how to get rid of tenant !!!

I have along standing problem with this tenant but i am absolutley fed up wiht them and the property manager.
The tenant was more than 1 month behind on rent, PM advised we should apply to tribunal to ask them to leave. Tribunal views the case and says they can stay bc tenant's partner is pregnant and has a sick child. But tribunal says they can stay for an extra 4 months.
Now they are 1.5 months behind on rent....PM doesnt even tell me what is happening til i ring them to today to find that out.
I think they are applying for a money order to get them to pay.
what can i do.???? i want my property back...i do not want them in there for another 3 months bci know they will continue to not pay their rent on time!
 
When the tribunal gives orders like that, it normally comes with an order to pay a small sum each week to bring the arrears up to date. If they don't do this, and continue to get more in the red, you can go back to tribunal and ask for vacant possession.
 
What a load of rubbish. You can't walk into Woolworths and ask for a couple of months grace to pay for groceries. Why should a landlord be forced to become a charity at the discretion of the tribunal and then struggle to service a mortgage. A great way to reinforce society’s tolerance for a lack of personal responsibility.
 
What a load of rubbish. You can't walk into Woolworths and ask for a couple of months grace to pay for groceries. Why should a landlord be forced to become a charity at the discretion of the tribunal and then struggle to service a mortgage. A great way to reinforce society’s tolerance for a lack of personal responsibility.

On a rare occassion I spoke to a tenant who had not paid rent and likened the situation to theft. I said it was like getting a taxi and then doing the bolt when it stopped. They said that wasn't theft that was 'doing a runner'.

Go figure, some people can justify not paying rent, and the Tribunal enforces their position. They don't ask they just stay for free and clearly it's their right to do so.

As a Landlord we should do our best to screen applicants. Even when we have a PM we should review the applications. This does not remove the risk of a bad tenant, even good tenants have been known to turn bad when their circumstances change.

Consider the following:

1. It is not considered stealing and no crime has been committed if a tenant does not pay their rent.

2. The tenant has the legal right to remain in the premises in arrears as long as the Tribunal deems fit.

3. It is the Landlord's responsibility to fix things promptly even when the tenant is in arrears.

4. It is the Landlord's responsibility to reduce the risk of financial loss by doing all in their power (which is not much) to have the tenant removed. This means taking action as soon as an issue occurs.

5. It is the Landlord's responsibility to reduce the risk of financial loss by re-letting the premises as soon as possible after they has been vacated. This may take sometime as again there is no way of forcing a tenant to clean up their mess.

As an investor we take the risk, not the tenant. Blaming the tenant when they don't hold up their end of the bargain is a waste of time and effort.

The only logical thing to do is to get appropriate insurance in case this non-crime should occur.

Regards

Andrew
 
Interesting post Andrew, as a prospective residential property investor it's an eye-opener. Certainly makes me disregard any thought of investing in a low socio-economic area where the risk of feral tenants is higher. For me the anger of having to deal with such issues would outweigh the benefits of potentially higher capital gains and rental yield.
 
Interesting post Andrew, as a prospective residential property investor it's an eye-opener. Certainly makes me disregard any thought of investing in a low socio-economic area where the risk of feral tenants is higher. For me the anger of having to deal with such issues would outweigh the benefits of potentially higher capital gains and rental yield.

Don't let him put you off. We have many in low socio areas. The tribunal does eventually get them out and as long as you have good landlord insurance, all is well. The ratio of really bad tenants is actually quite low.
 
Interesting post Andrew, as a prospective residential property investor it's an eye-opener. Certainly makes me disregard any thought of investing in a low socio-economic area where the risk of feral tenants is higher. For me the anger of having to deal with such issues would outweigh the benefits of potentially higher capital gains and rental yield.

Whether this is only something that happens in low socio-economic areas I cannot say. However our portfolio is made up of a number of outer Sydney and country properties with good yields. If one tenant falls behind it has less impact on us than say two heavily negatively geared properties with one in arrears.

Regards

Andrew
 
Whether this is only something that happens in low socio-economic areas I cannot say. However our portfolio is made up of a number of outer Sydney and country properties with good yields. If one tenant falls behind it has less impact on us than say two heavily negatively geared properties with one in arrears.

