Recent VCAT ruling. Wenger v Suwignjo (Residential Tenancies) [2024] VCAT 996 (15 October 2024)
This was a claim for compensation by the renter, some interesting commenst by Senior Member Campana with some good old common sense. I want to highlight two points in the judgement, but suggest you read the whole judgement, here are the two points i want to highlight:
17. In other words, while a renter may want a property to be spotless before moving family and furniture in, that level of cleanliness is not the benchmark that the RT Act sets. It is not expected that a rental provider will have every surface spotless, nor is that required when the renter vacates. A “reasonable clean” is a cleanliness to be expected from a house that is lived in: a Saturday morning clean, as opposed to a spring clean or a professional vacate clean.
19. This strict and absolute obligation does not mean that a residential rental provider is in breach of the duty as soon as an appliance fails, or a fixture is broken. The provider is only in breach of this duty obligation, if they do not respond or have the item repaired in a reasonable period of time. What is considered a reasonable period of time will depend on a number of factors including when the rental provider received notification of the issue or item requiring repair, the work that is required to be undertaken, and the availability of trades and materials needed to carry out the work.
Here is the link to the ruling: http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2024/996.html