QLD Tenancy Problem - Landlord Bullying Me

[Bhagya Jayasinghe]

Hi there,
I am facing a terrible situation with the landlord of my tenancy. I have informed them me leaving the place 10 days ago. But still they were just forcing me and bullying me. It seems I cannot act legally since I have no proof to prove my tenancy over there. No rental receipts, No RTA lease agreement. No bond received receipts. I need legal advice about tenants rights against their landlord to overcome this situation as I have few more days to live the same place.

 

[Sarah J]

Hi Bhagya,

1. How is your landlord bullying you?
2. How then did you enter into an agreement with the landlord that you obtain exclusive right to use and occupy the place? Was this arrangement made in writing or orally?
3. How were you paying rent to the landlord? Do you have any bank statements that show regular transfer to the landlord's account for the amount of rent?
4. Did you pay the utilities bill? If so, do you have any bill receipts? Phone bills?
5. Did you set this place as your forwarding address? Was there anywhere where you wrote this address down as your place of residence or postal address?

You can try to contact the Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority and enquire about your situation and/or lodge a complaint against your landlord.

 

[Bhagya Jayasinghe]

1. They were just calling me and threathned me. All the agreements were verbally , the rights, paying Internet usage charges and all.
2. I usually pay my rent and internet usage charges by cash in hand. Twice I transfered them through my bank account.. but they were not happy with that and ask me to hand over cash.
3. All the utility bills are included for the rent.
4. Forwarding address of my everything ( phone bill, car registration, driver's licence, bank and even for immigration through my university) is this address.
5. I will be leaving the place by next week. I just wonder whether they will give back my two weeks bond...

 

[Sarah J]

It is difficult if you do not have documentation proving that you paid the landlords bond and how much this bond is. This is definitely a leasing situation that is not permitted under tenancy laws and so your landlord should not be leasing it out and requesting cash in hand without any written documentation and providing receipts. I suspect they are trying to evade tax this way. If you do not receive your bond back when you move out, you can contact the Queensland Residential Tenancies Authority. At the end of the day, it will come down to what evidence you have to prove that you did pay bond. However, you can get your landlords into quite a bit of trouble as well by revealing these leasing habits. I strongly suggest that next time you sign a written agreement, ask for written receipts for every rental payment and bond payment, and keep these as proof in case disputes arise.