Evicting Tenant Qld court hearing tommorrow

[ianp]

Hi,

I have self managed house with a tenant who has been a very poor payer , after giving them several chances and receiving lots of promises I finally issued them a breach notice and then a notice to leave.

On the day they were due to vacate they sent me a text saying they had no where to go and would be out asap . So the next day i went and lodged the papers at the local court to get them evicted .

Now tomorrow afternoon is the hearing and today i checked and they are still there and they have not paid any rent since i issued the notice to leave, can anyone advise me what happens next ?

Will I need to employ bailiffs to phisically remove them if they wont leave ?

 

[boomtown]

Well first you need a tribunal order for them to leave. They might claim undue hardship and the tribunal may give them more time.

Are you sure you should be self managing? It sounds like it is costing you more money than having a good PM.

 

[Anh]

Sorry to hijack the thread but mine is similar and court hearing in 2 weeks ( took 5 weeks to get the hearing date).

Would anyone have any experience on how long it will take from the court order date until the police come and evict the tenant ?

Thank you,

Anne

 

[ianp]

Well went to the hearing today , one of the tenants turned up 15 mins late just as the magistrate was ruling in our favour . He had to run through it all again and still ruled in our favour.
A classic reason for not paying the rent was offered "we are saving up for the bond on the next place so couldnt afford to pay any rent"

I really dont think the tenants had grasped the implications of the hearing . the warrant will be sent to the police and they will serve it on them and evict them , I dont think they will move out before the police turn up as they have had a few weeks from the notice to leave and they are still there.

Does anyone know what will happen to there possessions if they dont remove them ?

It would have been a lot easier if they had just paid there rent , and none of us would have had to go through this not very nice experience..

 

[Anh]

Hi,

How long did it take you from the time you lodge the form to the hearing date ?

For my case i think the tenant knows the rule (or even been through it before) it is not that they can't find another place, they are just bad tenants.

Pls kindly let me know how long it take from the court date until the police comes.

Thank you,

Anne

 

[ianp]

Pls kindly let me know how long it take from the court date until the police comes.

Hi Ann ,
it has been very quick from court application to hearing was only 12 days, the court told me the police have up to 14 days to serve the warrant, I will call them tomorrow to find out when it may be ,as i will need to get the locks changed.

 

[Anh]

Hi Ianp,

Where was your court heard ? would it be in Brisbane ? i wonder if i lodged it at a different court, would it be any quicker to get the hearing.

Thank you,

Anne

 

[Doovalacky]

Does anyone know what will happen to there possessions if they dont remove them ?

In WA you have to store them for 60 days, and notify the tenant of location. After that it is auctioned and the left over after storage fees goes into a rental accommodation fund.
Food can be thrown after 48hours and low value goods you can apply for a certificate saying you're allowed to dispose of it.

Disposing of stuff without following procedure can end up with you in front of the Magistrate court for a compensation hearing so its worth looking into what the correct procedure is for the state the IP is in.

 

[ianp]

Hi Ianp,

Where was your court heard ? would it be in Brisbane ? i wonder if i lodged it at a different court, would it be any quicker to get the hearing.

Anne

I believe you have to apply to the court that is the closest to the property, call your local court , I found they were very helpful .

 

[mattysavager]

Hi Anh,

As your property is in Brisbane, your claim will be heard at QCAT in the city.

The court will decide how long the tenants have to leave based on the evidence on the day. I know your tenants are not suffering any 'hardship', so the court SHOULD be pretty ruthless with getting them out.

Also - remember to ask the adjudicator to make a ruling on the tenant's belongings. You must store them for a certain amount of time, then have the items independently valued, then any items over a value threshold (I think it's $150 or so) must be sold by a public auction, advertised for one week in the local paper, and then the proceeds (less cost of you auctioning them) must be paid to the public trustee.

That is a PAIN IN THE A**

The adjudicator can say "they have 24 hours to take their belongings - dump what is left" - so make sure to ask for a decision on that.

Then when you have a warrant for vacant possession issued, call the local police station and organise a time to go and kick them out with the police. Also bring a locksmith with you (or change the locks yourself immediately).

Good Luck!

 

[Anh]

Thank you Matt for your call a while back. much appreciated.

I have given the tenant pretty much 2 months to move and also offer $ for the tenant to move, although the tenant accepted it, the tenant is still there. So i did all i could. Court hearing will be in over a week.

I have also obtained statements from the other tenants on the tenant's bad behaviour just in case the tenant plays up in court.

So hopefully i will get a satisfactory result.

It is a good learning process for me, with lots of good advice from you and others on the forum.

Cheers.

anne

 

[geoffw]

I've had to evict and store a tenant's stuff. He was a hoarder- the place was filthy and full of rubbish. It was a 1br unit with enough stuff to fill a 3br house.

I had to remove and store his stuff until he could collect it- I don't remember what the time limit was (NSW). Fortunately there was storage space available on the property, but the process of removal and cleaning/renoing was a horrible dirty job.

 

[khadkah]

Hari

Dear All

I have a tenant in Darra who hasn't paid for many months inspite of sendig many request and trying to compromise with patment schedule etc. I have sent notice of rent arrear and notice to leave but this tenant is very stubborn and would not respond at all.

I have applied for eviction with QCAT and the hearing date is on 5 April 2013. I doubt if this tenant will turn up for the hearing. Even after the court order I doubt if the police can succeed to evict her. This is a very extreme case. I'm so stressed out. Can any one help me please?

Hari

 

[Anh]

If the court decides in your favour to evict the tenant, then they will send the order to the Police which in my case took another 2 weeks from the court order date to the date the police would turn up at the property to make the tenant move out ( reason being to let the tenant have time to move).

Don't worry too much, i will be over eventually, as long as you have insurance, it will hopefully cover most of the lost rent.

All the best.

Anne

 

[geoffw]

In my case in NSW they sent a sheriff and a locksmith. The tenant was not in so the sherrif was not needed.

I'd suggest that it future you have a property manager look after the property. A PM would have taken a lot of this stress away from you. And get on top of a bad rent situation quickly. And have landlord insurance if you don't have it already.

 

[Peterw]

Hari and Anne. If I recall correctly, you need to ensure that you issues the required notices etc, when due. Delays in issuing them, you may jeapodise your cover under you insurance policy.

 

[joanmc]

Hari, if QCAT finds in your favour, the police will get her out. Make sure you have someone to change the locks straight away and get a determination on any goods left behind as to whether you need to store them or can throw them out.
We have just gone through this process with a house over Christmas which added weeks to getting them out! We filled a 6m3 skip bin with rubbish I hope yours isn't that bad.

 

[Specialist]

Does anyone know what will happen to there possessions if they dont remove them ?

QUOTE]

Legislation is very lengthy regading this topic, too much to write, click here for all the information.

Abandoned goods - http://landlordspecialists.com.au/during-tenancy/abandoned-goods/

Abandoned premises - http://landlordspecialists.com.au/during-tenancy/abandoned-premises/