VIC No help from VCAT for interstate landlords

Yes there is Land Lords are unacceptable, have capitalist connotations and had too much recourse so have been cancelled in the Peoples Republic of Victoria . Providers of rent most be called Rental Providers

 

Your agent should at least have some idea where to go for the appropriate legal advice.

FYI its not squatting, and the police are not going to do anything.

 

Landlords are mostly 'aspiring pensioners independent of the public purse'.

 

My tenants are paying games. They start paying rent randomly but refuse to communicate with me. My lawyer advised they can keep doing this and I can't kick them out. If they are late on rent more than 14 days, then I issue a notice to vacate, and if I then ear no response in another 14 days, only after this point should consider legal proceedings. Even at the legal proceedings stage, if the tenants cover the cost of your legal proceedings and decide to pay up, you still cannot kick them out.
So my plan of action is to let it ride out until the end of lease in the next few months, then issue a notice to vacate on the basis of selling (I have proof showing that I am in fact selling i.e. signed agreement with selling agent), then give them 14 days to leave, and if they do not leave I will start legal proceedings.
The total cost that I was quoted for legal proceedings was not too bad, less than $2K.
Also insurance is not likely to cover it. Mine is 6 weeks of rent cover max, and if you take out the excess then you are not left with much..... other than higher premiums in future years.

 

When you say 'not squatting', what do you mean? Is there a technical term for what they're doing (living there, owing $$$, not paying any more, not responding to PM)?

 

This is ridiculous, can't you reside back in Vic for the duration of the matter ?

 

You can't just be in VIC, you have to give VCAT evidence that you are actually residing in VIC. E.g. bills, licence address, removalists receipt.
I would think they would only ask for all that once they have on record you were once a non VIC resident, but maybe they ask this from all applicants.

 

oh man that's rough.

my tenant has disappeared it seems. agent applying for repossession due to abandonment.

 

How long they reckon until you can go in and start the cleanup?

 

Yes there's no need to be overdramatic about it - they're not squatters; they're your tenants just in breach of their contract terms.

Squatters are people without any legal basis to be there.

 

Hi Team,

If VCAT is not taking/ listening to interstate landlords along with other 128 changes then if something goes wrong/done by tennants - are you covered by Landlord/building and contents insurance?

 

Seek legal advice on what acts you can make as landlord that are unenforceable.

 

+1

I must have had over 20 tenants in last 10 years of investing and never had to go to a tribunal.

In one case where tenant left with a lot of overdue rent, we just claimed the landlord insurance.

 

Hi, have you had to start legal proceedings yet? I'm abit late to the discussion but currently facing a similar situation. We've had a termination order and tenant did not vacate after 14 days, and VCAT has now knocked back our application for possession as we are interstate. We are thinking of taking it to the Magistrate's court but just been advised by the lawyer that as it stands currently the Magistrate's court has no jurisdiction for federal civil matters so it won't pass the registry - there's been a bill proposed to change this but it has not yet been passed - we are hoping it will come through in the next couple of weeks, then we can start a civil claim through Magistrate's court. Just wondering if you had similar information from your lawyer, or is there any other avenue you've heard about?

 

Hi did you go through VCAT from agent or yourself? I have heard agent saying if they represent you you might be able to bypass the interstate rule.

 

It can depend on the respondent. If the respondent tenant were a company, VCAT would be able to hear the tenancy issue.

If your IP were managed by a RE agent in Victoria and duly authorised to administer it on your behalf, it can be the applicant to the VCAT against the Victorian tenant. It should bypass any issue of breaching of state sovereignty.

 

Thanks for the information, Francesco. I live in Sydney, have a property in Geelong. My tenant gave me 28 day notice to vacate now. Given all these horror stories happening in Victoria at the moment, I am in the process of deciding whether I should sell or keep this property.

I have a colleague who has a property in Melbourne. After the pandemic starts, the tenant not paying the rent, not wanting to move out. My colleague went to VCAT, the tenant proved severe hardship (with small children), the only way to get their property back was to move back into the property themselves. Luckily my colleague and her husband both have nice jobs which allowed them to move back to Melbourne and kept the same jobs. After they moved back, they found the property has been severely damaged by the tenant and the repair bill and loss rent ended up to be over $60,000. To make them angrier, once the VCAT hearing finished, the tenant sent his income statement to the agent and showed off his income of over $10,000 a month. He worked in Real Estate industry and simply wanted to take advantage of the current loophole.

I have talked to a few agents in the area, some agents including my agent said VCAT will not accept interstate landlord’s application, the other said as long as they act as agent for me and put down their address, VCAT will accept the application. There are a lot confusions among the agents at the moment. Also, even VCAT accept the application, the agents said they side with tenants. Another issue is, with 132 rental reform rules, there are more work need to be done before and during the tenancy. I have looked at rental provider disclosure statement, there are so many questions which I do not have any idea.

I bought this property three years ago, was aiming for the long term. If I sell it now, after stamp duty, agent commission and capital gain, I will probably just break even. Hope everyone in this forum can make some input regarding to whether I should sell or keep the property.

 

Horror stories or not, if the tenants left damage and unpaid rent, your friend could still go to VCAT and get an order to pay for the damages and unpaid rent.
Then with the order, he could go to debt collectors and the tenant would have enjoyed those guys coming for the money.
Or use his insurance (given he had one) to pay some or all the amounts and then the insurance company would chase their money with the tenant.

It's not that easy for tenants to leave burnt fields behind them and move one, unless they are the loner type of people that can just disappear.
Families with small kids and $10,000 a month pay tend to stick around where they get that kind of money.

 

Yes, my colleague is collecting all the evidence and applied to VCAT for another hearing. Because it needs a lot of effort and the timing demand, she has quit the job and focus on this solely. A huge price to pay.

 

Does sound quite over the top though.
Quitting a job to collect evidence for a $60K bill.... We're not hearing the whole story here.