Not informed of expired lease

[jennyn]

Me again!

When I rang PM on 9/1/06 I asked when the lease expired as tenant moved in in January '05 and I hadn't heard anything from PM. She looked it up on the computer and said it expired in JULY '05!

I realise part of it's my fault as I didn't keep track of when the lease expired but I think it's pretty sloppy of them not to inform me of the lease expiring considering I'm paying 7.7% in Sydney for an agency with a "good" reputation.

I agreed to put up the rent by $5 per week and PM said she would have to give tenant 60 days notice. I just want to check this is correct as tenant is on expired lease now and will sign new lease when rent goes up after 60 days notice according to PM.

 

[geoffw]

Many leases when they expire automatically change over to a periodic lease- with all the same conditions of the original lease except that neither the tenant nor yourself is bound to a fixed period of time.

 

[Xenia]

Yes, I agree with Geoff, Unless either the tenant or the landlord has agreed to cancel the lease, it continues under periodic conditions, even if the original lease was fixed term.

all the appropriate paperwork including a 60 day notice to increase rent has to be served to the tenant because the lease is still in place.

However, if you do pay a property manager, they should MANAGE your property and that should include more than sitting there waiting for rent to collect (you could do this yourself). Part of managing means that your tenant should have been given the option to renew another fixed term agreement at the expiry date. This would better gaurd you against vacancies and also keeps the paperwork neater!

Hope this helps

 

[redwing]

Its happened to me before as well, I prefer the fixed period tenancy and ensure I have reminders set up prior to renewals..then I discuss with the PM re: raising rent etc

 

[Rixter]

I have a big white board divided up into sections with each IP having its own section, on the wall in my office.

For each property I list all the important info pertaining to it such as the Tenants Lease Expiry date, my Property Managers Management expiry date, Bank loan account number, Current fixed interest rate, fixed term expiry date, the day of the month interest payable, and any other things that may need following up ie repairs etc.

All this info is written large enough within easy view of my office desk & phone.

Hope this helps.

 

[Xenia]

I find it easier to manage the tenants directly than to manage the property managers.

Our most stressfull properties are overseas where we deal with PMs and have no control. Our Australian ones that I manage myself are a Breeze!!!!

 

[Lofty]

Hi Jenny

A couple of points that may be of interest about NSW residential tenancy agreements/lease are:
1. They normal roll over to "month to month" on completion of the lease period.
2. If you want your tenants to be obliged to move out at the conclusion of the lease, you must give them written notice of same, at least 14 days before the lease expires.
3. If you do not give your tenants this 14 days written notice and the lease rolls over into "month to month", you then have to give your tenants 60 days notice to quit.

Cheers, Paul

 

[Rixter]

I find it easier to manage the tenants directly than to manage the property managers.

Our most stressfull properties are overseas where we deal with PMs and have no control. Our Australian ones that I manage myself are a Breeze!!!!

Xenia, what do you do or how do you set up your management contigencies if/when you travel away on business or pleasure for extended periods of time ?

 

[Xenia]

Hi Rixter,

Anything is possible but you need to know the laws backwards. I was managing our properties while leaving in Canada for 3 years. I check tenant payments via internet banking. If anyone is in default, we follow up with a phone call. appropriate forms were sent to tenants to increase rent etc, but you need to allow extra days for postage delays.

The biggest challenges were to sign up new tenants when old ones left. You need a PM for that! We got relatives to do it, and I steped them through the process.

In saying all that, I think a GOOD property manager is a valuable asset as they save you alot of time and hassel. I just havent found one that can do a better job than than I can

The biggest problem is that I can get higher rents than a property manager can, so they not only eat into profits, but they achieve lower rents as well

also, we dont have hundreds of properties, so it's not such a big issue for us to manage them ourselves at this stage.

 

[Ol School Skata]

Me again!

When I rang PM on 9/1/06 I asked when the lease expired as tenant moved in in January '05 and I hadn't heard anything from PM. She looked it up on the computer and said it expired in JULY '05!

I realise part of it's my fault as I didn't keep track of when the lease expired but I think it's pretty sloppy of them not to inform me of the lease expiring considering I'm paying 7.7% in Sydney for an agency with a "good" reputation.

I agreed to put up the rent by $5 per week and PM said she would have to give tenant 60 days notice. I just want to check this is correct as tenant is on expired lease now and will sign new lease when rent goes up after 60 days notice according to PM.

Jennyn,

this has happened to me to previously with a block of units in the Isa. At the time i had a really great property manager who kept me informed of everything - leases expiring, ways to improve rent, keeping tenants happy etc. I got a little too comfortable in this relationship. After about 4 weeks of not hearing from her, i called looking for her. I was informed she had left and someone else was now managing the property. Well this new PM had no idea when the lease lapsed or the others were expiring and after checking told me unit one lapsed 3 weeks ago, and one was expiring in 2 days!!! Needless to say i reminded her i was paying her company to manage them on my behalf. After several weeks of checking on how the issue of new leases was going, none of the tenants had resigned and were on a periodic lease. She advised that it was ok as this was how her company always dealt with expiring leases. I said Bull@#$t it was and the previous manager would not have done this. One of the tenants had stopped paying rent for a few weeks as well!!!!!

Anyway I now have a new PM from the same office (still was not informed of the appointment of a new property manager) and things seem to be going a little smoother (so far)

Lesson Learnt - always keep an eye on the lease expiry dates and manage the PM as things can quickly change with changes in staff.

OSS

 

[plumtree]

When a lease come to the end of the stated term it is not unusual for the agreement to continue on a periodic basis. In fact, my guess is that more continue on this basis than by signing a new lease. I am very comfortable with this arrangement because it allows more flexibility in applying rent increases. With a lease you are locked in for a year/6 months but you can increase the rent on a periodic lease with 2 months notice. It would only take a few interest rate hikes to put some properties in the red.

 

[Rixter]

Hi Rixter,

Anything is possible but you need to know the laws backwards. I was managing our properties while leaving in Canada for 3 years.

Xenia, I must take my hat off to you for what you have achieved thus far. Investing locally is one thing but creating & running your portfolio from the otherside of the world is simply a mind blowing obstacle to overcome.

Well Done!