Hi all.
I have an IP and my tenant just happens to be in the army. It is not a DHA house.
My property manager has just informed me that my tenant is being relocated and because he is employed by the defense force he can break his contract.
This is what she said:Hi Luke,
The new Act is that anyone that is employed by the army or defense force doesn’t have to give notice to vacate if they are being relocated, even if they are in a current lease.This also applies for people approved for dept of housing or a nursing home.I just wanted to check on this and ask what my rights were as I don’t want to be left out of pocket. Does the tenant atleast have to cover the costs of finding a new tenant for the property?
Thanks.
LukeWhat State is the property in?
Find the legislation hard to believe but would need to know the location of the property before i could comment further.
Cheers
Yours in Finance
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
That is that case in New Zealand, following that, a lot of their legislation is similar to ours it could very well be the case.
Rental insurance should cover you if you wish to make a claim on a vacating Tennant. Just list the property up for rent as soon as you can and if the guy is leaving he shouldn't mine if you have open inspections on whilst he is still living there. Annoying though about the lack of communication surely he knew he was being relocated a bit sooner. But they are doing a service to our country and all you can do is try to minimize your lost time in lieu of rent.
No mention of defence services (NSW). I'd give Fair Trading a ring. He should at least pay rent until you find another tenant (although also liable for releasing fees etc).
100 Early termination without compensation to landlord
(1) A tenant may give a termination notice for a fixed term agreement on any of the following grounds:
(a) that the tenant has been offered, and accepted, accommodation in social housing premises,
(b) that the tenant has accepted a place in an aged care facility or requires care in such a facility,
(c) that the landlord has notified the tenant of the landlord’s intention to sell the residential premises and did not disclose the proposed sale before entering into the residential tenancy agreement,
(d) that a co-tenant or occupant or former co-tenant or occupant is prohibited by a final apprehended violence order from having access to the residential premises.
(2) The termination notice must specify a termination date that is not earlier than 14 days after the day on which the notice is given.
(3) The termination notice may specify a termination date that is before the end of the fixed term of the residential tenancy agreement.
(4) The tenant is not liable to pay any compensation or other additional amount for the early termination of the agreement.
Hi Luke.
I know in NSW a tennant can break lease without penalty if they are moving into aged care or community housung. Same for somebody needing to move due to domestic violence issues… not sure if that extends to defense force personnel but.
I doubt that your PM would be willing to make specific reference to the new act if they were not certain.
Maybe I just trust my PM too much. LOL
Matt
Hey guys.
Yes it is in NSW.
Ill go back to my PM and see if they can provide a bit more information regarding this new act.
I have also requested to see what happens next , hopefully there wont be any out of pocket expenses/lost income.
Ill keep the post updated.
Cheers,
LUke
I agree with Catalyst seems strange to me.
Imagine you sign up a tenant who works in a factory and the 2 weeks later joins the Army and decides to vacate.
If you had known that from day 1 you may have taken another application.
Rather than rely on the Managing Agent I would be ringing the relevant Tenancy Authority body in NSW.
Cheers
Yours in Finance
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
In the US we have – The Servicemen's Civil Relief Act – (SCRA) allows-a-service-member or dependent to lawfully terminate a pre-active duty lease under certain circumstances. If your lease contains a clause charging damages for such a termination, you may have to pay this amount. The leased premises must be used for dwelling, professional, business, agricultural or similar purposes by the member or the member and his dependents. The lease must be entered into prior to entry into military service and the member must currently be in military service. The lease must be executed by or on behalf of the service member or dependent. I've had military members in my shared housing and usually put a clause in that lets them out of the lease with 30 days notice. That gives me time to get a replacement. It wouldn't suprise me if Australia has something similar.
Another reason to do shared housing – only one room goes vacant and you have rent coming in on the other rooms.
Thankfully this isn't the USA.
Cheers
Yours in Finance
Richard Taylor | Australia's leading private lender
OK.
So my PM has come back to me, apparently this property is through DHA (i knew the tenant was in the army but did not know it was DHA)
The DHA has a clause in the rental agreement stating that if the person needs to be relocated they can break the contract with 1 months notice.
The one month is up on the 11th Dec, so my PM is putting the unit back on the rental records to look for new tenants
Im going to have a look at the rental contract when i get home because i dont remember seeing the clause that she sent me from DHA.
She also mentioned that there will be a 1 week rent + GST to find a new tenant plus $33 for signing of the lease.
Im not really over the moon about this one but the tenant has been good (he has barely been home actually) and hopefully i can up the rent to cover this loss.
Suggestions for going back to the PM regarding this?
Sounds pretty standard. Unless you wish to go back to the PM and negotiate for example he's only been in the property 6 months (signed for a year) you paid the 2 weeks letting fee at the beginning. Perhaps you could negotiate a payment as a prorata of the time he has been gone ie rent $500.
Your 1 year renewal would of been $500. But you could say to the manager look $250 because he's been in there 6 months or I go to another agency. And make sure you don't get charged advertising (putting on Internet).
Wilko.
I have gone back to my PM mentioning that i was never informed that my tenant was DHA and that this clause was included.
Lets see what she comes back with, dont think its a major issue but i just need to make sure that i am comfortable with this PM as i have only had the property for about 8 months
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
