LisaIan

Hi Guys,

Hopefully you might be able to help.

My OH and I are currently renting in Brisbane, we have a fixed term lease due to expire on 23 April 2010. we have received a letter from the real estate agent (dated 10 Feb) saying the lease is due to expire and the owner would like to offer a new 12 month fixed term lease. I don't want a new lease, we took out a 6 month lease as we can only work for the same employer for 6months on a WHV. The letter goes on to say that if we do not accept the offer we must inform them of our intention to leave within 7days of the letter and the owner will commence re-letting the unit within 15days

we were under the impression that we only had to give 14days notice of our intention to leave as we have a fixed term lease i.e without grounds. I don't see why not accepting an offer of another lease should then be 'grounds' and warrant a 2month notice period.

I really don't fancy paying rent for 8-10weeks while the unit is re-let and opened for inspections etc.

I'm planning on calling the rta on Monday and might pay them a visit, but if anyone has any first hand experience to offer advice, that would be fantastic.

Thanks,

Lisa

butterfly1234

hi, yes i agree you should ring the rta, as we are renting our house out on the sunshine coast at the moment, our last lot of tennants gave us 2 weeks notice to leave as there agreement was due to expire and we/agent were to slow with the new agreement, we rerented the house out to new tenants and had to give two months notice for them to leave. my understanding is if there is an agreement the house stays with the tenannt until the agreed date, if you chose to leave that would be a breaklease and you would have to pay up to the agreed date on the agreement. the landlord/agent has to give two months notice.
i do know these rules have changed as when we were renting and the lease expired both the tennant and the landlord could both give 2 weeks notice, as it happened to us, this was a few years ago, because this happened it was one of the first things we checked with our agent when we were told that the rules had changed.
good luck, i hope this helps

LisaIan

Thanks for that! The way I understand it is if you have a fixed term lease then you leave without grounds and are only required to give 14days notice. I don't see why choosing not to accept an offer of a longer lease would then be grounds and require 2 months notice. We're not planning on breaking lease, we'll be staying until 23rd April as per the agreement.

ABCDiamond

Most agents do not discuss with the landlord as much as they should do.

Ask for your proposal, about the 6 months,to be forwarded to the landlord, and see what they say.


From the RTA:
The agent has got themselves confused, and are applying their time limits for you also....

http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/at_the_end...agreement_.cfm

When you ask about the owner reviewing the 6 month offer, tell them that you will submit the "notice of intention to leave (form 13)" with the appropriate notice, at the appropriate time, AFTER, hearing the owners answer.

The Bloke

Why they do that is so that they can have time to find a new tennant to takeout a new lease immediately yours expires. It is only a courtesy thing they do, so that you have time to renew the lease if you so wish. They still have to give you 24 hours written notice, or in some cases, if by mutual consent, verbal request, to show a prospective tennant/s around the property.

LisaIan

Thanks ABC and The Bloke,

Appreciate the info.

So am I correct in saying that the agent can not start showing people around until after we have given them our form 13, two weeks prior to the lease end? They want to hear back from us by Feb 17th with our intentions so I just want to be clear on this.

Thanks.

pumpkin blossom

What does your contract say?

ABCDiamond

If they wish to, they can give you the 2 months notice to leave, and then show people around during that last two months.

The agent should have approached this in a better way, asking you what you are planning on doing rather than the demanding approach that they seem to have taken.

I personally do not like Agents, even though I have never rented, but have owned rental properties. Agents seem to do what they like without regard to Landlord OR Tenant.