Hi all.
my young friend purchased a unit with the first home owners grant,the unit had a tennant inplace.the lease has now expired and he needs to move in to the unit to hold onto the n/h/owners grant.the tennant is now refusing to leave.she is 94years old and has no where to go and didn,t bother to find anywhere.only has 1 family member and they are not being co operative as he thinks it,s unfair for the old lady to have to move,they are also threatening to go to the media.[you know the story old lady thrown out on the street]There had been a reminder notice sent to the tennant each month for the past 4 months.what can my young friend do?
cheers lynnemGive back the 7 grand!
I agree with Di_Cam. I personally consider it morally and ethically wrong to turf a 94 yr old on the street – I don’t care if it’s “only business” or not.
My two cents worth… [
]Alternatives:
1) Find her another place to move into with cheaper rents.
2) Offer her some money to move. Whether this be cash or letting her keep owed rent.I’m assuming that your friend MUST move into the unit?
Help her to find a new place?
Difficult situation, not much help sorry…..
Yes l did tell my young friend from day one that he may end up in this situation.l don,t think it,s fair to ask an elderly person to move either. and she has been the perfect tennant.l said give back the 7 gran cause l think it will end up costing far more.l guess we will be reading about it in the papers real soon.
thanks for the comments
cheers lynnemPut the rent up!! (within cpi limits and to “market” value of course).
Afterall if he follows the correct procedure why should it be different how old the tenant is as long as you stay within the law.
Everyone has a hard luck story make sure you document your side in case “a current beatup” oops affair comes knocking.
Legally, you could probably evict the granny, but from an ethical perspective, I’d be reluctant to do so, especially since the eviction process may become drawn out and nasty. It’ll be on your conscience if she carks it due to the stress of the whole fiasco.
I think that your friend is caught between a rock and a hard place. The easiest thing to do is probably to give back the 7G’s, and explain the situation to the State Revenue department so that they don’t wrongly accuse him of falsely claiming the FHOG and whack him with fines and penalties.
I think the moral of the story is that if you’re buying a property and claiming the FHOG, you must insist on vacant possession at settlement. Don’t try to be too clever and think you can have your cake and eat it. Because you could get burnt!
Cheers
Myes at settlement a new lease was drawn up and it was written that the lease would not be renewed as of august.the tennant accepted this and signed the new lease.not helping much now though.he has contacted the gov about the situation with grant ect.they have advise him to write a detailed letter to their office and it,s possible that he may be given an extension on the occupancy date due to the age and the possible adverse affects it may have.it will be interesting to see if they give an extension and will it be based on the term of the tennants life???????the property management have now drawn documents for a court hearing.ie eviction.one good thing to see is that the property manager didn,t go running for cover as the lease has expired and they were no longer managing the property.rare one hey?
cheers lynnemFind a cheaper renting place and forceably remove her and her stuff. Forget media backlash
I know she’s in her 90’s but please, does it need to cost someone $7000. At this rate, no one will rent out to 90 yr olds because they can’t bear to toss them out. She proabably just needs help moving, that’s all
G’day,
Now, I am a believer in property investing as being my path to what I want financially, but really, what type of person says this of a 94 year old??
*** “forceably remove her and her stuff” ***
Jeez I was mad when I read this. What have some of us become in the pursuit of a dollar? I feel sick, and angry [
!] I hope that when you are in your twilight years no-one takes this selfish, heartless attitude towards you, then again perhaps if they did, it might bring some late realisation on the benefits of treating people as FELLOW HUMANS not DOLLAR SIGNS in your earlier days. I believe in the saying that what goes around comes around.Hypothetically, if the woman in question did pass away due to the stress of the situation, how much would you value your $7k then? I’m tipping it wouldn’t bother some one iota…
I’m with Di_Cam – “Give back the 7 grand!”
I also agree with Elysium-M “Don’t try to be too clever and think you can have your cake and eat it. Because you could get burnt!”
I work at Channel 9, and I hope ACA does do a story on it, because I think there is more than a few people out there trying to pull dodgies with the first home owners grant.
r
Hi all
agree can’t kick her out
But
how about offering the lady free rent if she will let you share the property. It may not be the best solution, but if you want the 7k and don’t want to be remove the lady, and cannot get and extension this is another posibile way of fulfilling your FHOG committments.
westanWhen did this property settle? Your friend has 12 months from the settlement date to move into the property. If he/she does not, then they jsut hand the $7k back prior to 365 days passing, and I don’t think the state revenue will ask too many questions. He/she has a pretty decent explanation anyway.
However, no matter the age of this person, if they are a tenant they are subject to the tenants act. I’m not saying put her out in the cold, but we are in a renter’s market, so it won’t be too difficult to find another place for her to go. It’s not like the rental market is highly priced at the moment!! I’m sure your friend could even waste a day helping her move.
