ScotsSal

There may be several other threads about this already, but I couldn't see any recent ones, so sorry if this subject has been hacked apart already.

A work colleague told me that a real estate agent in Western Australia can force you to sign a 1yr lease instead of a 6mths lease but they are still allowed to increase the rent value of your lease agreement after 6mths and you just have to accept it. Is that true? It seems pretty harsh if it is as I'm already at the top of my budget for my rent and an increase after 6mths would be difficult to deal with.

I work in negotiating the terms and conditions of contracts and, in my experience, it is illegal for one party to alter the terms and conditions of the contract (including the rent charged) without the express written approval of the other party, unless there is already a provision in the contract allowing them to do so. I checked my lease contract and there is no such provision. My colleague said that his contract did not have that provision in his lease but his real estate agency still increased his rent after 6mths and he had no choice but to pay it for the remaining 6mths of his lease.

Anyone had any experiences regarding this or have any firm knowledge on whether this is the case or not?

Thanks

HelenTD

If the landlord wants to review the rent during the term of your lease, then it's got to be written into that lease. ScotsSal, if your lease is for 12 months and there is no clause in there for a review, then you should pay the same rent for the entire period of your lease. If the property manager tries otherwise, then you would be able to go to some sort of tribunal/consumer affairs.

Zenshin

Last year we extended our lease by another year and in the contract it had a clause to say they could increase it in line with current market values. As it turned out they didn't but now after another year they have only just increased it by $15/wk which is acceptable given it is less than 5% increase.

al150n

We've had a couple of 6 month leases up until now but this time decided to go for a 12 month lease.

We weren't happy when we read the clause in the contract saying they can up the rent after 6 months (by a maximum of 20%) so I rang the agents about it requesting we stick to a 6 month lease. They said it's a WA legal thing & they have to write it in to the contract even though they themselves don't agree with it.

They had already spoken to the landlord who said they have no intentions of upping the rent after 6 months so we were given that in writing & signed the 12 month lease.

Alison x

swmbo63

WE have the same thing here in SA.
Before we sign a new lease we have the Landlord agree to put on, the lease we sign an addendum stating that for the period of the lease there will be no increase in rent,we also have the landlord agree that if they decide to sell the property we can break the lease with no break lease penalties and this is added to the lease as an addendum to.

Do not know about after you have signed the lease but in SA they have to give 60 days notice before raising rent and if you have any problems you can always contact OCBA, do not know about anyother States sorry

HelenTD

We have one lease for 12 months with a clause for rent review after 6 months and it was decided to increase the rent by $10 pw. The other lease is for 12 months with no rent review clause.

Scotty1

All states have their own tenancy laws, and contracts about what can / cannot be done during a lease. Below is the link to WA consumer information on the subject

http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/Consum..._everyone.html

For info, this cannot be done in NSW - the rent you sign up for is the rent you pay for the period of the lease. The issue is how long the lease is!

Scotty

h2oskineil

We had the 6 month clause written into our contract, but it only ever went up annually. When It went up, every year without fail, no matter how much maintainance we did or pleaded.
It started out at $475 per week and after an increase every year over 4 years, when we moved out they were asking for $650 per/week. (cheaper to buy!)

ScotsSal

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I have one more rental-related question. I have just found out that my landlord has left contractors in the apartment to work there on repairs, unsupervised, for a full day. I knew the contractors would be there today, but I was not informed that they would be unsupervised.

My shipment of belongings and my new sofas only arrived in the apartment yesterday so I have not yet had the opportunity to arrange contents insurance. I have very expensive items on clear view in the apartment (TV, laptop, jewellry) and many breakable items only just freshly unpacked. If they damage or steal anything it will only be their word against mine and I don't even know the name of the company of contractors or the names of the guys doing the work.

What are my rights to demand supervision by my landlord (or myself and get compensation for having to take unpaid leave for providing such supervision) whenever contractors are on the property?

renth

I'm guessing "none".

Sadly being a renter is regarded as the lowest form of human life in Australia.

eddie007

Renting was HIDEOUS...

HelenTD

I haven't heard of contractors in a rental property being supervised, normally the property manager or tenant lets them into the property to fix whatever needs working on. The owner is not meant to go anywhere the property until the tenant agrees to it - for example, I had ordered a replacement blind for the property, the tenant had to be out, but via the property manager agreed for me to let the contractor into the house to replace the blind. Another time, the property manager gave her set of keys to the contractor to fix the plumbing problem, and the plumber returned the keys to the property manager. This was done with the tenant's knowledge and agreement - but as it was a toilet issue, it was in their interests to agree.

I hope that you've arranaged contents insurance now ScotsSal. I'd have to agree with the others that renting doesn't necessarily feel nice in WA. I think it's due to there being a long tradition of home ownership in WA - and an old-fashioned belief that only the really poor or financially incompetent rented rather than bought. In real life, lots of people can't get on the property ladder as easily as in the past.