Having to terminate a bad lease agreement is something you dread occurring as an owner of a rental property.
In a perfect world, every rental experience would go smoothly – but if you're experiencing hassles with a bad tenant and want to take steps to terminate their lease, discuss this with your property manager and educate yourself on your rights.
When do you have the right to terminate?
As an owner, you have the right to give notice and end a lease agreement (whether fixed or periodic) or take a matter to the tribunal (NCAT) if one or more of the following situations have occurred:
- Your tenant is behind in rent payments.
- Your tenant fails to keep their part of the tenancy agreement, other than rent arrears.
- The premises are destroyed or become uninhabitable.
The expiry date of the fixed term is approaching and you do not wish to renew the agreement.
There are laws surrounding a tenant who is behind on their rental payments, which is a breach of their tenancy agreement. Often, if a tenant remains in breach of their agreement, you are entitled to terminate the agreement and, if necessary, enforce the termination through NCAT under section 88 of the act (in NSW).
For issues other than rent not being paid that are in breach of the residential tenancy agreement, under section 87 (in NSW) a landlord is allow to issue a termination notice on the ground that the tenant has breached the residential agreement. When relying on this ground of termination ensure that you give full particular of the grounds on which the notice is given, that is, the nature, date, place and time of the particular breech and under what section of the residential tenancy agreement the breech relates to. For example, a breach of the residential tenancy agreement might include a record of complaints by neighbours about the Tenants behaviour at a particular location, on certain days and time as well as the Agent's record of actions including dates and time of telephone calls and correspondence.
Alternatively, if you are dealing with a problematic tenant, but their fixed-term lease is coming to an end, you can choose to end the tenancy under a no grounds notice and request the vacant possession of the property at the end of the fixed term.
Before proceeding with any type of termination we do suggest you talk with your local Property Manager, Casey Healey from Century 21 Newcastle has 18 years' experience and is more than willing to guide you through this process and make your investment path a success and as stress-free as possible. Contact Casey Healey today on casey@c21newcastle.com.au or 02 4928 7400.