new home.
Nan: Mmm... everything seems to be working OK.
Saw Paw: Ohh look, there’s a cracked tile in the bathroom.
Nan: Ahha, and a cigarette burn in the carpet! Write that down.
A few weeks later
Nan: Saw Paw, the oven isn’t working.
Saw Paw: Yeah, when I tried to cook the chicken on the weekend the oven kept turning off.
Saw Paw: Good morning. This is Saw Paw Kunoo from Unit 2 /25 William Rd. The oven in our unit isn’t working. Can someone come to fix it please?
A few weeks later
Saw Paw: They still haven’t come to fix it!
Nan: Call them again. We can’t bake or roast anything.
Saw Paw: Ohhh, they might kick us out if we complain.
Narrator: At the end of the lease Saw and Nan move out of the unit.
Saw Paw: Here are the keys for our unit. Will you send us the bond?
Receptionist: We’ll check the condition of the unit first then we’ll contact you.
Saw Paw: Thanks.
Nan: We need that bond back. We need that money now.
Nan: I can’t believe it! The landlord said we’re not getting the bond back.
Saw Paw: How come?
Nan: They said we broke the oven and the carpet is dirty.
Saw Paw: WE broke the oven! I don’t believe it.
Lawyer: Well, the landlord should have fixed your oven immediately. You could have written down the problem in a letter to the landlord, and kept a copy yourself to show that you told them. You could have asked for some free help to do this from a tenancy organisation or legal service. If your landlord won’t make repairs you can get free legal help.
NSW and Queensland alternative voiceover:
Well, the landlord should have fixed your oven immediately. You could have written down the problem in a letter to the landlord, and kept a copy yourself to show that you told them. You could have gone to see a Tenant’s Advocacy organisation if you needed help doing this. If your landlord won’t make repairs you can get free legal help.
Saw Paw: I didn’t want to complain. He might have kicked us out.
Lawyer: You have rights - they can’t kick you out just because you have asked for repairs. They need a court order. There are laws to protect tenants.
Saw Paw: So is there anything we can do now?
Lawyer: I’ll help you apply to get your bond back.
Saw Paw: Oh thank you, we really need the money
Nan: We got our bond back.
Saw Paw: Lucky we got some help.
Last updated 18 June 2020