the wife and i settle on our first home in about 2 weeks.

we've been renting and have about 6 months left on the lease.

we have already submitted the 'intention to break lease' form with the real estate about 5 weeks ago.
had a few inquiries but no takers yet.

we are tossing up on not paying rent for the rest of the time we are here and forfeiting our bond. (we have to pay 1 week penalty for breaking lease when we leave) so we will only be out of pocket a few hundred.

does anyone know what the likely action the real estate will take if we do it this way?

our first plan, however, is to tell the real estate we are going to be unable to pay rent after we settle on the house. to be up front with them so they can re-advertise the property as a clean rental rather than a break-lease situation.

any experience in this situation.?

As far as I know, you have to keep paying rent until it's tenanted, if you don't then the agency/lessor can take legal action. At least that's how it's explained and written in the contract for the people renting my house.

we are tossing up on not paying rent for the rest of the time we are here and forfeiting our bond. (we have to pay 1 week penalty for breaking lease when we leave) so we will only be out of pocket a few hundred.

I was under the impression bond could not be used for rent in arrears ?
and that they can/will go after you in court ?

i've heard you can claim financial hardship too. think ill have to go over have a look at the RTA site.
exciting reading on a saturday night.

just wanting some first hand experiences to get a different picture from whats written into a lease.

Real estate agents are mostly a pack of arseholes, and they will try to take as much of your money as possible at the end of the lease. This may not be true in your case if you are lucky, but its a general rule that holds true in most cases. Don't take a previous good relationship as any marker.

A good rule of thumb is to wind down the lease but not paying rent, gives them a lesser pile of cash to go shopping with. From experience, it is much, much harder to get their mits off YOUR bond than it is for them to get extra money off you.

There is f*** all they can do about it, you need to be in breach for WEEKS before they can even issue an eviction notice. Don't do the real estate any favours, they honestly don't deserve it in most cases.

Especially if you never intend to rent again, f*** them.

Grats on your house btw :)

last edited by Hogfather at 23:21:38 20/Jun/09

A tenancy agreement is a binding legal contract and the tenant must ask the lessor/agent for permission to be released from the agreement early. It is advisable to get the lessor/agent's approval in writing if they agree to terminate the contract early.

The lessor/agent may claim compensation for the reasonable costs incurred because the tenant leaves early. This may include loss of rent if they cannot find a replacement tenant. The lessor/agent has an obligation to reduce or minimise losses that result from the tenant breaking the agreement.

In some circumstances, tenants can break a tenancy agreement if they experience excessive hardship. This can include both financial and personal hardship. The tenant will need to make an urgent application to the Small Claims Tribunal for an order terminating the agreement because of excessive hardship. Any compensation owing to the lessor/agent may be assessed by the Tribunal.

may be a way out. we have been good tenants with rent and looking after the place and such for 2 years.

i always figure the honest option is the way to go. problem is we are dealing with real estate agents and the high road isnt always the right road.

How is you buying a house proof you have hardship ?

pics btw. some dodgy decorating bt its a wee rippa.

http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house1.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house2.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house3.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house4.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house5.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house6.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house7.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house8.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house9.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house9a.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house9b.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house9c.jpg
http://i619.photobucket.com/albums/tt274/sssllleeepppyyy/house9d.jpg

Real estate agents are mostly a pack of arseholes, and they will try to take as much of your money as possible at the end of the lease. This may not be true in your case if you are lucky, but its a general rule that holds true in most cases. Don't take a previous good relationship as any marker.

A good rule of thumb is to wind down the lease but not paying rent, gives them a lesser pile of cash to go shopping with. From experience, it is much, much harder to get their mits off YOUR bond than it is for them to get extra money off you.

There is f*** all they can do about it, you need to be in breach for WEEKS before they can even issue an eviction notice. Don't do the real estate any favours, they honestly don't deserve it in most cases.

Especially if you never intend to rent again, f*** them.

