Hi all
Bit of a saga this. Tenant has been in our investment property which is agent managed (or rather 'our bank's' investment property) for just over a year. We noticed at inspection reports, condition was gradually getting worse - not being looked after and the dog has ruined the back garden. She was issued with a breach notice which she said she would comply with but didn't.

She was then told to leave by 5th March. We visited the property on 3rd March while she was still in residence to check on its condition, specifically the back garden which is atrocious. It has never been cared for and all the grass, which was thin but alive, has disappeared and there is nothing but sand. Lots of garden debris to clear as well. I wouldn't know where to start to make it look better.

Anyway it appears she has moved out. We drove past the property and saw things being taken out on the Sunday/Monday 4th/5th. The agent went round yesterday and said it was empty but dirty. She hasn't returned the keys to the agent and isn't returning emails/phone calls and there is no forwarding address to send letters to her so we don't know what her intentions are. Our agent has emailed her today to say if they haven't heard from her today by 4pm the locks will be changed (but having just spoken to the agent this was apparently just a threat as if she did change the locks it could go against us). They have also emailed her a copy of the bond disposal form asking her to sign that it is given over to us as what needs repairing will cost more than this (when we saw her on the Saturday she did say "well you have my bond to sort things out"). Apparently she is liable to pay the rent up until the keys are returned but the last week's rent due this week has failed due to insufficient funds. She had asked if the last week's rent could come out of the bond and the agent declined.

The agent went to the property yesterday and said it is empty (thankfully as otherwise we wouldn't have just been able to throw her stuff out even if she did return the key). She has had an investment property of her own in the past and ended up going bankrupt over it (so she said last week) so she must know that she is responsible for rent up until the keys are returned so I don't know why she would want to run up debts - although I doubt we would pursue her for them - we just want to draw a line under the whole thing.

The problem really is that without her returning the keys her tenancy hasn't really ended and we apparently aren't able to gain access to tidy the property etc because she may want to do this herself rather than lose the bond. The agent said we might have to apply to the court for vacant possession but this can take 3-4 weeks and in the meantime no rent is coming in and $2000 in loan/bills is coming out and we want to put it on the market. We will be selling at a loss as it is now worth less than my husband bought it for 5 years ago so all the equity has gone and there will still be a debt to pay when it is sold. If it doesn't sell then we will have to look at renting it out again but we will change agents as we aren't that happy with our current one who until we realised ourselves there was a potential problem building hadn't done anything themselves to nip it in the bud.

So there seems to be only a lose/lose situation here I think but it is just a matter of how much we lose.

While typing this my agent has just rung and said that they think we should apply to the court for vacant possession to at least start the process. It may be that the tenant will come into the office on Saturday (having not had time to drop the keys off beforehand - still no excuse not keeping us informed of that fact) so the court order can then be cancelled but there is no point in wasting any more time if it takes 3-4 weeks minimum and the courts only sit on a Monday.

Quite stressful all of this, particularly when I have a husband who is threatening to go in to the property this weekend and we end up arguing about it as I want to keep things legal (even though there is no room for common sense when it comes to law) whereas he is more like a bull in a china shop. He actually bought it off an ex girlfriend 5 years ago at the height of the property boom in a terrible area. He was looking for an investment and he would never have chosen Gosnells, WA if he hadn't been trying to be his usual kind self and helping someone out. He has regretted it ever since. Not looking forward to going home this evening to tell him the latest!

This has sort of turned out to be a rant more than anything else, just trying to get things off my chest. not sure if anyone can offer me good advice?

Thanks for reading!

No advice I'm afraid, not had the key situation. Our last tenant left the house filthy and didn't pay the last month's rent though. Estate Agent said we could pursue though some kind of tribunal but it normally went against the owners!! So we just left it. I was so annoyed that there was NOTHING we could do and were left quite a bit out of pocket. The bond covered the rent but that was all, was also electricity and water owing that we ended up forking out. Not sure if the agent gave the right advice but wasn't living here at the time so was all too complicated. Hope your situation gets resolved soon, I don't blame you for wanting to sell - it all works fine for most people but I wouldn't do it again.

Hi there - the electricity and gas is in her name so I don't think they would be able to come after us for it. Hope so anyway. I'm under the impression that we can't use the bond to take out what is owing for the rent and in any case with everything else that needs doing there won't be enough left anyway. It does seem to be stacked in the tenant's favour doesn't it but then there are terrible landlords as well.

Common sense tells me that if she hasn't returned the keys and isn't making any effort to keep in contact, and the property has been emptied then it should become available to the owners. What struck me as really unfair was that even if she had returned the keys but had left some possessions there we can't just get rid of them, there is a legal process to go through. Still, as awkward as she is being she isn't half as bad as some of the horrendous stories of tenants I have been reading up about. I don't want to go again either, especially as my husband works such long hours it is me that ends up having to try and sort everything out.

Here is a link to a tenants advice service in your State.

http://www.taswa.org/

I know you're the landlord, but I expect they can give you advice, in reverse, so you know what your tenant is realistically entitled to (and likely to do.)

I agree, you should get onto the courts to get the ball rolling asap. I would probably also change the locks. As someone with a history of non-payment of dues, the tenant is unlikely to suddenly cough up rent for a period after she has vacated.

Take lots of photo's of how she left it. Have a current newspaper or something in the pictures, which will prove the pictures were taken after she moved out. Get a dated receipt from the locksmith. Maybe you know a friendly JP who might look around the property and potentially confirm its condition.

Alternatively, get on to a new agent (who'll, hopefully, want your business) and get some advice from them.

If the vacating tenant has already indicated you can take owings out of her bond you can probably kiss her a.. goodbye.

Done this plenty of times and most agents just get me in to fix it up and so they can rent it again. The agent has given them reasonable notice and you will probably have to apply to get the bond back as i doubt your tenant will sign it over to cover repairs etc.

Thanks everyone.
Just had a call from the agent - the tenant has finally returned the keys. Hasn't signed the bond disposal form so we will have to pay up front for the repairs etc and then apply to the court for the money. There is no forwarding address for her so apparently the courts will place an add in the paper which if she doesn't respond to the money will go to us.

A lot of weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Just hope we can sell it now with not too much of a loss.

Thanks again