QLD Lease - Claiming Unpaid Rent as a Co-tenant?

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LadyTradie_83

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16 August 2017
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Our housemate abruptly left 3 weeks after telling us she had bought a house midway through our lease and continued to pay rent for a month, but then stopped and failed to replace herself. She remained on the lease until the end of the term, and we had to pay her part of the rent in the meantime as the real estate had threatened that we would be blacklisted, even though they knew she had left.

We are now out of pocket of just over $5000, and had to use most of our savings to cover it. She said she wasn't able to pay anymore but her wage is nearly our two wages combined. We have contacted the RTA and QCAT as well as other avenues but no one seems to think she should be forced to pay us back. We couldn't even claim all her bond back.

She had done nothing in regards to bond cleaning, etc. We are now unsure what to do next, we are thinking maybe form 3 from QCAT as advised by one of the people we spoke to, but just don't know what to do about it as we don't want to lose more money...

Any help would be amazing!
 

Rod

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QCAT is a cheap alternative compared to court. Not sure you'll get the full amount back as there's nothing indicating you did anything to replace her.

If QCAT will accept your claim give it a go. They'll tell you what form to use.
 

Rob Legat - SBPL

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16 February 2017
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It would appear that the minor civil dispute - minor debt is your way to proceed. You generally have a right of contribution against your co-tenants for the payment of rent and other expenses. The difficulty you may have is what steps you took to try and limit your losses by finding a replacement tenant. As much as she may have had an obligation to do so, it's probably the case that you did as well. While this would have been subject to landlord's consent, you may be required to show that you made an effort to obtain that consent.