blackcab

Hi, first post, its a long one, sorry, but we have been in Australia sometime, but for the first time, we are moving and we are new to moving properties within Australia, so any guidance or shared knowledge would be most appreciated. We currently rent a fully furnished two bedroom place through a real estate agent, our tenancy ends on Friday 18th January 2013 at midnight I think. In the special terms on the tenancy agreement its states;
Rent must be paid until midnight on your vacate day. Keys must be returned to the office no later than 10.00am the following morning.....NO EXCEPTIONS. Property must be cleaned and ready for handover at 10.00am. The exit inspection will be completed by one of our staff and will determine your bond refund.
Can someone clarify for me that I am right in thinking. I pay my rent on my old place until Friday 18th January at midnight. That Friday all day and all night until the following morning at 10.00am on the Saturday, I can live in the property, sleep all there all the Friday night, and hand the keys back on the Saturday morning before 10am. When will the exit inspection take place, on the Friday or the Saturday? I ask because we rent fully furnished place, we have to wash the bed sheets on the Saturday.
I ask as well, because we are moving into another property managed by the same real estate agent. Our new tenancy agreement starts on Saturday 19th January, so I guess we need to sign the tenancy agreement on the Friday, obtain the keys on the Friday, ready to move in on the Saturday. Nothing to stop us moving some stuff on the Friday, I am guessing as the real estate agent is not open on the Saturday. Our tenancy agreement ends on a Saturday also in 2014, which is weird, they are not open on a Saturday.
Here I need some advice, if our inspection is on the Friday the 18th in the afternoon, would you wait until they have signed your bond refund form and have completed their inspection before you sign the new tenancy agreement on the new property? I ask because if there are any problems, we could be liable for two lots of rent, the old property until they are satisfied with the cleaning, and the new property we have signed for. Also they do not do bond transfers, so we will have $5k tied up in bonds, if we fail to get the old bond straight back, we will be stretched financially....
Thanks for any help or advice....

One other thing, in the special terms and conditions on our new tenancy agreement, it states "the tenant must have the house cleaned to a professional standard". Would you be happy with this, i would say it should state "the tenant must clean and leave the house to a satisfactory standard". . I ask because this could mean they want it professionally cleaned, in which case i should demand to see a reciept on entering the property to make sure it was cleaned professionally on entering the property?

Any advice, thanks..It's just i have read some very disturbing stories on here, so i thought it best to post mine before in am also posting a disturbing story. Property managers get very bad press, where there is smoke well there is usually fire?

Scotty1

If this was regional NSW I would say don't sweat it, but I too have heard bad stories about how things have been handled.

If things end up badly this is who to get advice from

http://tuq.org.au/wp/?page_id=66

However - if the agent is not open on Saturdays, that means you will need to see them on the Friday if you want the keys to your new place. They are unlikely to give you said keys and access without you having signed the lease and paid rent upfront.
You are able to stay in your old place while you pay the rent, and given they are not open on Saturday, handing your keys back on the Monday is perfectly fair and reasonable. They are unlikely to carry out the inspection on a Monday morning, but you are entitled to be there when they do so ask them. It will take a little while to get your bond refunded.
I think you are going to have to risk things and sign the new lease or you will end up homeless.
Cleaning is one of those grey areas. They can expect what they like, but you are obliged to leave the place in the same or better than you found it. If it was immaculate and professionally cleaned, you need to clean it to same standard - you cannot be forced to use a professional cleaner, but it needs to be clean.
You are not liable for the rent on the old place until they are satisfied with the cleaning - but your bond will be what is at risk.
Be pleasant to them and ask them what they propose re changeover and final inspection. If you are deeply unhappy call the tenants advice line

PS some property managers are quite nice people

Scotty

blackcab

Thnaks, anyone with any knowledge of Qld?

The Bloke

It would have been easier to overlap tenancies by say 2 weeks, which gives you plenty of time to move your belongings and clean the property before handing the keys back. Also, if you haven't signed the new lease yet on the property, I can see no excuse for them to rent the property to someone else who is prepared to sign in the meantime - leaving you with nowhere to live......

The agent usually won't inspect the property until after you have vacated the property, so don't expect any response on the bond for a while after that. Paperwork may take some time to come through-it all depends on how fast the agency gets it through to the RTA and how far behind the RTA are in there paperwork seeing they have lost staff due to cutbacks. Finally the money will be transferred to you nominated bank account, not handed directly to you.

There is really no onus on you to get it professionally cleaned, but if you use their professional cleaners they will have no comeback if it isn't up to standard-it is up to you whether you want to do the work or pay someone else to save you effort and/or hassle later. Saying that, there is also no need for them to have a receipt as the previous tenants may have done a satisfactory job in cleaning - therefore, the overlapping tenancy period makes more sense.

As the lease expires at midnight, my guess is that after midnight, you would technically be squatting. It depends on how pedantic they want to be.

I suggest if you have any difficulties or queries contact RTA Qld http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/ urgently!

blackcab

Thanks for the reply.....

Its a complicated one, because the terms in our tenancy agreement are an extra page, this onev"Rent must be paid until midnight on your vacate day. Keys must be returned to the office no later than 10.00am the following morning.....NO EXCEPTIONS. Property must be cleaned and ready for handover at 10.00am". Yes its a Saturday, and they are closed, hell know's what will happen here? It will be interesting.

I am going to see the RTA tomorrow, have they a shopfront you can just call in, or do you have to make an appointment? I need to know what the actual law is regarding professional cleaning on exit, is it forcefull if included in the extra terms and conditions in your tenancy agreement?

Also if they are not open on a Saturday, and our tenancy agreement starts on a Saturday, well i guess you would be given the keys on the Friday, move out the old place on the Friday after final inspection.

Its just we have friends who moved last week, they had their final inspection on the Monday at 2pm, the moving out report was signed by both the tenant and property manager at 3pm. They went to the post office, were handed their bond back in cash, took 30 minutes. All sorted by 4pm. Why would it be any different.

Also i documented, every little mark, scuff and problem with the unit on moving in, used extra sheets of A4, in word, added them to the moving in report. It was all signed off by the then property manager. Nothing has been damaged in the years we have been here, no worse apart from usual wear and tear, so i hope we should have no problems.

Wish me luck.

Pollyana

Most bonds in Queensland are held by the RTA. The agent has to inform the RTA when they are satisfied with the inspection, then the RTA refunds the bonc - usually by cheque or bank transfer.

blackcab

Yep, you are right our friends was two years ago, cash at the post office, and the report was faxed, it was bank transfer this time, it seems the rules have changed, only document of originality, no faxes.

The Bloke

BlackCab, I just read this in the Courier Mail......

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/w...-1226552018820

......... and you think you had some strange requests on your lease...........