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Most lease disputes start with a notice, an invoice or a locked door. How you respond in the first few days often decides the outcome. Our lease dispute lawyers act for landlords and tenants in commercial and retail lease disputes across Queensland. The first step is working out which set of rules applies.
Breach notices, payment arrangements and recovery of rent and outgoings owed.
Disagreements over market rent, the valuer's decision or the review process.
Challenges to how outgoings are calculated, apportioned between tenants or recovered.
Who must fix a defect, and who pays for the damage it caused.
The condition the premises must be returned in when the lease ends.
Whether the landlord was entitled to call on the tenant's security.
Whether an option was validly exercised, and on what terms the lease continues.
A landlord refusing or delaying consent to a tenant selling the business.
Whether the landlord was entitled to end the lease or change the locks.
A set process applies to retail shop leases under the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994 (Qld).
QCAT cannot set the dollar amount of rent or outgoings. It can, however, decide the method by which they should be calculated. In urgent cases, such as a lockout, QCAT can make interim orders.
Office, industrial and other leases that are not retail shop leases fall outside that process. Many of these leases contain their own dispute clause, such as negotiation, mediation or expert determination. That clause usually has to be followed first.
If the dispute is not resolved, it goes to court. In Queensland, the court depends on the amount in dispute.
Rent review disputes usually turn on the review clause itself. The questions are whether notice was given on time, what basis applies and how a valuer is appointed. For outgoings, the starting point is the lease definition of outgoings and the landlord’s annual statement. We check the calculation against the lease before any position is taken. Many of these disputes resolve once the numbers are tested.
Before ending a lease, a landlord must generally serve a notice to remedy breach. The Property Law Act 2023 (Qld) prescribes its form. The notice must state the breach and allow a reasonable time to fix it. Do not ignore it.
Avoid withholding rent to force the landlord to act, unless you have taken advice. Withholding rent can itself be a breach, and it can hand the landlord the right to terminate.
A landlord who changes the locks without a valid notice may be acting unlawfully. A tenant can apply to the court for relief against forfeiture, and may be able to claim compensation. For a retail shop lease, QCAT can make urgent interim orders. Time matters, because stock, staff and customers are affected from the first day.
Landlords need to get the process right too. A defective breach notice can invalidate a termination and expose the landlord to a compensation claim. We prepare notices in the approved form and calculate arrears and compensation correctly. We also advise on the safest way to recover the premises. Where a tenant abandons the premises, separate rules apply before the landlord can relet.
Every dispute is different, so we start with a review of the lease and the correspondence. We quote a fixed fee for that review. Defined steps, such as a letter of demand, can also be fixed. For mediation, QCAT or court, we provide a written estimate for each stage before it begins.
Usually not without risk. Withholding rent can itself be a breach. Take advice and consider serving your own notice instead.
You are not required to have one. Most parties benefit from advice beforehand, so they understand their position and what a fair outcome looks like.
Immediately. The remedy period may be short, and options narrow once it expires.
