Story ● 3 min read
Linda recovers belongings after unreasonable eviction
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Linda’s story
After being unreasonably evicted from her property, Linda fought to keep her belongings from being disposed of.
Linda had moved into a private rental property with her two children after fleeing a violent partner. She received a 120-day ‘no reason’ notice to vacate and was unable to find alternative housing before the locks were changed, and she was removed by police. She was living in crisis accommodation when she received a call from a Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) inspector who said he’d be valuing her goods left behind at the property the next day.
Linda was frantically applying for new private rental properties when she received a second call two days later from the CAV inspector, reporting that her belongings were of no value and would now be immediately disposed of by the landlord.
Homeless Law promotes the ability of tenants to retrieve and keep their belongings when their tenancy ends.
Linda was devastated and asked the CAV worker and Homeless Law to get her more time from the landlord. Homeless Law offered to arrange a removalist the next day, but the landlord arranged for immediate removal of the goods.
Through the Women’s Homelessness Prevention Project (WHPP), Linda was able to recover some of the belongings that had been taken to a local Salvation Army depot, and place these in storage. One month later she obtained a new private rental property with financial assistance from the WHPP, and was able to move the stored items into her new premises.
By stepping in after Linda had already lost her home, Justice Connect helped prevent her from losing everything else.
Through urgent advocacy and practical support, she was able to recover and protect her belongings and rebuild from crisis. This intervention gave Linda and her children a chance to start again with dignity, stability and the reassurance that they were not alone.
Please note, Linda* is a pseudonym. All individuals in this story have been deidentified.
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