Resi Lease Q.

[CHAOS]

Hi

Tenants lease ends in Feb.
Need to give 60days notice for rent increase
Need to give 120 days notice to vacate.

Is it correct that the tenant only has to give 14 days notice if they wish to leave?

So in the above scenario. If the lease ends in Feb and notice to vacate is issued in November for March. Does the tenant have to see out their original lease or can they issue 14 days notice anytime from when they are issued a notice to vacate?

Sorry guys my PM doesn't work Sundays.

 

[Perp]

Which state?

 

[Scott No Mates]

The lease has specific clauses relating to termination at the end of the lease. Different clauses if the tenant occupies on holdover.

 

[Salvatore1]

If currently in lease until Feb then tenant has to give 14 days notice to vacate up to the and including the last day and landlord has to give 30 days notice, to complete at the end of their lease. 90 days notice by the owner if it is a continuous lease and a tenant 21 days. All must be in writing therefore an owner has to give an extra 4 days for postage. Yes 60 days notice for rental increase. I normally send to tenant 60 days before the end of the lease + postage. This all applies in NSW. If selling or sold different notice periods required.

 

[Lil Skater]

What you've said sounds like a Victorian lease.

If the lease ends Feb, you probably still have time to issue a 90 day end of lease NTV (less likely to be challenged at VCAT than a 120), but it must expire on the lease expiry date.

After a NTV is served, a tenant can give 14 days notice that they will be vacating, technically the tenant is meant to see out the remaining period of their lease - but I've not seen a VCAT member award the landlord compensation for a tenant breaking their lease in this instance.

 

[CHAOS]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes lil skater it's in Vic. Does the 90 days include postage? Tenant is on a 15mth lease and we were going to attend the 12mth inspection. From your info the ntv would need to be served before then.
Can we ask for an early inspection?

 

[Lil Skater]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes lil skater it's in Vic. Does the 90 days include postage? Tenant is on a 15mth lease and we were going to attend the 12mth inspection. From your info the ntv would need to be served before then.
Can we ask for an early inspection?

90 plus postage, which is anywhere from 3-5 business days depending on the day it's served.

I've just checked VCAT online and if it was served today via registered post, the expiry date would be 5th February. It automatically calculates it for you, so your PM should be able to tell you the latest date you need to serve the notice by.

You can ask to do an early inspection, I'm surprised you haven't already completed two inspections as if it's a new tenancy, you can do the first one at 3 months and the next at 9 months - I love that as it gives you time to decide whether to keep the tenant or not!

 

[CHAOS]

Yes lil you are correct there should have been one at 9mths. There was one at 3 and I was sent report 6 weeks later and 2 weeks later received a phone call saying they had pets on a no pets lease. Was told vcat always in favour of tenants on pet issue so no point breaching.
Tenant chose not to pay extra $10 per week for lawn mowing 700sqm block. She was also told if the yard got on top of her to let the pm know and we would mow it. Last Xmas we mowed it as we did a drive by and lawns had not been done. We did a drive by on the weekend and grass is knee high. There is no garden to tend to.
Obviously we are not impressed. It would take us an hour tops to mow and whipper snip if tenant had an issue and couldn't cut the grass. Now it is a brushcutter and rake job.

The decision now is to look at our options. Tenant can be sent breach notice for yard if in the same state at next inspection. We can increase rent. For this option we would like to increase $20 per week which includes gardener. That is a 10% increase so may be challenged. See what the inside is like and decide whether to ntv or not. Also change pms because they should have done the 9mth inspection and contacted me. This is not a budget priced pm either.

Other option is ignore - $ are going in the bank.

 

[Lil Skater]

10% on a $200pw property is unlikely to be challenged, they will likely just move if they don't like it.

If it is challenged, CAV determines market rent and I'd say $20 with gardening included would be fine (obviously not knowing the property).

Unfortunately your PM is kind of correct in VCAT and pets. Kind of, as the reason the decision is usually in favour of tenants, is because the RTA is completely silent. The only reason they would side with the landlord would usually be if the property is unsuitable. Ie. No fence, apartment etc.

If the tenants pay their rent on time, I'd just issue the increase now with gardening. If they leave, so be it!

 

[CHAOS]

Thanks lil skater. Spoke to pm a short time ago and had come to the conclusion you suggested just put the rent up and include gardening. Pm was not keen on the rent increase because things are slow. She also advised letting tenant roll onto a month to month arrangement. I'd prefer a lease in a slow market with good rent. They can't jump ship as easy if a house $25 per week comes up even if in not as good condition

 

[Lil Skater]

Just because you put the rent up with this tenant doesn't mean it needs to stay that way if/when they vacate.

Hopefully they stay and pay the money!