Grats on your house btw :)

Agents might be arses but what about the guy whos own the house who is no longer getting paid his rent while you stay in his house? A lease is a contract and if you break it you should suffer the consueqnces of it, if the lessor was nice he would give you the option to pay rent until it's leased again while the flipside is he could just tell you it's too bad you didn't time your lease properly and you still have to pay up until the lease has expired.

Sure your way might get you out of the situation now but I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around.

WHeres this house at c***.

How is you buying a house proof you have hardship ?

that is true but given the notice we allowed and the governments encouragement to buy houses with grants and wot not we have been encouraged to buy.
RTA or the 'tribunal' may have to consider this. it is near impossible for us to pay both rent and mortgage so therefore 'fin h/ship'

you won't pay rent for long, isn't occupancy at a record high at the moment?

its at Buderim.

also i agree about the owner losing more than the real estate. we are trying to do everything the right way considering the circumstances.
btw with the timing you have to be pretty lucky to time a purchase of a property and the ending of a lease. i'm sure my situation happens all the time.

Sure your way might get you out of the situation now but I'm a firm believer in what goes around comes around.

I've been s*** canned by real estates far too often to care about the inconvenience of the owner's rent being late by 2-3 weeks. I sure hope you are right about karma and real estates, because I know a bunch of the thieving f***ers who are owed massive come uppance.

Yes, I have opinions about them haha.

Anyway. a rented property is a business not an employee arrangement with a weekly pay cheque. Anyone leasing a property who can't survive a 2-3 week delay in payments just shouldn't be doing so.

last edited by Hogfather at 23:40:16 20/Jun/09

What the f***!? That's your first house....

Isn't your first house supposed to be a dump - not a fcuking hotel!!!

Good job mate.

I reckon be up front and honest. What it costs it costs. You've already had a raw deal if your landlord wanted another 12 month lease though. Usually after the initial 12 months you can keep renting month to month with no further lease.

you won't pay rent for long, isn't occupancy at a record high at the moment?

thats what i was saying the the mrs today. sunny coast especially was supposed to be 2 percent margin of available rentals to rentees.

i remember looking at a place before we found this one and there were no joke 20 people looking through it in a group inspection.

personally i think the fact they have the place advertised as 'break lease' may turn people off. i know when i was looking for a rental ages ago i saw one that had that on it and i thought it must be some bad s*** had gone down, where the real estate were pricks or something.


last edited by sleepy at 23:48:22 20/Jun/09

Anyway. a rented property is a business not an employee arrangement with a weekly pay cheque. Anyone who is leasing a property who can't survive a 2-3 week delay in payments just shouldn't be doing so.

Of course you need to put a bit aside for a rainy day and also have tenants insurance to cover lost rent (amongst damage, etc), but like a business it's written in a contract that the tenant will pay X per week/fortnight/month for the duration of the contract. Most business I've been involved in have contracts in place with vendors and clients to ensure a somewhat guaranteed income for a length of time.

Everyone has their opinions but being a landlord I'd be pretty raged if someone took that course of action instead of hitting me up and saying they just bought a house, they want to move out early and are the breaking contract, can you help me out, etc. You've had at least 30 days to know you're buying a house plus the notice period to terminate a contract which should give ample opportunities to come up with a solution that's agreeable to both parties.

Nobody likes giving away money without anything in return and at the same time nobody likes to loose money that should be coming in. There's a balance in between, it just depends if both parties are willing to negotiate to it.

FWIW: real estate agents are arses, they sit back and take their 10% cut and give me a call once every 3 months to see how their service is!@%

What the f***!? That's your first house....

Isn't your first house supposed to be a dump - not a fcuking hotel!!!

