What a joke !

[chris01]

I should have taken some photos of the brand new cooktop. The metal plates were covered with thick rust, just like it hadn't been used for at least10 years. I had to buy special solution and scrub off the rust.

This tenant took away my brand new kitchen sink plug / filter (it came with the sink), swapped the brand new energy saving light bulbs with old pear shaped light bulbs and even took the Yellow Pages with them when moving out. They just had their new house built so I am sure they didn't have Yellow Pages there.

I rented before, I always moved out my belongings one or two days earlier and then clean up the place, then handing over the key to the REs - this was the time I officially moved out.

 

[Lil Skater]

Are you saying what the tenant "says", supercedes what is written in the lease agreement?

Not quite, I meant the date that would have been specified on the offical notice to vacate. The lease agreement itself is generally irrelevant on that count, unless the tenant is vacating on or before the end of a fixed lease.

So as long as the tenants have given the correct notice to vacate then all is fine. If they've paid 2 days more rent, then they are entitled to a refund of that amount if they vacated on the correct date, if they simply dropped the keys back 2 days before they were meant to be out, then they're not entitled to a refund.

 

[vbplease]

Not quite, I meant the date that would have been specified on the offical notice to vacate. The lease agreement itself is generally irrelevant on that count, unless the tenant is vacating on or before the end of a fixed lease.

Sorry if this is getting off topic but, how/why would the date on the notice to vacate be different to the date on the lease?

 

[The Y-man]

If it were that bad, you should've left it and told the PM to chase them for bond money to cover the cleaning of the property..

Agree - is the issue here the refund of the rent or the fact the PM didin't do a proper exit report?

The Y-man

 

[Perp]

Just received an email from our IP manager. She said that the previous tenant overpaid two days of rental because they moved out 2 days early. So She wants us to pay back money.

I'm really pixxed off. The rental is calculated on weekly basis but NOT on daily basis.

As others have pointed out, particularly JamesGG, rent is calculated on a daily basis; it's advertised on a weekly basis for convenience, because that's how people usually think of their rent.

 

[alexlee]

I should have taken some photos of the brand new cooktop. The metal plates were covered with thick rust, just like it hadn't been used for at least10 years. I had to buy special solution and scrub off the rust.

This tenant took away my brand new kitchen sink plug / filter (it came with the sink), swapped the brand new energy saving light bulbs with old pear shaped light bulbs and even took the Yellow Pages with them when moving out. They just had their new house built so I am sure they didn't have Yellow Pages there.

As the others have said, the PM should have done an exit inspection?

 

[alplant]

Yep, definitely calculated daily in Queensland like everyone else has said. We even have a scenario where our tenants got in front when the rent increased and are now permanently something like $4.29 in credit. At least I think that's what it is, it has never really been explained.

But I know how frustrating it is that they get to come back after they have moved out so they can clean properly when they should have done it the first time. We had tenants who f*rt a*sed around for two weeks until we called a halt and said enough is enough. I tended to think that because they still had the keys they should have been paying rent, but nope, apparently they have to be given the opportunity to rectify things, never mind that we couldn't get anyone else in for those two weeks.

 

[Lil Skater]

Sorry if this is getting off topic but, how/why would the date on the notice to vacate be different to the date on the lease?

Well in Victoria a tenant can vacate at any time, I'd imagine this would be the same in most states - but there are a number of different scenarios.

When a fixed lease runs out it automatically turns into a periodic or month to month lease, this means that the tenant or LL can give notice at any stage provided they give the correct amount of notice.

If a tenant is in a fixed lease but wants to vacate and break their lease, they can, but there are a lot of fees involved for the tenant. Which may include rent up until the end of their lease or rent until a new tenant is put in the property, advertising fees, letting fees etc.

Usually tenants don't vacate on the end of the lease, unless they've been a bad tenant (and aren't able to be kicked out by tribunal) and the LL wants them out or if the tenant wants out ASAP without breaking the lease - which if they're in a fixed lease is the end of the lease. They just have to give suitable notice.

So just because a lease ends doesn't mean a tenant must vacate, they could be signed to a further lease or go month to month. Hope this makes a bit of sense.

 

[Pom]

may be I was wrong. Thanks for the input.

If I rent again, I know how I can save my money by moving out earlier then going back to clean up the house.

Perhaps you should just answer the simple question relating to the original post - did the tenant vacate on the date they stated in their vacation notice, which happened to not perfectly coincide with a weekly rent due date, or did they leave earlier than the agreed vacation date and then expect a rent refund?

You inability to respond suggests the former in which case, the tenant is due a refund of overpaid rent on pro rata basis.

If you then want to ***** about a lack of exit survey by your PM, start a new thread.

Wow, yellow pages gone eh? Criminal.

