NSW Tenant not signing lease after putting holding deposit and bond

tenant put in 1 wk holding deposit, 1 wk advance and rent bond via fairtrading without signing a lease yet. If the tenants change mind and not to sign lease, what can/cannot be refunded by law?

 

When does the lease start? What is your agent advising? They can't have access until the lease has been signed.

 

I would have thought the entire amount would be refunded.
The exception might be the holding deposit depending on the state (when I was living in WA an application required one weeks rent with the application which was non refundable if the application was approved).

To complicate it further, I've wondered what happens if they agree to sign the lease, but on different terms and conditions to what you present them with.

 

Lease starts in 3 weeks as per discussion. Agent still talking to tenant

 

Not sure what you are worried about.....
Tenant has paid a holding deposit, that has been accepted.
So they now have almost 3 weeks to sign and return the lease

 

The worry is that if they back out then we would need to relist again and that means extension of the vacancy of the property.

Pm mentioned that we may need to return the deposit since there is no signed contract yet

 

Depends whether there's a binding contract in place, which depends heavily on the surrounding circumstances and not necessarily just the paperwork, or lack of.

 

What state are you in?

I've never been given a lease to sign until I've turned up to collect the keys the day I've been moving in anyway.

The holding deposit was only required to show I was serious (and depending on the state may or may not be refundable).

I have sometimes wondered what happens if the landlord changes thier mind the day before I was due to sign the lease, but fortunately it's never happened.

 

The issue being that the agent cannot grant a lease until the property is vacant - handover cannot be guaranteed until the current tenant vacates. If it's currently vacant, then @MB18 notes it can be signed anytime prior.

Why has the property been shown so early or is it a case of this is when the tenant is leaving their current property?

 

The holding deposit is taken to keep the property for 7 days (you will find it says so on the application form - it is standard). Once the deposit has been taken, the property is off the market for 7 days. After the 7 days have passed, the property manager is entitled to keep the deposit (and pass on to owner in full) then re-advertise.

The bond needs to be refunded in full. I guess if the tenant decides to sign the agreement before the property has being leased again, then it is theirs.

Sadly, there are lots of weird things happening at the moment - as a direct result of tenants being spoilt for choice.

@starter tell your property manager to put the property back on the market asap.

 

@wylie sadly we can't by NSW legislation ask for more than one week's deposit.

 

You will be able to keep the holding deposit of 1 weeks rent if they pull out.

Even if they sign the lease prior to taking possession the likelihood of being able to keep break lease fees is low.

 

PM mentioned BLAH BLAH BLAH.......

Do you mean the "holding deposit", "week in advance" or "bond paid" may need to be returned ??????

So at what point did you accept the application ?
Should you have accepted the application as per your original post then the "tenant" has up until the proposed start date (AKA 3 WEEKS) to sign and return the lease agreement (possibly even longer) !

The PM may be able to "take" a holding deposit, but until YOU accept the applicant in writing (have you?) , then is this a "deal done"?

If you haven't approved the applicant and accepted the holding deposit (to "hold the property for 3 weeks" as proposed) then WHY have you allowed the PM to remove the advertisement ?????

How is it so many people do "due diligence" when they purchase an investment property, yet DON'T bother to to learn anything in regard to actual ownership and leasing rights/responsibility

 

Once the tenancy is approved and 1 week holding deposit is received, the bond lodgement and lease signing should be happening within that week, otherwise you run into the risk of being out of pocket if the tenant doesn't proceed.

 

Sorry to confusion on some details about the confusion. Here is the rundown:

1. Day 1 Tenant applied and got approved by both PM and Owner
2. Day 1 Tenant paid 1 week holding deposit + 1 week advance (both will be used as first two weeks rent)
3. Day 1 Tenant paid bond via fair trading
3 Day 1 PM marked the listings "Application Approved"
4. Day 3 Tenant telling PM that they most likely not going to proceed with the signing of the lease due to some reason and asking to refund some/all of deposit and release the bond.

 

Which state? As Google suggests, the holding deposit is treated differently in each state...

Should you request a holding deposit?

I cant see why giving the bond itself back should be an issue.
Maybe get the PM to revise one of the other applications received.

 

NSW as posted.

 

In NSW the holding deposit can be retained (1 weeks rent) and everything else should be refunded. You could try to charge break lease fees however for 3 days and no possession taken you will most likely be wasting money having an agent attend tribunal on your behalf

 

I don't think so - it doesn't sound like there's a lease yet.