Good job mate.

yer we nearly did buy a dump. but after building a pest inspection we decided not to.
about a week later we rang the real estate for this new place (we thought it would be out of our price range) and he said it was for a quick sale. turned out they were seriously after a quick sale. (old retired couple, one going into aged care)

put in the offer and accepted the next day.

every other similar house in the area (4 bed, 2 bath, no pool, no yard) is all between 40 and 60 k more.

yer TM so far we have done everything the 'honorable' way. (there were terms of sale of this property with a set settlement date.

i'm going to do the face to face thing on monday with the real estate which holds more weight than phone calls. i'm sure the real estate dont want the messy 'chasing the money situation'
i reckon advertise an empty house with a fresh portfolio it will attract more people.

who knows there may be no interest so far because of the date it is available. i know when i needed a place i needed it within a week or two bot 6 weeks away.

hopefully it will work out well. everything has fallen into place so far with the buying the house stuff. just need a little bit more of that good luck and luck with timing.

Everyone has their opinions but being a landlord I'd be pretty raged if someone took that course of action instead of hitting me up and saying they just bought a house, they want to move out early and are the breaking contract, can you help me out, etc. You've had at least 30 days to know you're buying a house plus the notice period to terminate a contract which should give ample opportunities to come up with a solution that's agreeable to both parties.

of course that's the way things should be done.

My personal experience when renting for 10 years of do was that the owner and the real estate were continually trying to f*** me - nsw or qld seemed to make no difference. You have people giving you grief and treating you like dirt long enough and you start to worry a fair bit less about inconveniencing them or being honorable. I might just bs unlucky, but of course I can only comment from my own experiences as a guide.

Buying our house was awesome ... Will never rent again if I can help it!

nice place

real estate agents have an obligation to rent your property as quickly as possible
this mean that, for example if you were paying $350/wk and you want to end the lease early
someone offers $330/wk, the real estate agent has to give you the option of paying $20 (350-330) * weeks left on lease
so this leaves the real estate agent with the same amount of $$ and you get to get out of your lease a bit cheaper

you can go to the tenancy board and plead your case if your agents being a wanker, which it sounds like he/she is
tenancy rates in brisbane are ridiculous, it should have been filled in 2-3 weeks unless they're asking a ridiculous price for it

btw, they cant ask for more than you are currently paying - so check that out
they can hit you up for advertising fees and s*** too, so just keep that in mind

yer a few good points there.

the price is advertised the same as what we pay.
in regards to the advertising cost. that is included in the one week rent payment we have to pay for breaking the lease.

i wanted them to put our number on the advertisement like ive seen in other break lease ads. i'd be interested to know how many people have inquired about it. we have only received two phone calls about it.

its certainly not a dump this place either.

the 1 week thing doesnt include advertising fees
you can advertise it yourself too, if you find someone who wants to rent it - just tell your landlord and they will have to sign them up

I'd level with them on monday, say look this is the situation and if you dont get someone in very quickly you're going to end up out of pocket because I'm going to pay my mortgage before I keep paying you after X weeks of notice period
"you will get paid but it will not be the agreed terms on the lease" (timeline wise)

they cant send you to a credit agency without heaps of red tape, so you will have to keep paying the rent but they will pull their finger out because if the agent cant get the cash, the owner of the property gets the s***s and they take it out on the agent

hmmm good one me ole china.

we are sticking to the high road so far. just might have to take some short cuts along the way.

I would be pissed if my agent rang me up and said oh hey, you remember i told you 6 weeks ago that your tenants want out? yeah well im f***ing usless and i havent found anyone yet, they've moved out now and its going to be pretty hard to get money out of them from here

whilst normally they could kick you out of the place for not paying rent, you dont live there now so they've got nothing :]

yer true,
i know it will be all good. we have done everything the best way considering the circumstances.
i kinda live by the belief if you do things with the best intentions generally the outcome will be at very least satisfactory.

As far as I know, you have to keep paying rent until it's tenanted

Buderim

f***ing win++

Good choice!

As far as I know, you have to keep paying rent until it's tenanted, if you don't then the agency/lessor can take legal action. At least that's how it's explained and written in the contract for the people renting my house.

