Surely there's something that gives us Landlords a right to kick them out!!??

[Mamaof3]

Our tenant is behind on rent and our property manager has issued several Form 2's which apparently give them 7 days to pay up and a further 7 days to vacate but if they pay up at any time within this period it cancels the Form 2.

I asked our PM surely there's a limit as to how many times you can issue a Form 2 but she said there isn't! I'm so peeeeved off at the fact that they can be issued a Form 2 pretty much every fortnight and pay on the 14th day so to speak and get away with things.

We gave them an extension for their bond which is now overdue also.

Gosh i'm so annoyed at how the system protects bad tenants and doesn't protect us landlords who do the right thing.

I'm assuming this is quite a common scenario...any thoughts as to what we may be able to do to get them kicked out?

 

[BoatBoy]

Why were they allowed to move in without the bond being paid?


Dave

 

[skater]

Why were they allowed to move in without the bond being paid?


Dave

I was going to ask the same question. A responsible PM would NEVER allow a tenant to move into your property without receiving a bond beforehand.

 

[Mamaof3]

she gets paid monthly and the timing was off....poor excuse i know.
i stupidly gave her an extension

mistake on my part and never going to be that stupid again but what i need is for some way for me to kick them out ciz its going to be an ongoing prob....they dont even call or email the PM to let her know its going to be late or that they cant pay...they just wait till they get their notice and pay on day 14....i need them out of our hard earned house now..........suggestions????

 

[Pecan]

Ideas.
Check these with the regulations in your state.
1. Let them know IN WRITING that the Bond needs to be paid within 14 days and if it is not paid to your account witihin this time that you will deduct it from the next rent payments. This will place them in arrears so do the normal Notice of Arrears thing, they can rectify the problem (and stay, and you will have Bond) or leave by court order, and you still have the Bond.
2. Ask PM to lodge them onto NTD and tica so they find it a little harder to find their next residence.
3. Have the PM arrange an inspection asap. They will have to give written notice etc but it should be in about two weeks. Then have the PM breach them on each and every breach they can fine - long grass, rubbish, wrecked cars, cleanliness, damage, whatever. The tenant to be notified in writing that the breaches are to be remedied within 14 days, there will be another inspection at that point to ensure breaches fixed, if not proceed with termination. Harder for the tenant to fight this than the rent arrears which they are obviously playing you with!
4. If they are in a fixed term lease, do not renew it. If they are periodic, give notice. No need to continue to put up with their rubbish.

 

[Xenia]

The only thing I can suggest is NEVER allow a tenant to enter a property without a bond being paid, we make them move in a week later when they actually have the bond and 2 weeks rent.

Don't renew the lease.

Yes it is all weighted in favour of tenants and you can only work with the law that is there but tenants do not need to be given any favours or extensions on top of an already favourable legislation.

 

[skater]

Ideas.
Check these with the regulations in your state.
1. Let them know IN WRITING that the Bond needs to be paid within 14 days and if it is not paid to your account witihin this time that you will deduct it from the next rent payments. This will place them in arrears so do the normal Notice of Arrears thing, they can rectify the problem (and stay, and you will have Bond) or leave by court order, and you still have the Bond.

This is great advice. This will get the Bond & force them to pay up within a reasonable timeframe. You still have to follow all the usual guidelines, through the Tribunal, to get them evicted, & you might just find out that they can suddenly pay the Bond & still jerk you around by paying on the last day possible for the remainder of the lease, but like the others have said, just don't renew the lease.

 

[steveadl]

Welcome to the club Kim! I get a Form 2 usually about once every 3-4 weeks. One tenant mainly, and another one has started recently. Same situation as you, they always pay just in time except once when my PM had to take them to tribunal, and was issued a payment order for them to remedy by set dates or face immediate eviction.

To be honest, I don't let it get to me. They come in the mail, I have a quick glance at which property it is, then throw them out. They always end up paying, and yes they shouldn't be behind - but at the end of the month, I still get the same cash whether they're technically behind or in front.

The tenant that does it pretty much every month is otherwise a good tenant, no complaining, no issues etc. so I let it slide. I could kick her out at any time since she's on a periodic lease, but it doesn't bother me. In fact my PM said she was in the office last week crying to her and begging my PM 'please tell your LL not to kick us out.' My PM replied 'well then you have to start getting your s&$^ together!'

As long as she is otherwise ok, and is willing to pay the rent at some point (I've just increased it by $10pw), it's ok. That leads me to my other tenant...

