QLD Return of bond for commercial lease through QCAT?

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Jenny946

New Member
20 April 2016
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Short version:
We are trying to lodge a QCAT debt dispute, but aren't sure if that's the right type of dispute for this situation, and also don't have the respondent's address.

We fulfilled our end of a commercial leasing agreement - returned the premises to the condition they were in when the lease commenced - however it has been four months since the lease terminated and the bond has not yet been returned.

The landlord has moved, so we do not know their address and cannot lodge a QCAT dispute. All traditional avenues - White Pages, Google searches, ABN lookups - only show the landlord's old address. We don't know how to lodge this dispute to get our bond back.

More detail:

This is regarding a restaurant, so I don't think it's a Retail Shop Lease Dispute. We entered into a commercial lease some time ago and paid a bond to the landlord. The lease terminated (no assignment) four months ago.

We paid the rent up until the termination date, and cleaned and emptied the property by that date to the satisfaction of the landlord. The landlord assured us verbally, no writing, that the bond would be repaid in full. The landlord's lawyer later contacted us and attempted to lower the bond money to be repaid.

The lease terminated, and by that point we had already vacated the premises. Our lawyer has since been unsuccessfully trying to contact the landlord's lawyer to discuss the return of the bond moneys.

The bond is quite substantial, over $5000, so it is worth pursuing. We're over-65 year old retirees without super, so it makes a big difference. Our lawyer has basically given up - he's probably very busy and has better things to do - and told us it's impossible to reach our old landlord's lawyer.

We're trying to lodge a QCAT debt dispute at the moment, as that appears to be our only avenue - however we are unsure if (a) this is even the right thing to do to get a commercial lease bond returned, and (b) how we can lodge a dispute without knowing our landlord's new address.

We would really appreciate any clarity or suggestions anybody might have on the matter.

Thank you.
 

Jenny946

New Member
20 April 2016
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0
Just to add, the landlord is no longer at the premises either, so we can't reach the landlord that way.

We had two reasons for terminating the lease.

Firstly, we'd been thinking about it for a while as the physical toll was simply getting too much for us.

But secondly, and more importantly, we didn't really have a choice - the landlord had decided to sell the premises, and we had to either sign a lease for term longer than we felt comfortable with, or terminate the lease.

We decided to terminate the lease. I guess my point is that the landlord is no longer reachable at the business address, either, so that's not an option for us.
 

Rod

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27 May 2014
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Your lawyer can handle this, it is not hard. Serve the notice to the landlord's address on the lease. It is not your fault if you have not been provided with updated details. Or if he has an agent managing the lease send via the agent, or send it to the landlord's lawyer, maybe even all 3.

Your lawyer should know if QCAT is the right place.