Does your friend have a real estate agent managing the property?? That would help.
definately DO NOT give back the 7G’s its your mates right to keep that money, the government has said you can lease the property out for 12 months, the fact the tenant will not move is not his fault, the government for years has been offering incentives to first home buyers with the same conditions, and for years people have not been moving into their properties within 12 months, as a result very few have been caught and of those that have very few have had to return the money, despite common believe our government is one of the best in the world and actually very understanding, if your mate is ever questioned he just needs to show all the paper work pertaining to trying to get the lady to move and everything will be fine DONT WORRY.
Definately a hard situation to be in.
Could you not reason with granny and let her stay there for the remainder of her time and possibly in her Will or other contract, state that $7k be allocated to you once she has passed away? (That is if she has that kind of money). If the other family member isn’t helping in the situation why should they be entitled to the money when you are the one out of pocket? This way both granny and yourself come out on top…
Hi all,
I agree with westan, is their room for two? I imagine if your freind showed up with all his gear, drum kit included she would consider her options. It is not about being unreasonable, offer a solution, but at the end of the day its his investment and if wants to invest in property this unfortunately wont be the last time he has issues with tennants be they 94 or 24 years of age.[]Westan’s got a great idea – why doesn’t your friend do a deal with the granny and move into the property? It’s not ideal, but keep in mind that there’s no minimum time that you have to live in the property as your PPOR in order to qualify for the FHOG. If you make a bona fide bash of living in it, and it doesn’t work out, well, you did genuinely live in it as your PPOR. You’ll need to change your mailing address in order to help prove it. I’m not saying that you can “fudge” it and move into the house for a month just to go through the motions – that’s asking for trouble. You do need to have a good bash at genuinely living there.
As someone else mentioned, you could also try to reason with the granny and her relative. The reality is – she is in breach of your agreement (no eviction isn’t the answer!), and her actions have cost you $7,000. So both of them need to act reasonably to you too – it’s not fair for them to demand that you bend over backwards, and don’t offer any compromise. So as Adam.E suggested – get a deed drawn up, confirming that she owes you $7,000, which will be paid out of her deceased estate, maybe with an interest component to cover the cost to you of getting the money later (or the cost of borrowing $7,000 to pay back the FHOG). It’s no skin off her nose now. The only risk is that there might not be enough left over to pay you out.
If her relative is the one causing all the trouble, and reporting you to the State Revenue Dept., I may want to consider taking action against the relative. That is, let the granny stay on, but threaten to sue the relative for inducing a breach of contract by encouraging the granny to stay on (assuming your original lease agreement made it clear that you needed to live in the property to get your FHOG, and she agreed to vacate for that reason), but at the same time offering a compromise. You will need to get a lawyer to help you. But I think it’s better to pay a thousand bucks for legal assistance, rather than risk having my mug splashed all over the TV and being portrayed, rightly or wrongly, as a granny evictor. Some people might not mind the latter, but it’s a lifestyle choice!
It might be helpful to put the terms of your proposal on paper (keep it really simple!), so that they can take it away, read it and think about it.
In my experience, I find that staying calm and not getting angry or aggressive always helps defuse a potentially unconstructive situation.
Good luck.
Cheers
MTell him to go live there with her for a fortnight or so. As I understand it you simply have to live there within the first 12 months, there is no requirement as to how long. Pay for her to stay in a motel for a week and in you go.
I suggest that you practice slamming doors in people’s faces and driving off quickly with your door open in preparation for the media. It will make a good story.
Seriously, is a 94 yr old granny able to be reasoned with – if I ever reach 94 I am sure I will be a few marbles short. I think the key is to reaon with the younger lady.
[:X]How sad is society that a 94 year old lady with one remaining relative is stuck in this situation. I feel for the guy/girl who own the unit. Pity the relative isn’t thinking long term, as in one day I may be this old and would I want my only remaining relative to be shutting the door in my face.
The suggestions put forward of you moving in with the elderly lady have some merit, but could also open you up to all sorts of other problems. For example, you wouldn’t want the media doing a beat up (on the relatives say so) that you were abusing this old ladies privacy etc etc etc. There are a lot of angles to consider here.
If the property is being kept clean and tidy and the rent is being paid, write off the $7000 and call it one of life’s little lessons.
Is this elderly lady capable of understanding what she has signed in the past and what her circumstances are now. Perhaps she doesn’t have any legal capacity – you need to talk to a lawyer/solicitor.
Sit the remaining relative down with a solicitor and have a friendly but firm chat about the situation. Alternatively, seek a compromise with the relative and work together towards finding the lady either alternative accommodation or a position in a nursing home.
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!] I hope that when you are in your twilight years no-one takes this selfish, heartless attitude towards you, then again perhaps if they did, it might bring some late realisation on the benefits of treating people as FELLOW HUMANS not DOLLAR SIGNS in your earlier days. I believe in the saying that what goes around comes around.
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