Hi,
I am breaking my 12-month lease 2 months early on the 24th, due to personal reasons. I emailed my agent this week and he has not responded. I called him twice and messaged him - no response.
Could you please advice on how I can return my keys to him? I live in Melbourne and haven't found much advice regarding this.
Thank you very much for your help.
Edit: changed from landlord to agent in title.
Educate yourself on this because you’re going to be in a world of financial hurt
Yeah this seems all types of odd? First off your bond is typically only allowed to be 4 weeks max, so how are they going to claim for 6 weeks max?
Also while likely they will have to claw it back from the bond, technically you're not allowed to do it that way, whats to stop the agent going after you for the whole amount? Since you have a signed agreement saying you will, you seem to be hoping that they won't?
Have you looked at the contract you signed? Leaving early is a common enough that it is very likely on your contract, it should stipulate what should happen how much you should pay and whether you're still on the hook for rental or not? It likely also has the address for agent/landlord and the likes.
Obligatory I'm not a lawyer.
I was advised to not pay any rent from the day I move out
Who advised you to do that?
This plan will fail. And you're going to lose a good reference for your next application to rent a property. They are going to say you caused a lot of stress trying to renege on your contract with them. Imagine if they tried to do the same thing to you, showed up two months before the lease was up and say you have to leave right now for personal reasons?
What is your personal reason, is it anything to do with a neighbor harassing you or anything like that? Or is it just that you don't like living alone, or the commute is too far, or you just don't want to pay for it.
Terrible advice. Why not just go to the real estate office and speak the the agent in person.
Why not just go to the real estate office and speak the the agent in person.
Whilst I agree with the sentiment, doing this will result in having nothing in writing if things go south…
@Chandler: Going in is just to make them talk to you. You can send them an email confirming everything as you stand there.
I was advised to not pay any rent from the day I move out,
Well whoever gave you that advice has absolutely no idea what they are talking about, great way to get yourself blacklisted and maybe then some…
To be fair, this is the advice we were given in Queensland. However, it wouldn't be coming out of our bond, we paid the difference in lost rent once a new tenant was found.
It is illegal to refuse to pay the rent on the grounds that the landlord can use the bond as rent (straight from the tenants Victoria website).
You are liable for rent up to the end of the lease unless the agent can find a new tenant before that. This may include a re-listing fee and advertising costs.
https://www.tenantsvic.org.au/ should tell you everything you need to know.
is illegal to refuse to pay the rent on the grounds that the landlord can use the bond as rent (straight from the tenants Victoria website).
That is interesting. Could you please link the offence that state that this act is a crime?
http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/ca195882/…
As I said, that was straight from Tenants Vic website. They are linked from the VCAT site as the best information for tenants rights, and as they work for tenants (not landlords) I would assume they would be right in this. Maybe their wording is bad and it would be more of a civil issue, but it still relates to not paying rent so that they take it out of the bond is "bad".
I would think it's along the lines of two things:
Using something without paying can be considered theft. Just because there is a deposit there doesn't mean that non-payment for continued use is OK.
To prevent going over the bond limit - if a tenant doesn't pay the last 3 weeks, and still leaves the property in a bad condition, then it is much harder to get compensation.
Being liable for something doesn't make the act unlawful.
The service provider, in this case, isn't permanently deprived of their service or property. They have the right to claim the bond to cover the shortfall for the rent.
Read up on how to break your lease as an email may mean nothing. In NSW to end a lease as a landlord you needed to send a registered physical letter 15 years ago.
Depending on the lease you may be either liable for 30 days of rent or rent until the end of the lease or until the agent finds another tenant.
If you do not pay rent there are legal ramifications that you do not want to get involved in and may end up with a black mark on your credit report.
Oh, boy.
You have to pay rent up until the day before the new tenant moves in.
You'll also have to pay reasonable advertising costs and a reletting fee, which is one or two weeks' rent (should be written in your lease).
Might end up cheaper just to keep the property and keep paying rent up until the lease is ended.
You're right that you should stop paying rent once you move out, and wait to find out how much compensation you have to pay, but you can't just never pay and expect that they'll take it out of your bond. You'll get a bill to pay once the new tenant moves in.
Couldn't you call the agency s/he works for?
That's a good idea, but I have usually found agents are never in the office when you call and the receptionist usually has no clue (don't know if they ever pass on messages)
Of course they pass on the message, thats their job, however the agent may just ignore the message (most likely), then tell you they never received it (even more likely).
Thats the way it really works.
True. Maybe the agency can tell OP if the agent is still working for them, on holiday, ill, etc… this may explain a lack of any correspondence.
OP. You are heading down a path that is going to be very damaging for you.
Might want to get better/correct advice before you stop paying rent.
Of course you can deliver the key back, but your obligations don't stop at that point. That's the whole idea behind a signed tenancy agreement. Have you actually read it by the way?
Do you have a break clause in your contract?
You dont seem to have a clue what you are doing so I'll tell you what you must do.
Stop asking or listening to advice from everyone except me and Tenants Victoria.
Read this and note the term "severe hardship" this will help you if you use the term. If its about money say 'severe financial hardship"
https://www.tenantsvic.org.au/advice/coronavirus-covid-19/mo…
Contact Tenants Victoria
Tenant advice line
(03) 9416 2577 Monday to Friday 10.00 am – 2.00 pm
The approximate waiting time is over 30 minutes.
Calls are answered by lawyers, advocates and intake workers with specialist knowledge of Victorian rental laws.
Thank you. Unfortunately, I do suffer from a financial situation since October and my agent has not been very responsive, just doing things to prolong time.
But I also understand even the landlord and agent have problems during this time, so I'd like to be fair and give up my bond, but I cant afford to pay rent.
The agent represents the landlord, they are not interested in helping you.
Do not offer to forfeit your bond.
The tenants vic site does say to stop paying rent when you move out but you'll have to pay whatever you're liable for once the new tenant is found. You could go silent and not respond when they try to get this from you, and you could probably succeed in not paying it for a while (as long as you can dodge the debt collectors) but you'll have a lot of difficulty securing your next rental.
It's your key until the lease is up. Why would the landlord want your key, and why would you want the landlord to have your key if you're paying for the place for the next two months anyway?
In any case, keys are usually returned to the agent. The agent is paid their commission so the landlord doesn't have to deal with you or your key.