First vacating tenant...

[GZM]

I received a letter for property manager this morning letting me know that a tenant of ours is vacating in 30 days!

The lease only expires in December though...so they're breaking the lease.

Can somebody let me know what questions I should be asking of the property manager? Particularly, what are our rights with respect to:

(a) any advertising fees etc charged by the property manager for finding a new tenant?

(b) any rent that we miss out on in the period between the tenant leaving and us getting a new tenant?

Thanks in advance!

 

[LynnH]

GZM

If the tenant is breaking the lease s/he will normally be responsible for the payment of any advertising/letting costs and all rent up until the date a new tenant moves in.

Why don't you logon to the website for the Residential Tenancies Authority (or whatever it is called in Victoria) - they will usually have a stack of information on this sort of thing. Then once you are familiar with your rights/responsibilities as LL, speak to your PM.

Cheers
LynnH

 

[TheCamel]

yep, ask them what they are diong, what's being done to cover your costs while a new tenant is located.

ie, will they make the tenant continue to pay rent until a new tenant is found ?

 

[alexlee]

I received a letter for property manager this morning letting me know that a tenant of ours is vacating in 30 days!

The lease only expires in December though...so they're breaking the lease.

Why are you letting them break the lease? What conditions have you agreed to? e.g. they keep paying until you find another tenant, or you get the money from their bond?

Your landlords insurance may cover you for the period between them leaving and you finding a new tenant.
Alex

 

[TheCamel]

Why are you letting them break the lease? What conditions have you agreed to? e.g. they keep paying until you find another tenant, or you get the money from their bond?

Your landlords insurance may cover you for the period between them leaving and you finding a new tenant.
Alex

obviously he hasn't necessrily agreed to it - the PM has.
Actually - that's the critical questioon to ask the PM: Why is the first I hear of this via a letter, why didn't you ring me to talk to me about it ?

 

[alexlee]

obviously he hasn't necessrily agreed to it - the PM has.
Actually - that's the critical questioon to ask the PM: Why is the first I hear of this via a letter, why didn't you ring me to talk to me about it ?

I've had tenants wanting to break the lease. The PM told me about it when the tenant first raised it, and we agreed that they would keep paying me rent until I found a new tenant. In the end I found a new tenant pretty quickly but deducted the rent for the vacant period from their bond.

Definitely talk to your PM again. At the very least ask them what happens to the bond when the tenant vacates.
Alex

 

[granev]

I have broken a lease twice - both times I just had to pay until a new tenent was found , fortunately both times were within 2 - 3 weeks , so the money just came out of my bond

I had a tenent break a lease last year , again the place was re leased within 2 weeks so the shortfall was taken out of the bond.
The thing you will be up for is the fee the property manager charges to re lease the place , and it has to be re leased at the same rent as the person that previously had it paid

 

[George]

I would be also looking at my options regarding my RE Agent.
They should be working for you not with tenant against you.

Some questions have to be asked as why RE Agent took this approach?

 

[GZM]

Thanks everyone - I've put a call through to the REA, but still waiting to hear from them.

I'll let you know if any complications...

 

[imonmyway]

It should be outlined in the lease agreement what the tenants are responsible for

 

[GoAnna!]

I would just be confirming with PM that tenant will pay for advertising, rent until new tenant moves in plus letting fee. You personally should not be out of pocket. The tenant is breaking the lease not you.

I thought start with checnking what the current market rent is. It may be in your interests to release them from the lease and relet it at market rates rather then the current rental amount.

 

[Mishca]

I received a letter for property manager this morning letting me know that a tenant of ours is vacating in 30 days!

The lease only expires in December though...so they're breaking the lease.

Can somebody let me know what questions I should be asking of the property manager? Particularly, what are our rights with respect to:

(a) any advertising fees etc charged by the property manager for finding a new tenant?

(b) any rent that we miss out on in the period between the tenant leaving and us getting a new tenant?

Thanks in advance!

Your PM should tell you the following:
1. the tenant is responsible for all the rent until the day that the new lease starts.
2. you can't advertise the property for more than what the lease that ends in dec is - so make sure your lease has a rent increase written in to take effect after the date that the original lease should have expired.
3. the tenant is responsible for any and all advertising costs
4. if you have a "letting fee" the tenant has to pay a pro-rata amount - that means that if the fee is $120 - and the tenant has 4 months to go before the lease should have expired - the tenant has to pay $40 and you have to pay the balance.
5. the tenant has to allow your PM to show prospective tenants thru for at least 14 days before they vacate.
Get onto your PM as if the place is empty for too long - good luck getting the costs from the old tenant