Your rental property has been occupied for the last 4 years, and your tenant was a dream.
They paid the rent on time, kept everything neat and tidy and hardly made a sound. Then one day, you get “the call”, your tenants are flying the coop. They bought a place of their own and they loved their time here but, it’s not you, it’s them.
Like most separations, all the love and time you shared is gone and one thing is in its place – the rental bond. Remember? Those four glorious weeks of rent you had all but forgotten about until now. So, who gets it?
The two most common issues our property managers face at the final inspection are:
- Cleanliness and;
- Damage vs fair wear
Let’s first look at cleanliness.
Seems simple enough, the original tenants move out and the property is cleaned and ready for the next tenant, but no. “Clean” apparently comes in all matter of gradients. One persons idea of “clean” is another’s utterly disgusting.
The Residential Tenancy Act requires a tenant to leave a property “reasonably clean”. Ok, so the landlord is therefore permitted to request “reasonable” costs to have the property “reasonably” cleaned relative to the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy (does your head hurt yet?).
Basically, if your tenant has left a few dust bunnies behind – sorry, they’ll just have to stay there to welcome the new tenants. This will no doubt enrage your in-going tenant and be cause for a request for rental reduction, so what’s the solution?
Let’s all be reasonable about this, landlords as always… the buck stops with you. Why not invest in having a property professionally cleaned at the start of a tenancy? This way, even though tenants aren’t required to do so when they vacate, they’ll be more inclined to help, thinking back to those happy times when they moved in dust-bunniless.
Surely then differentiating between Damage and Fair Wear is easier?
Yes! Dept of Fair Trading have provided a handy guide* (check QLD, VIC, and NSW guides below) for helping us determine what would be fair wear and therefore, not claimable from your tenants bond, and what is actually damage. For example, the carpet being worn in the hallway or similar high traffic area, that’s fair wear. A large cab-sav stain in the dining room, that’s damage. The paint job your dad helped you do 8 years ago beginning to peel, that’s fair wear. A large strip of paint ripped off a wall in the exact location your tenants “LIVE LAUGH LOVE” sticker was, that’s damage.
With these handy hints in mind, feel confident knowing that the next time you hear those three little words notice to vacate, you’ll be one step ahead of the game. For the remaining 48 shades of grey, best reach out to your Stone Property Management team for guidance. We live (laugh) and love this stuff.
*Damage and Fair Wear links:
Queensland – click here
New South Wales – click here
Victoria – click here
