Can I cancel a tenant b4 they move in

if we agreed to let an apartment to a tenant and papers r signed but no lease
Can we reneg before they have moves in if there's been a personal emergency reason that we don't want to rent the flat ?

 

What do you mean by 'signed papers but not the lease'?

Have your PM contact the tenant to withdraw the offer.

 

Reading between the lines, sounds like they have a lease but wish they didn't . Your suggestion is correct. Use diplomacy and hope they do not push there rights.

Only time I have seen someone not hand over keys and commence the lease is in the same circumstance you have mentioned but the to be tenant has been found to be fraudulent in their application but in my opinion this was still rolling the dice - better just to be sure before you are in the situation of them having a signed lease.

If they are good people, hopefully they will be reasonable and hopefully your agent will also help you where possible. Definitely the potential to be awkward or inconvenient.

 

If you have a written lease then this is a binding contract and it would be unlikely you could terminate

 

Contract does not necessarily equal possession though, and hasn't given details of any consideration paid. Probably needs diplomacy as Ricky mentions, but likely very difficult depending on the scenario and the remaining facts that we are not privvy to.

You mention there's an emergency - what is it? You need to sell it? Or move into it? How much time could you wait? There's probably other options available.

 

The legislation could also deem there to be a lease when there isn't.

 

Yes its possible, really depends on what tribunal member you get on the day sometimes. I've successfully argued the opposite before. Tenant arranged housing dept assistance on bond and pulled out prior to signing lease and I charged them a break lease fee citing they were intending to contract.

Best bet is to avoid tribunal and negotiate separately.

 

What was signed ?

If agent agreement, then no problem.

If agent had tenant sign a lease, then there is a lease, if this is the case, will depend on if tenant has given notice that can't be changed and if there is incentive (read $) to convince otherwise, also depends on if a tight rental market or not, PM also does not have much incentive really, so this is not ideal, but can probably be sorted, at the end of the day, it is all about $$$

 

can also be cancelled by mutual agreement

 

yeah, of course, mutual agreement, how much is that in $$$ ...

 

Have someone put up "for sale" signs & have it poorly advertised so you have heaps of foot traffic, the tenants suffer maximum inconvenience ie 2 opens per wk but no takers as you have very high sales expectations. The tenants have a right to terminate if they haven't been advised of a sale in the first few months of a lease in NSW.

 

So then the next question is... which state is it in?

 

Disrepair?

 

Boom tish.

And yeah... @D.T. raises a good question. Is it really an emergency? Or just a change of mind?

 

I'm looking for answers in this too urgently for my situation. If someone could look at my thread and give any advise it would be appreciated.

 

might help if you provide a link

 

We need more information.

If you have offered a lease, that's enough to be binding- even if it's not signed.

That being said, that only becomes relevant when push comes to shove. Try to work with these potential tenants, assist them with finding another property and potentially consider some sort of compensation.

 

Yet another thread from @justine77 with an open ended question and few details or specifics
Seriously

 

Had a colleague encounter this. Signed a lease, landlord changed his mind before he moved in- dont know the trigger for it.

Advised my colleague he has the right to live there. Landlord would get slaughtered at NCAT probably.

Colleague got several months rent to quietly agree to move into another spot. He wouldn't say how much but its for a studio in Sydney cbd.. so anything from a few K to $25k (6mths at $500pw).

Indecision and legal documents dont mix well.