Regards

Andrew

A fair point, but as all my eggs will be in one basket with my initial IP, so I will probably err on the side of caution. (A month or two of a tenant not paying would really bleed my reserves.) Once I build a portfolio in a few years I will be in a better position to follow your example. :)
 
Someone must have heard my ranting bc Pm rang this afternoon and the tenant has already packed and moved out (apparently a few days ago) . No idea what state the house has been left in. The tenant didnt think he needed to pay what he owed though. Anyhow, now i can look for a new tenant and claim some money back from landlord insurance. Landlord insurance is going ot hate me...this is the 2nd claim in 2 yrs. would they refuse to cover me in the future ?
 
Something you can counter attack with...

Isn't that poposterous!

This is what I would have countered in the Magistrate in the first place, and in most cases it is true...but your pm should've advised you!

I have done this in the past....

Tenat broke up relationship, heavily pregnant...claimed had nowhere to go and couldn't afford at present.

Magistrate ruled: tenant permitted to reside if she was able to part pay rent in arrears over and above current rent obligation. (I can't believe the magistrate in your case would allow them to stay without making extra payments! - so double check this)

My request: Your honour, my client is also experiencing financial distress due to this matter because.......(eg wife doesn't work, owner just had child of their own, owner job hours were cut...) No doubt this amount of monies in arrears will place financial pressure of some sort, lessor are not bottomless pits. And the consequence of this your Honour is....(emotional stress, high blood pressure??? :) I'm sure no lessor would be laid back enough to shrug this off.
Your Honour, we will respect your decision on this matter, however, if the tenant should fail to meet the financial obligations you ordered, we request immediate termintation of tenancy agreement. (You can do this by fax in Qld once you have a ruling).

No magistrate will knock you back if you come part way to the party.

Please note, all owners are different but I have succesfully executed above tactics in the past...tenant always leaves shortly after on their own accord.
 
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Landlord insurance. I have claimed twice for the same property (diferent tenants) in the same year, LL insuarnce is still with the same company, and still the same premium. to refuse to insure, or jack up premiums is like car insurance refusing to insure you after a crash the other car was at fault in. Its not your fault the tenant didnt pay.
 
Start-up. - This is not a problem limited to lower socio economic areas. We have IPs across all sectors and "poor" areas can have just superb long lasting tenants. In fact, our biggest bad tenant probs. have been with "prestige" IPs.

But also as Skater says, overall, 14 years as landlord for me, select your tenants "as best you can" and this is not a major problem. In fact we have not had landlord insurance for years now and we're well ahead.

Also - if you really truly cannot stand a couple of months without rent, you should not play this game . Get some more capital behind you. No use not sleeping nights.

Goodluck
LL
 
Also - if you really truly cannot stand a couple of months without rent, you should not play this game . Get some more capital behind you. No use not sleeping nights.

Goodluck
LL

This is an excellent point and something that many newbie investors should take special notice of. Vacancies and bad tenants happen. It is something that all investors need to factor into the equation when deciding to purchase an IP.
 
So....i have since found out that the tenant has left the house in an absolute mess with rubbish and his belongings scatterd everywhere. the carpet is soiled and the place stinks.
I have a new agent helping me with apllying for landlords insurance. With regards to tenants belongings....can i just throw them out ? or do i need to apply to tribunal to do so or write to him to collect his stuff within x amount of time. this is all a bit confusing bc i have ot deal wiht 2 real estate agents (i changed agents when i found out the tenant had skipped town)
 
Check with your state tenancy association (RTA in Queensland). When one tenant left some clothing, keycards and personal things in a house and just left, we checked and were told that if they were under a certain value ($1000 from memory?) then we had to box them up and store them for three months, after which time we threw them out.

Higher value items obviously were to be dealt with differently and they would tell you what to do with items in that category.

We photographed the room where most of the "rubbish" was left to back up our reasoning behind the value we placed on it. Photographed up close too so it could be shown that it was nothing of high value.

We never heard back from this girl, so we assume she took what she wanted and left the rest.
 
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