 

[Casserole Dish]

I would be annoyed too. It gets to the point that the little things all add up and yes, it is annoying when the tenants stuff you round (and take the Yellow Pages).

Be glad they've gone (it could have easily been worse) and hopefully you'll get better tenants next time.

 

[vbplease]

Yep, that all makes sense Lil' and is all the same in QLD as far as I know.

I guess my point was, the date to vacate should be that which is stated in the lease since Chris didn't mention anything about the tenant or himself giving notice to vacate early..

 

[wylie]

As a self-manager, I expect the IP to be clean and ready for someone to move in the morning after midnight on the day the tenants have paid up until.

If they have to come back to clean, I would be looking for them to be paying until it is ready to rent again - but we generally don't have any problems in this regards as we make it quite clear.

 

[chris01]

Yep, that all makes sense Lil' and is all the same in QLD as far as I know.

I guess my point was, the date to vacate should be that which is stated in the lease since Chris didn't mention anything about the tenant or himself giving notice to vacate early..

We told RE that tenant could move out any day when they were ready and we were flexible. No days were set.

 

[chris01]

As the others have said, the PM should have done an exit inspection?

I haven't seen "exit report" yet.

 

[wylie]

Just received an email from our IP manager. She said that the previous tenant overpaid two days of rental because they moved out 2 days early. So She wants us to pay back money.

We told RE that tenant could move out any day when they were ready and we were flexible. No days were set.

I really don't see a problem in that case .

If they have paid for the days they were there, isn't that okay with you?

Coming back to clean is not something I agree with, seeing that leaving it dirty means you cannot rent it again, and they should be paying until it is ready, in my opinion, but that doesn't seem to be what you are annoyed about.

 

[skater]

I'm a little confused. It appears that the OP was flexible with dates AND the PM not completely competant, but in the whole scheme of things is two days rental really going to be that important.

Learn from this and move on.

 

[Perp]

Wow, yellow pages gone eh? Criminal.

LMAO I thought the same thing! I didn't know anybody used the paper version any more; I've been trying to stop getting one delivered the past 10 years, as it just goes straight into the recycling bin.

 

[Lil Skater]

I guess my point was, the date to vacate should be that which is stated in the lease since Chris didn't mention anything about the tenant or himself giving notice to vacate early..

Well I guess I see what you mean, but it didn't state whether the tenant was on a fixed or periodic lease - So it's not clear.

We told RE that tenant could move out any day when they were ready and we were flexible. No days were set.

There should've been a date set, so there was no confusion. This should've been cleared up by your PM, just because you're flexible doesn't mean squat - The tenant should have said i'm leaving on X date and if not PM should've made them give a specific date.

If there was not a date set, then I think that it should follow the same rules as they left when expected, but had excess money on the account and are entitled to a refund of rent and next time you'll remember to get an exact date.

 

[chris01]

Well I guess I see what you mean, but it didn't state whether the tenant was on a fixed or periodic lease - So it's not clear.



There should've been a date set, so there was no confusion. This should've been cleared up by your PM, just because you're flexible doesn't mean squat - The tenant should have said i'm leaving on X date and if not PM should've made them give a specific date.

If there was not a date set, then I think that it should follow the same rules as they left when expected, but had excess money on the account and are entitled to a refund of rent and next time you'll remember to get an exact date.

I would love to rent your house. What I would do is handing over the key back to you and leaving all the dirt and junk in the house. Then I get key from you again and spend two days to clean up a week or two weeks later. So I can save two days of rental from you. I don't care when you will be able to get new tenants in. Thank you very much, you are a very kind and generous landlord.

 

[Lil Skater]

I would love to rent your house. What I would do is handing over the key back to you and leaving all the dirt and junk in the house. Then I get key from you again and spend two days to clean up a week or two weeks later. So I can save two days of rental from you. I don't care when you will be able to get new tenants in. Thank you very much, you are a very kind and generous landlord.

Nope, I'd just tell them they can have the key back the next day for that day. If they chose not to I'd go after the bond and if they didn't return the key i'd change the locks and be done with it, no big deal if you act swiftly.

I think you need to calm down about the whole situation as it seems you've blown it out of proportion, massively. It seems no matter the amount of input I and other forumites have put into this thread and how many have given you great replies to help you out, you seem to ignore it and become even more worked up.

No one has ever said your tenant was correct in what they did, but it seems there are quite a few issues to your situation rather than just the tenant getting a refund on rent. Which was the original question. Even if the property was left messy and dirty the tenant still has the chance to rectify the issues before claiming the whole or part of the bond.

All I can say is, thank your lucky stars that you didn't have a nightmare tenant that didn't pay the rent for 6 months and trashed the place making it uninhabitable, especially if this is firing you up.