Desperate landlord

I asked one of the potential new agent that if I go with you, will you show me tenant application form. she said he would not send to me but it is ok for me to go her office to see. After all these bad things, I asked my current agent, can you show me tenant application form and rental ledger？ I also mentioned I have checked with consumer affair VIC that there is no privacy act about it. Answer is still no. I really doubt they did not do background check!

 

Yeah I would just get a new agent and let the new agent get the files.

 

Ive probablt hired and interviewed about 100 agents. And to this day i still feel therr is no good way to vet a pm out. Theyre going ti be on their best behaviour plus i feel the strength of a pm is when problems occur.(assuming they didnt cause it)
I go by recommendations now.

I also give them hypotheitcal sceanrions and test them. But any question like this during an interbiew, theyre going to be on their toes

 

This is a difficult situation that Landlords find themselves in regularly- do we stick with the current agents who are doing a terrible job but have administrated the problem from the start, or do we change agents and risk losing knowledge and files in the handover. Also note that tribunals don't look fondly on change of agents 'mid-problem'.

Depending on just HOW bad the agents are, the best way is generally to change agents- manage the risks (potential loss of information) and accept that in a particular situation (i.e. tribunal), the change may work against you. However, those who tend to stick with the existing agents who are not doing their job often cause a snowball of losses as the incompetency never ends.

You've got a couple of options here;
1. Notice to Leave without Grounds. Give them the 90 days notice and wait it out. The risk is that the tenants will take you to tribunal claiming that this is vindictive and there is a surprisingly good chance that the member will force you to let them stay in the property. The suggestion to claim you are moving back in is a good one, though you wont be able to re-advertise until after the tenant has left and the bond has been finalized. It's a shame Landlords are left with this sort of unethical option, but if the correct system worked like it should- we wouldn't be forced to try and find alternative methods.
2. BREACH BREACH BREACH! Breach for rent arrears, breach for the dogs being inside, breach for damages! This would be the "correct" procedure, and as you have seen, there are all sorts of ways scum tenants like this can worm their way out of it- but there's something to be said for doing things the "right" way. The idea is that you eventually gain traction with an issue, or just by overwhelming evidence.

Also, I'm not aware if it works exactly the same way in VIC, but in QLD, once a Notice to Leave is issued, the tenant can pay all the rent they want- the notice is not contingent on whether the arrears are paid or not. Sure, if you end up in tribunal and the tenants have been clever enough to catch up, you're not likely to achieve vacant possession- but it provides you a platform to argue that the tenant is playing games, destroying the property and otherwise taking advantage of the system. Don't forget they haven't adhered to the court ordered payment plan already, which doesn't look good for them.

Oh, and have a chat with @Lil Skater, our highly regarded resident Vic PM.

 

Thanks for your advice. 90 days notice to vacate letter has sent to tenant last week. they have how many days to claim this is vindictive?

as to the second item you talked about related to breach, from what I know, same breach needs to happen three times without repair or remedy, then can apply for VCAT. My current agent has sent them one breach about damage in door, and we will inspect it next week due to 6 months inspection, if issue not fixes, I will ask agent to send another breach letter for same issue, hopefully they can agree to have another walk in inspection 2 weeks later to check damage. If tenant still does not repair it, we can apply for VCAT, and hearing would be another 2-3 weeks later. If we are luckly, we may get possession order close to the fixed lease ends....

 

Your PM said you cant use the FB photo because she is covering her back. ie she is bluffing so you wont follow up with her boss. Send the photo and facebook links to your Insurer and ask them for information about what to do next.

 

Dont worry about whether the current PM passes on all photos and reports.

You will have:

Internet photos of the property when it was advertised for the last tenancy - such as RP Data and Domain

The contract you signed with the Property Managers (in QLd it is called a Form 6 ) regarding whether pets are permitted and how many, what kind etc

 

Thanks, I am about to sack my current agent, what is the termination fee normally?

 

Your new agent should be happy to help you with all of this?

 

yes, she is fully aware with mess

 

It will say in your current contract. There should be a termination period quoted. Often they put in 3 months, but once you are aware that if you ever want to terminate the last thing you want is to stay with them for 3 months, you should request 1 month for any future engagement of PM's. 14 days is more than enough but they tend to push for 30 minimum.

When I am ready to sack a PM and have a new PM ready, I send an email notifying them that I am terminating with other info. You should be able to get a copy of this type of document from your new PM - they are always eager to start getting your business so they often provide this after the first time you contact them.

Then call them and explain that you will pay them for the termination period, but do not require them to continue doing any actual work - and ask them for a specific date when the files will be ready. Should generally be not more than a week. If you don't call they can just ignore your email like my last one did with me, and then say they will handover at the end of the termination period. So call and explain they will get paid but you want the handover done quickly and get a date from them. The quicker you can exit from a bad PM the better.

 

hi, which state are you in? I am in VIC, in my authorization letter, which is REIV form, it does not say 30 days period...

 

It should have a termination notice period stated. If you're sure that it doesn't, I'm not sure, maybe call and ask the agent where it says that? If it doesn't say it, I think it would be in your favour if no termination period is specified and so you should be allowed to leave any time without notice required since none was specified (just guessing though)? Are you sure you read through it all - maybe you missed it?

 

it says if agent has leased out your proerty and then you tranfer, you still need to pay current agent all related fee. I have payed current one leasing fee, advertisement fee.