Australian landlord sues over dead man's broken lease

A landlord has been labelled heartless after he took a woman to court to get $600 from her father who broke the lease - by dying.

The unrepentant landlord Antony Lee has said he had no problems taking the case to a tribunal, saying: "A tenant has died. Is that my problem?"

In a case that has sparked calls for a review of the state's tenancy laws, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal this week upheld Mr Lee's claim for almost one month's rent, to be paid from the estate of Michael James Ward, 64.

Mr Ward died from a heart attack on December 6. He had another eight months to run on his 12-month lease.

The law says that when a tenant dies, the tenant's representative must give 28 days' notice that the lease will be broken to terminate the lease. If, after advertising, the landlord cannot find a new tenant during that period, the landlord can make a claim against the dead tenant's estate for lost rent.

It means the law holds grieving relatives liable for a landlord's lost rent.