Landlord serves compensation claim

Michaela was a single mother with three severely autistic children. There had been major water damage to the rented property 12 months prior to the tenancy terminating. The rental provider tried to fix the leak himself, which led to him cutting off water supplies to parts of the property and he never repaired the water damage inside the property. This caused a health and safety risk to Michaela and her children. Michaela was later served with a bond and compensation claim against her by her rental provider.

PCLC unsuccessfully requested the rental provider to withdraw their claim and to refund the bond to Michaela in full. PCLC then urgently drafted a comprehensive counter claim due to the condition of the property. Upon receipt of copy of Michaela’s counter-claim, the rental provider immediately withdrew his application and instructed his property manager to arrange for the full bond to be transferred back to Michaela. Michaela was extremely happy with this outcome and also withdrew her counter claim. The renter was clearly unable to advocate for herself and given her state at the time, it is unlikely she could have proceeded to VCAT without PCLC’s assistance.