12:00a.m. 16th May 2008

| Jane Gardner & Louise O'Keeffe

A grieving Mooloolaba woman has won a battle with a Toowoomba real estate agency who refused to hand over her dead mother’s rental bond.

The agency claimed Beryl Wright, who passed away unexpectedly on April 4 at age 67, broke her lease by not giving 14 days notice.

Her daughter, Kate Garner, only had time to drive to a Toowoomba hospital to spend the last few hours with her.

The next day, Ms Garner and her sister Sharon Doyle spoke to staff at Young Real Estate who had rented their mother a modest townhouse for $145 a week for the past five years.

“I said to them I would like to get it resolved as soon as possible so we could put the money towards the burial,” Ms Garner said.

“There was no ‘I’m sorry to hear that, she was a lovely woman’, they turned around and said ‘we’re not sure you will get your bond back because legally, she still has to pay rent’.”

In disbelief, she told them: “We lost our mother just last night, we have to bury her, and you are going to do this to us?

“They had no remorse, nothing. It was the biggest shock that someone could be that cruel.”

The family lodged a complaint with the Rental Tenancy Authority.

Three weeks later, Young Real Estate property manager said they would completely drop the issue and return the bond in full.

When the check arrived, it was for $273 – just over half.

Ms Garner, herself a residential property manager, was disgusted to find they had withheld the money citing “hardship” because 14 days notice had not been given.

Young Real Estate principal David Young said it was reasonable for the real estate to collect debts.

“We have made allowances (to Mrs Wright’s daughters) and a debt had to be paid,” he said.

“They say it is a moral issue, that we couldn’t take money off the dead, however as executors of the will, they have to deal with the debts.

“They haven’t used common sense.”

He said they had waived the fee and only taken the bare minimum in respect for the family.

The agency’s response was offensive to the family given the sudden nature Mrs Wright’s death.

A retiree, she had recently finished a course of chemotherapy for lung cancer and doctors had given her a positive prognosis.

She loved her little duplex and enjoyed tending to the roses in the garden. Her daughters had tried many times to persuade her to move in with them through her illness, but she had a wonderful neighbour who cared for her and enjoyed her independence.

“She wouldn’t move,” Ms Garner said.

“She had the place looking beautiful, got a 10 out of 10 for her inspections and was never behind in rent.

“The man who lives in the other duplex would do so much for her. He took her to the hospital in the middle of the night if she was ill and he was so sad to see her go. The saddest thing is he is terminally ill so this is going to happen to him.”

Ms Garner said her veteran colleagues have never heard of an instance where a deceased person’s bond was taken.

“I didn’t think there would be a human being who would say I want that bond,” she said.

“Legally (death) doesn’t make a lease null and void but morally it should.”

The matter was going to be referred to the Small Claims Tribunal, however, after reporters contacted the real estate yesterday, the RTA called Ms Garner to say the court case had been dropped and they would receive the bond money in full.

General manager of the RTA, Fergus Smith, said it was up to both parties to negotiate an appropriate outcome following the death of a family member.

“Dealing with the death of a loved one is never easy,” he said.

“These are very difficult and emotional times for all involved and often the last thing the family thinks about is the need to formally end the tenancy agreement.

“In cases such as this the RTA encourages parties to talk with each other to negotiate the best and most appropriate outcome.”

He said the Small Claims Tribunal should be a last resort.

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