can they extend the lease without telling us??

[suffragette]

hi everyone!
the tenant who's renting our house is supposed to be out by mid this week
but then we noticed that they've paid rent for the next month!
we've been trying to contact the property manager, but she's always out!!
can they do that? extend the lease without even consulting us?

we were planning to move in ourselves next week!

 

[Belu]

did you give notice to leave?

 

[suffragette]

no...
i'm pretty new at this. so then it is normal for the tenant to stay there because i havent given them notice to leave??

i assume when the lease expires they would move out. or at least we wouldve heard from our property manager. we're now giving the tenant a month to vacate the property.

 

[wylie]

If their lease has finished, and you haven't given them notice to vacate, they sound like they have rolled into a periodical lease situation.

In Queensland, in this situation, the landlord would have to give two months' notice, and any time within that two months, they could give the landlord two weeks' notice that they are leaving.

Not sure about other states, but if you wanted to move back in, you should have given them the appropriate notice.

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

In the absence of any other instructions, at the end of a lease it simply becomes a month by month arrangement. If you want them to vacate the property so you can move in, you need to contact your managing agent for them to give the appropriate notice, which is AT LEAST 60 days.

From your description of the problem, I suspect the tenants have no intention of moving out in the near future and you can't expect them to.

I recently had a problem contacting one of my property managers. A few not-so-subtle threats revealed the assistant wasn't doing a good job of passing on my calls. I now have the agents mobile and email and don't even bother to call his office. Things now work much smoother, I find I get a better level of service from individuals, not businesses.

 

[Xenia]

They need a written notice of not renewing the lease. In the absense of this notice the lease will default to periodic so you need to use the periodic agreement guidelines (60 days notice I think) to get them out.

Property managers are always out, that's part of their job description leave an email message for them to follow up.

 

[suffragette]

thanks for the advice guys!

we did try to get her mobile number
the receptionist didnt want to give it out. anyways, she called back today.
looks like we'll have to give the tenant the 60 days notice. but she said she's gonna call them and see what we can work out

 

[poppy]

I think it is really poor when a PM doesn't contact a landlord close to the expiry of a fixed term lease to find out their wishes.

Even if it was a note with their monthly statement saying "lease is expiring, we suggest renewing for XX months at $XX dollars... otherwise this will turn into a periodical lease... etc". With the landlord just having to confirm Yes or No to agree to lease renewal or not (or even just agree by default by no response).

I really think this should be standard practise for a PM and would have totally avoided the situation the OP is in.

I am sure with PMs like Xenia it would be standard practise to contact the landlord prior to the fixed term lease expiring, with a recommendation on rental increase if they wish to renew the lease.

 

[suffragette]

hi poppy
that's exactly what we thought
we're definitely not going to use them to manage our property after this!

 

[suffragette]

here's what's been happening
after that last phone call more than a week ago, she still hasnt call us back to let us know what the tenant wants.
we've been callinng everyday and left messages, sending emails and no reply!!! this is so frustrating!
is there anyone we can complain to? this is so unprofessionnal!

we're planning to go to their office this weekend!

 

[Dazz]

we were planning to move in ourselves next week!

So where are you staying at present - and what type of knock-on effect does this have for your situation. Where are you going to stay for the next 60 days whilst this notice period is served ??

 

[suffragette]

luckily i'm still living in my parent's place :

if i have to be out by that date, i would chase those tenants out of my house

 

[Dazz]

i would chase those tenants out of my house

Good luck with that - make sure you have a ripper of an excuse as the police haul you off in their paddy wagon.

I think you are under some false assumption that the Owner of the house has any real power in these circumstances....but alas, we've been down this path before.

You jest - I am sure.

 

[suffragette]

yap i'm well aware now that as landlords, we're less protected than the tenants

 

[granev]

yap i'm well aware now that as landlords, we're less protected than the tenants

I wouldnt be dirty on the tenant - they would have no idea when the lease was up - I would be dirty on the PM , they should have rung you 60 days out to see if you wanted to re-lease and increase rent etc.

Doesnt sound like they are working real well for you.

 

[kyliej]

I agree it should be your PM that you are complaining about, they should contact you at lease two months prior to the end of the lease to seek your instructions. There is no excuse for not replying to your messages. Sometimes Pms are not contactable on mobile, if they are out of the office the are normally at an appointment, driving or at lunch and sometimes calls taken when driving are soon forgotten when we return to the office and are swamped by other immediate problems. Email is best, that way you have proof of what contact you are trying to make.

If you are having no luck you should go to the owner of the business, that usually gets things happening.

 

[suffragette]

i dont mean to complain about the tenants by what i said.
i know it's not their fault, so i'm happy to give them proper time to look for another rental

very unhappy with the service from my pm!
she finally called yesterday afternoon! took her more than a week to call back!
i understand her being busy and all, but to take a week to return a call
i will report her to the owner if this keeps happening