This tenant has fallen behind for the 2nd time now this year. They however have decided to become a thorn in our side because I put the rent up by $10pw (still $20pw below market). They have now callen twice this year so far with nuisance maintenance issues I assume just to pay us back for the increase in rent.

This tenant hasn't been as bad with falling behind in rent, but they however will be evicted once their lease ends in May. After the 2nd round of nuisance calls last week, I and my PM have had enough, and I've told her I want him out. She said 'no problem.' I don't know under what circumstance/reason she is evicting them - don't really care either. I received the eviction notification for them in the mail yesterday.

 

[Mamaof3]

Thanks for the advice Steve, you made a good point in that so long as the total rental income is the same at the end of the month, not really important that they don't pay fortnightly. But come to think about it, i think they're actually more than a month behind in rent which is what urks me . Its ridiculous, don't they have to be in arrears for something crazy like 12 days before a form 2 can be issued? then they get a further 14 days to cough up the dough?

Lucky for us this is a freehold so there's no mortgage repayment committments for us. Just praying they don't cough up the money so we can get someone else in

Gosh the law really needs to change to protect us landlords as much as they protect the bad tenants!

 

[steveadl]

Agree with you Kim, I'm currently reviewing my commercial lease - and it's amazing the difference in the wording and restrictions! You're right - LL can't do a thing before they're 14 days behind, then they just issue the Form 2 to remedy within another 14 days (I think), and THEN something can be done. But there's nothing to stop the tenant from doing this literally every month ie. no 3 strikes and you're out sort of stuff, just like it's never happened before.

Not sure why residential landlords have to put up with so much bad behaviour, late payment etc.

 

[Erin]

There are very strict guidelines for lodging a tenant onto TICA or NTD. You can only list them on databases once the residential tenancy agreement has been terminated.

You can only lodge their details under the following conditions:
- For owing the landlord money for rent and/or damage caused intentionally or recklessly to the residential premises (but only if the amount owing exceeds the amount of the rental bond)
- Failure to pay an amount of money to the landlord in accordance with an order of the Consumer Trader & Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT)
- Where the CTTT has issued a termination and possession order for serious or persistent breach of the residential tenancy agreement
- Where the CTTT has issued a termination and possession order for serious damage or injury.

If you terminate the tenancy and they are (for example) 3 weeks behind in rent, you can't list them because the amount can't be less than the bond which is 4 weeks rent. If they pay up within 3 months, the PM has to remove them completely off the database within 7 days of being notified that they have paid. If they pay up after 3 months, they will remain on the database but the PM must make an entry that they have paid the debt, and then it is all deleted after 3 years. If at any time the tenants object, their objection must be noted on the database.

If they are on a periodic lease then give them the 60 days required notice and get them out of there. They are going to be a problem for the remainder of the tenancy otherwise.

It's amazing how many renters adopt the victim mentality, thinking landlords and the rest of the world owe them something!

I actually have a friend who is constantly in arrears and then whinges when the PM comes down on him. He said to me once that "The landlord seems like a decent bloke i'm sure he understands people struggle".. Yet he recently bought 3K worth of new furniture (including the mandatory plasma ) on credit card. His reasons for not paying rent on time - "I really need to pay my credit card debt off".....

kimandand - live an learn. Best of luck.

 

[Rainshadow]

Actually Erin your PM SHOULD be able to lodge a tenant during the tenancy. We do. We lodge tenants under the "current tenant" classification. We cannot at that stage add comments like "idiot tenant that is constantly in arrears" or "avoid with bargepole" but we lodge them anyway. The logic is, if they are applying to rent someplace else, we want the new PM to give us a call when checking references. Then we can talk about them over the phone. If I'm checking a prospective tenant's references, I always call any listings on NTD or TICA. It also means the tenant cannot skip that piece of their rental history (ie fudge the dates) when they are applying for other places... once they vacate, then you can amend the listing with further details regarding arrears or whatever. And if a tenant finds it that little bit harder to find a new place, it may encourage them to achieve a tidy end at the current house - pay rent owing, leave the house clean, that sort of thing!

 

[Bushy]

If they are messing you around on purpose why not just increase the rent to 10% above market or the max that you can and force their hand.

Kimandand,
It shouldn't matter if your IP is freehold or not, they still owe you money, and that money can be working for you. The tenants will not take responsibility for the actions until it hurts and they have to make changes. I don't think you are helping them if you allow them to use you.

Regards Bushy