Housing & Property
Buying, renting, public housing, bonds, repairs and property disputes.
Housing & Property
Buying, renting, public housing, bonds, repairs and property disputes.
- Unlock →Buying a First Home: Making an Offer, the Cooling-Off Period and a Building-and-Pest InspectionPractice dialogue · 14 min
A first-home buyer meets a real estate agent to make an offer on a house and learns about the contract of sale, the cooling-off period, the deposit and why a building-and-pest inspection matters before settlement.
- Unlock →Public Housing: Requesting a Larger Home and a Rent ReassessmentPractice dialogue · 14 min
A Punjabi-speaking public housing tenant meets a housing officer to request a rent reassessment after a drop in the family's income and a transfer to a larger property for their growing family.
- Unlock →Signing a Twelve-Month Tenancy for a Craigieburn UnitPractice dialogue · 14 min
A property manager takes a newly approved applicant through a 12-month residential tenancy agreement for a two-bedroom unit in Craigieburn at $520 per week, covering the direct-debit rent, the four-week RTBA bond, the 1 August move-in, and the break-lease, no-pets and no-subletting clauses.
- Unlock →Rental Key Handover and Entry Condition Report in BlacktownPractice dialogue · 14 min
A leasing consultant hands over the keys to a $450-per-week Blacktown rental and walks a first-time tenant through the entry condition report, existing defects, photographing, sign-and-return timeframe, and the $1,800 bond held via Rental Bonds Online.
- Unlock →Burst Hot-Water Service and Urgent RepairsPractice dialogue · 14 min
A Punjabi-speaking tenant phones the property manager after the hot-water service bursts and floods the laundry, and the manager explains the tenant's urgent-repair rights under the Residential Tenancies Act.
- Unlock →Disputing an Excessive Rent Increase at VCATPractice dialogue · 14 min
A tenancy advocate from Tenants Victoria prepares a Punjabi-speaking renter to dispute a weekly rent rise from $480 to $560 by requesting a Consumer Affairs Victoria assessment and lodging at VCAT with comparable-property evidence.
- Unlock →Eviction Notice and NCAT Hearing for Rent ArrearsPractice dialogue · 14 min
A Legal Aid tenancy solicitor advises a Punjabi-speaking tenant who has a 14-day termination notice for $2,700 in rent arrears and an upcoming NCAT hearing, explaining how to halt the eviction and what to bring.
- Unlock →Selling A Reservoir Home: The Section 32 And SettlementPractice dialogue · 14 min
A conveyancer meets a Punjabi-speaking couple selling their Reservoir home for $845,000 to explain the Section 32 vendor statement, the buyer's cooling-off period, the deposit held in trust, the rates and water adjustments, and the PEXA settlement on 14 September.
- Unlock →Building Defects Conciliation at DBDRVPractice dialogue · 14 min
A DBDRV conciliator helps a Punjabi-speaking homeowner whose newly built house has cracked cornices, a leaking shower recess and doors that won't close, explaining the statutory warranty periods, defect types and the builder's obligation to rectify.
- Unlock →First-Home Support: Grant, Stamp Duty And The First Home GuaranteePractice dialogue · 14 min
A mortgage broker explains three separate first-home supports to a Punjabi-speaking couple buying a $650,000 new townhouse: the $10,000 First Home Owner Grant, a stamp-duty concession, and the federal First Home Guarantee that allows a 5% deposit without Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
- Unlock →Special Levy for Cladding Removal at a General MeetingPractice dialogue · 14 min
At an owners corporation general meeting, the manager presents an $18,000-per-lot special levy to fund $1.4 million of combustible-cladding removal under a Cladding Safety Victoria program, explaining payment options, the special-resolution vote, and the consequences of unpaid levies.
- Unlock →Sleeping In The Car After Family ViolencePractice dialogue · 14 min
A homelessness services intake worker assesses a woman who has fled family violence and is sleeping in her car with her two children, then arranges a 5-night emergency motel, a Launch Housing referral, Victorian Housing Register priority, and after-hours contact options.