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Australian
Capital Territory (ACT)
In accordance with the
Residential Tenancies Act, when rent is overdue, on the 8th
day we may issue a “Notice to Remedy” (NTR). The NTR is a
formal, legal notice, giving the tenant 7 days to rectify the
breach. If, on the 8th day after serving the NTR,
rent remains outstanding, rent still
remains outstanding, we may then issue a Notice to
Vacate (NTV). The NTV advises the tenant that they have
disregarded warnings and they must now pay all arrears in full
or vacate the premises within 14 days from the service of notice.
(We must allow 4 working days for postage on top of the 14 day
notice period).
Should your tenant fail
to respond to the Notice to Vacate, once the notice period has
expired, we would contact you to advise that it may be necessary
to apply to the Residential Tenancy Tribunal for a “Termination
and Vacant Possession” (T&P) Order. This application can not be
made until the Notice to Vacate has expired and the tenant has
failed to co-operate.
If your instructions are
to proceed with the Tribunal application, we would fill in the
appropriate paperwork, lodge it with the Residential Tenancy
Tribunal and wait for a hearing date to be set.
Once the Registrar has
confirmed a hearing date, our property manager represents you at
the Tribunal. In some cases, termination and vacant possession
is not awarded immediately and the tenant may be placed on a
“Conditional Termination”. This order outlines a payment plan
to eliminate the arrears within a certain time period. If the
tenant breaches, Termination can be enforced.
If we are awarded vacant
possession, the tenant is given a date to vacate the property
and pay the arrears in full. Should the tenant fail to adhere to
this notice, we would apply to the Tribunal again for a “Warrant
for Eviction”. This must be served by the Australian Federal
Police and can take quite some time to be issued.
During this period we
would be in regular contact with you to keep you informed, as
well as regularly driving by the property to see if it has
become vacant.
Recovery of funds can
also be a slow process – tenants who are unemployed will not
have their government benefits garnished but a debt can be
lodged at the local court which will not be removed until it has
been recovered. This will prohibit the tenant from loaning money
etc. so although it can take years – eventually you may recover
the full debt.
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