Hi all,
i just had a very disturbing phone call from a friend of mine here in canberra.
she put her IP on the market, and an acceptable offer has been accepted.
the tennants lease finishes at the end of the month. however the tennant has hired a solicitor who has stated the following.
my tennants rental agreement states that she has a 12 month contract with an option of another 12 months. she has decided to take up that option.
however she will vacate with the following conditions are met.
that the owner shall pay 1500 dollars for the removalist
that should the tennant be unable to find a property to rent at the same price (tennant currently under mates rates) that the owner shall pay the difference for 12 months.holy crap! has anyone had anything like this happen to them?
the RE agent has been very helpfull finding a new place for this person to rent etc, and its not as if the tennant didnt know the house was on the market.
i ended up telling my friend to get a solicitor ASAP, and have all future dealings done through them. I also told her to ring the RE agent and confirm that the tennancy agreement (for QLD) that she can actually take this option up.
i would have thought it was up to the landlord not the tennant to agree to that option.
anyones thoughts?
cheers all
shaunLead, Follow or get out of the bloody way
Hi Shaun,
Is the ‘Option’ that the tenant is referring to in writing somewhere? is it on the original lease agreement?
If you ask me, as long as she was aware of the property for sale (she was given or sent written notice by the PM) and the lease only has 12 months for the original time frame, then she’s got buckleys. Sounds like she’s trouble, but I would think that she would lose money trying to push that one. Silly bugger!
Cheers
(I’m interested in this one too if anyone has correct information on this one!)
[biggrin]
Tam
This will come down to the wording of the option in the lease agreement.
Under the Qld Land Titles Act, the new purchaser is bound by the original agreement including any options, as long as the agreement is less than 3 years.
The commentary about compensation ie the fact that the tenant could agree to leave early and in return have compensation paid to them for having to leave early, removal costs and other costs is correct.
James
who the hell puts an option in a residential lease.
Byronent
Adelaide SAthanks all, i will keep you posted.
as for an option, it must be a qld thing.
i’d never heard of it before, after all if you get a tennant from hell, why would you give them another 12 months in the house?
i will be meeting my friend again today, so i will let you know whats happening.
thanks for the repliesshaun
Lead, Follow or get out of the bloody way
as for an option, it must be a qld thing.
It’s not a ‘QLD’ thing… this must be agreed to with the landlord and tenant anywhere.. not just in this state.
Wasn’t the owner asked if this was ok at the beginning of the lease when they were being signed up?
Tam
the RE agent never even bothered to tell her.
it was originally her home until she moved interstate. she has literally no idea about real estate investing at all.
i know on my tennants agreement form there is no such clause in it, which is why i thought it must be a qld thing.
cheers
shaunLead, Follow or get out of the bloody way
That’s really bizzare then Shaun… I would seriously be questioning the Property Manager in that case. They’ve made a decision to agree to that for the tenant without consulting the owner.. and in most cases, the owner is spoken to before the agreement is signed up?
To include an ‘option’ like that on a tenancy agreement is really unusual. Having written up hundreds of tenancy agreements (in a past life), I had NEVER come across that.
The only situation would be if the tenant has already completed a term through a lease. When is had expired, and the owner knows that the tenants are behaving, the owner may want the tenant there forever and will give the go ahead for the option to be included on the next lease. But never on the first one.
Bit weird that one… let us know what happens when you get back from seeing your friend Shaun. I’m very curious! [biggrin]
Tam
If you ask me, as long as she was aware of the property for sale (she was given or sent written notice by the PM) and the lease only has 12 months for the original time frame, then she’s got buckleys. Sounds like she’s trouble, but I would think that she would lose money trying to push that one. Silly bugger
just found out the latest.
timtam you are absolutely right.
whats happened is the tennants father is a solicitor and is known as a bully around towoomba.
the property manager is a solicitor as well and says she has bucklies of getting it. the problem remains that whilst this is in dispute my friend cant sell the house.
the tennant has been told what would happen if she pursued this, and that when she loses the case she would be without references and black listed etc
without these references she would be out on the street without a hope of renting. the RE agent is currently bending over backwards to find her a new place to live, close to the same rents as she was paying. i will know more tomorrow (tuesday) when my friend gets the phone call from the RE agent saying she has agreed or not. my friend has offered her 500 dollars to help towards the tennants moveshaun
Lead, Follow or get out of the bloody way
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