Listing on National Tenancy Database

The tenant was obtained via the REA PM. The tenant has been late with the rent for ages, going to 14 days late and then paying, not late enough to start eviction. The lease ended yesterday and as I type the tenant is vacating the property with rent owing. I'm not sure how much as the tenant may yet pay. If there's a reasonable amount owing I'd like to take this to court, which in Victoria is only $59 at VCAT. My hope is that an order will be made and that an entry will then appear on the late tenant's credit file and NTD. These will then flag the tenant as a bad risk.

I've never been to court over unpaid rent before, and am seeking advice: would the credit file and NTD be noted as I have shown above? I'd like to see all bonds that go to the landlord being on the credit file and NTD. Is this possible, or is a court order needed?

 

This is probably the least of your worries if you've never been to court for unpaid rent before.

I wouldn't worry about those things at all until you are at the end of the whole process and you've either gotten the money in your hand (from the tenants or alternatively insurance), or exhausted all reasonably practical means of enforcing a judgement.

 

How many weeks will the tenant be owing rent once they have vacated the property? If less than four weeks rent just claim the unpaid rent against the bond.
The VCAT will not add a tenancy default against the tenant for rent arrears unless the rent arrears exceed the bond.

 

Yoda-

“ Beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression; the dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny, consume you it will, as it did Obi-Wan’s apprentice.”

 

If the tenant has not been enough days late to escalate the matter to a breach notice or tribunal hearing to apply for termination, my guess would be that the amount owed has not yet exceeded the bond. They may not be any need to list on a tenancy database.

 

Depends what else there is to claim - if there's a lot of cleaning, rubbish removal and mowing for example it's better to use these items from the bond because insurance doesn't cover them, then use insurance for the rent. There's no excess on rent related claims for the major insurers.

 

That's interesting; I should have read the policy more closely. There's about $700 owing after the bond is taken into account. If there is any amount claimed on a bond or via insurance then this should be automatically part of the NTD and Veda. Why should others such as the insurer and landlord have to pay for this without the tenant being recorded on the NTD and Veda? In effect the tenant has stolen $700, and that is actoinable, especially after several years of late payment.

 

will policies still pay out if theres only say $100 in the bond authority account? if theres no money in the bond authority account does insurance still pay out? i can't remember reading where it said about the bond on the pdf with my insurance.

 

The NTD has information:
https://www.tuv.org.au/articles/files/resources/tenant-databases-blacklists-factsheet2014.pdf
Happily, the tenant owes more than the bond, the lease has ended and now all that's needed is for the PM to contact the former tenant. If more LLs and PMs did this then there would be less chance of signing up a crook tenant.

 

Insurers will suggest you use the bond first before using their claims.
Insurers don't cover things like cleaning, rubbish removal, mowing, reletting fee etc so generally put that stuff on the bond so can put rent on the insurance.