Martins v Zhang

The case of Martins v Zhang involved a dispute between a lessor and a former tenant over a rental bond. The tenant, Zhang, had vacated the premises and the lessor, Martins, claimed an additional week’s rent, alleging that Zhang had not made the property ready for new tenants within the stipulated time. The dispute was heard by the Residential Tenancies Tribunal of Queensland. The Tribunal was required to determine whether Martins was entitled to the additional week’s rent under the circumstances presented. The key legal issues were whether the property was reasonably ready for new tenants and whether Martins had taken reasonable steps to find new tenants.

The Tribunal found that there was no evidence that the property was not reasonably ready for new tenants. It also found that Martins had not taken reasonable steps to find new tenants, as it took a month to find new occupants. The Tribunal concluded that Martins was not entitled to the additional week’s rent. The Tribunal emphasised that the onus was on the lessor to mitigate the loss caused by a tenant vacating the property, and Martins had failed to do so by not finding new tenants promptly. Consequently, the Tribunal dismissed the lessor’s application and directed that the remaining bond monies be released to the tenant.