Evicting a great tenant

I've just had to go through the process of evicting a great tenant.

Background- I have a dual occupancy in "inner" (barely) Canberra- approved dual occ. There are two "cottages"- plus a garage- with an "workshop and laundry". This third structure has a tenant. But it's not approved for human occupancy. The previous owner had always wanted it below the radar- and although I have always declared the income, I had never thought that it would be caught as unlawful.

The block is approved dual occ, under one title. I applied for it to be strata titled. I received a response that, as there were three gas and electricity meters, there was evidence that the block was not legally dual occ. I need to remove one tenant.

So now I'm having to evict a tenant who has been great. He's been there for over four years (longer than I have). He's ALWAYS paid his rent on time (except when he's early). And he's never complained about anything (though he has asked me politely to upgrade the standard of carpet and paint, which I have been happy to do- it took me a little while though).

I feel really really bad. I have (almost) become used to removing bad employees or tenants. But I never felt good about it. The build up is probably three times worse than the event itself.

He's not actually under a lease (thanks to the vendor). But I do want to honour any terms and conditions the same as if he was under a lease.

If anybody has something (cheap!) to offer in Canberra (within public transport range of his job in Fyshwick) I'd be grateful- and so would he.

That's sad Geoff. Too bad they wouldn't let him stay under a "grandfather clause".After he moves out, then not allow any one else to rent it.

The house we just bought for my daughter is sort of similar. All the houses around her have cottages that are rented out. However, because of the changes now, we aren't allowed any more than one structure. We could tear down the house and erect a 15 unit apartment building just as her neighbour did. We could also ADD onto her house and make more units, but it has to be physically joined.

Could you build a connector from one cottage to the this place and be legal?Would it be financially feasible?

Kathryn

A connector would not be feasible now. My longer term aim is to redevelop- the cottages are aluminium (do Canadians spell that "aluminum" like in the US?) clad- in a nice suburb of brick veneer, so I really do have the worst house in the best street.

Interestingly enough, I was talking to another forumite, a town planner, about how to solve my problem. As we were talking, she asked me if the block was a battleaxe. It is. Then she asked me if there were three buildings. There are. And then she asked me if the tenant's names was "John". It is. She knows the tenant, and has been there socially a number of times.

I am thinking you could get a win, win out of this. Why not make the tenant a bird dog for you, and find himself a suitable place for you to buy. Obviously something not too expensive, but just think, how agressive he could be in bargaining the price down for you. It means he'd have a place to move into.

geoffw said:

Kathryn

A connector would not be feasible now. My longer term aim is to redevelop- the cottages are aluminium (do Canadians spell that "aluminum" like in the US?)

Click to expand...

Yes we spell it like that, of course with the pronunciation a-lu-min-um.
You cannot imagine the amount of conversationsm Rob gets out of that here.
I just tell him we try to conserve our syllables and it's cheaper if you are paying "by the letter" if you are making a sign with the word in it.

Brenda

A good thought. Though I'm not looking t getting into the Canberra market just yet.

Now if he was going to Melbourne or Sydney, that could be a different matter. Especially if the flock of bats gets sold on Saturday.

I was discussing the issue of the tenant with another forumite- and well into the conversation, she realised that she knew the tenant- and in fact had been on the premises on a number of occasions playing cards. She had never realised that the property was mine.

The tenant called to give notice today. He has found accommodation. With the aforesaid forumite. Which is a great relief to me- I can start moving forward now on strata titling. Thank you very much Ms Forumite- that's hugely appreciated.

geoffw said:

I was discussing the issue of the tenant with another forumite- and well into the conversation, she realised that she knew the tenant- and in fact had been on the premises on a number of occasions playing cards. She had never realised that the property was mine.

The tenant called to give notice today. He has found accommodation. With the aforesaid forumite. Which is a great relief to me- I can start moving forward now on strata titling. Thank you very much Ms Forumite- that's hugely appreciated.

Click to expand...

Well down the track now- though I haven't checked for a few months. I've just come across this thread again.

The arrangemts has suited both myself, the great tenant, and the former forumite well.

Not just a win win, but a win win win.

As an aside- when he left, I lost one income (there were three cottages, now two, on the block).

But the rents on the remaining two have gone up tremendously- enough to cover the missing tenant, as well as the extra costs of taking it back to a property manager.