VIC IVO and rentals/bond return

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GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
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Hi all, apologies if I shouldn't have cross posted this (along with the property law forum) but as it kind of relates to both realms and there are more people interacting here, I thought it couldn't hurt to ask here too as I had no responses there:
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When my ex partner and I separated, I moved out of the home and she took out an intervention order out on me shortly after (unjustified and unfair, but that's another story).

My problem is this. I want to get my name off the lease, and this doesn't seem to be the major problem. However, I do want my half of the bond which was paid jointly when we moved in together. If I simply take my name off the lease then I assume my name is also removed from the bond. I spoke to the real estate agent who looks after our tenancy on behalf of the landlord and they have advised that unless my ex partner agrees to pay me the bond directly, there is nothing they can do.

Also, the 12 month tenancy is due to expire in about a month from now. I assumed that since my name is still on the lease along with my ex partner, I would be able to 'veto' any extension of the tenancy and force her to sign a new contract without my name on it. However, the real estate agent said that the tenancy can ONLY be ended with the agreement of BOTH parties and I cannot stop it becoming a rolling monthly tenancy. So basically, I am being held hostage to this tenancy unless I forfeit my right to half of the bond?

The real estate agent said that my only recourse would be through VCAT. However, looking at the VCAT website, it says that they will only hear disputes between landlords and tenants, not between tenants. My understanding is that this would be considered to be a dispute between tenants over the split of the bond. Is my understanding also correct therefore that VCAT won't hear this sort of case? They do have an application to reduce the term of a fixed term tenancy where the tenant is excluded from a property by a court order (my situation), but that does not seem to solve the issue, because there is only a month left on the fixed term tenancy anyway, and the real estate agent has already told me it will automatically become a rolling monthly contract after that expires anyway, so how does this help me?

Any advice on how to handle this or any misunderstandings I have about the legalities would be appreciated.
 

Jake Matherson

Well-Known Member
15 June 2018
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659
Personally I have no idea how the rental system works as I have never been on a lease etc. and i'm in QLD however.

I have a housemate living with me, they moved out of their previous residence due to breaking up with their partner.
Both of them were on the lease. She also wanted her name off the lease and her half of bond back.

She was told by the Rental agency (or whatever it was called) they wont release half of the bond to her. They cant be out of pocket.
If she wanted that money back it would essentially need to be an agreement between the parties. i.e her Ex chooses to give her half the bond back out of his bank account making the full bond amount held by the rental place his.

I think she was able to get her name off the lease by him signing a new one on his own. I think he cooperated with this process. Might be a bit difficult if you're not able to talk to your Ex or they're not cooperative.

I know there are a lot of I thinks above but it seems like your experience is the same as my house mate. Kinda sucks.

Good luck getting your money back, but more importantly your name off the lease.
 

sammy01

Well-Known Member
27 September 2015
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Ok so just a thought. The lease can't be terminated without both signatures? Maybe u can make that work for u... so when the ex wants to vacate she needs your signature? Sweet. That is when u hit her up for half the bond.... Sure u will have to wait and that sucks. But better than trying to sort this through court....
 

Jake Matherson

Well-Known Member
15 June 2018
224
29
659
Ok so just a thought. The lease can't be terminated without both signatures? Maybe u can make that work for u... so when the ex wants to vacate she needs your signature? Sweet. That is when u hit her up for half the bond.... Sure u will have to wait and that sucks. But better than trying to sort this through court....
If the Ex goes nuts 6 months later or her new boyfriend punching holes in the walls, stains the carpet and just generally breaks stuff then they up and moving having not paid the rent for a few weeks/months is that going to hurt you as you're still on the lease. Or put a black mark against your name?

I also wouldn't leave myself exposed to this with the whole wait until they want to terminate the lease approach. Whilst the bond $$$ back is good it would mean less to me than protecting my name.

Just my thoughts.
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
544
51
2,289
Ok so just a thought. The lease can't be terminated without both signatures? Maybe u can make that work for u... so when the ex wants to vacate she needs your signature? Sweet. That is when u hit her up for half the bond.... Sure u will have to wait and that sucks. But better than trying to sort this through court...

Yeah, that is a good point, but I have no idea how long she intends to stay, and the other problem is that if I stay on the lease, I'm jointly liable for any damage or arrears she piles up as Jake said... I'd rather get off it and be done with it, but not without ensuring she doesn't get to keep the whole bond amount.
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
544
51
2,289
If she wanted that money back it would essentially need to be an agreement between the parties. i.e her Ex chooses to give her half the bond back out of his bank account making the full bond amount held by the rental place his.

Yeah, that seems to be the position I'm in, where the only legal way forward is for her to agree to pay me out in exchange for me taking my name off the lease. She has agreed in principle through lawyers to paying me the half of the total bond amount but says she cannot afford to do so right now, with the unspoken suggestion that she will eventually. So I might just have to wait a couple of months. Might be better than trying to pursue legal avenues. We already have enough with lawyers writing letters back and forth in other aspects of the family court situation.
 

Jake Matherson

Well-Known Member
15 June 2018
224
29
659
Whats half a bond worth? Like $1000 - $2000. I know that's a lot of money to some people including myself.

But if she is being genuine about working with you to get you're name off the lease, for instance she is happy to sign a new lease on her own come the next time it needs to be renewed.

I would be keeping my mouth shut until after that happened. After i'm free and clear I might have a chat with her to see if she will agree to pay the bond back. Even if it's over a couple of months incrementally.

Paying your lawyer to chase $2000 is a pointless waste of time and money. Unless you're rich and are making a stand for some kind of principal.
 

GlassHalfFull

Well-Known Member
28 August 2018
544
51
2,289
Yeah I'm definitely not using a lawyer to chase her over it. I mean, my lawyer has already been writing to her about half a dozen different things and that's just one of them. But my question was mainly whether I could use VCAT or some other low end tribunal to chase it, where both parties represent themselves. VCAT doesn't seem to cater to this situation (you can get your name off the lease in the case of domestic violence allegations, but you can't argue about any tenant to tenant disputes such as money or bonds apparently), but I wanted to confirm if I was wrong about that or not. I've also been told to speak to Consumer Affairs. But I suspect I'm being given the run around. Maybe there is no actual solution to this. It seems crazy though. How often to couples split up and argue over the bond when one moves out? Surely it happens all the time. There must be a process for resolving it...