This. When I broke my lease on an apartment in paddington I had to wait until the real estate found someone else to take over before I could stop paying and pay 1 weeks rent in advertising fees. This was all backed up by the RTA as the legal way to do things.

If you decide to just not pay rent and have your bond taken, you are in for a rude surprise. You have 7 days before the landlord/agent can evict you and then you go to court.

Honestly, your only real option is too wait for the place to be rented. Make sure its on realestate.com.au and in the paper etc. If it is , then you just need to be patient. My place was pretty good value compared to the others around it and it took 2 months to go.

Oh, and if you dont pay your rent, that can also eventually lead to a black mark on your credit rating.

i kinda live by the belief if you do things with the best intentions generally the outcome will be at very least satisfactory.

Your 'best' intentions are bulls*** though. You purchased a house knowing full well you were contracted to pay rent for 6 months and that you didn't intend to honour that contract upon purchasing.
You are intending to shaft the real estate and the owner of house by delaying your payments as long as possible, hardly 'best' intentions.

You will NOT get out of it through financial hardship, not without a costly lawyer anyway and it would still be a hard sell and not worth the risk.

You will have to to pay break lease and possible advertisement costs, usually the cost of a weeks rent, + rent until the house is rented to someone else. You should have a decent buffer in your loan offset account to pay both your mortgage and your rent for a month or two (it probably wont be longer then that).

It would be best to delay your payments though, to apply pressure on the real estate to re-tenant the house, be careful though legal action can be costly if left too long.

lol at trying to use financial hardship, just because you bought a house.

best logic never.

that is true but given the notice we allowed and the governments encouragement to buy houses with grants and wot not we have been encouraged to buy.
RTA or the 'tribunal' may have to consider this. it is near impossible for us to pay both rent and mortgage so therefore 'fin h/ship'

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. talk to someone who knows what they are talking about before you do something stupid.

Mrs and I are in a similar situation at the moment on the Gold Coast. We bought a place, settled the week before last and moved in a few days later, but still paying rent at the old place with about 11 weeks left to go on the lease.

We're doing the right thing and submitted a break lease form early on to the agent, and the intention has always been to continuing to pay until they find someone + the advertisement costs. It's pissed me off that nobody was found and lined up to move in and take over straight away considering we gave notice at the end of April, but s*** happens we're legally obligated to see out the lease regardless. Thankfully we can take the hit even if it is expensive and annoying.

In our situation we're on good terms with the owner, but the agents are lazy arses. A few weeks ago they gave us the option of advertising at $20 less and we make up the difference until the end of the lease than what we're paying in rent but it's still no takers. When I went in there last (about 2 days ago to hand in the keys) the ad in their office window hadn't even been updated with that amount. If it's not rented this week I'm considering calling the owner and asking him to light a fire under the agent.

I don't think bond can simply be used for rent in arrears, but if you owe money at the end of the tenancy the agent/lessor can apply to the RTA to refuse your bond refund application.

If you're still living there I wouldn't just stop paying rent, maybe you could negotiate to delay the payments after you move out. Stopping paying is a last resort, because it won't look good if you have to go to any sort of negotiation or dispute resolution process. Also they'll still be able to take you to court later anyway to reclaim the money because of the written contract.

Because you've got so long to go on the current lease 'Plan B' might be to find a short term tenant for your new place and continue renting where you are until your current lease ends. If you've applied for FHOG you only need to move in within the first 12 months of settlement and stay in for 6 months to satisfy the requirements.

talking to the wife this morning.

we agreed to stall the rent payments to encourage quicker tenancy.
we will still pay regularly enough but the starve-feed method may work best.

to all the haters we were always going to make an informed decision by speaking to RTA on monday too so we would know our options first hand.
thanks for all the input. i can now go to court and say QGL said it was ok to do .....blah.

also ..yes buderim f***in win ++
unless you are on waterfront its the best area on the coast i reckon.
couple k's to shopping centre. couple k's to alex or mooloolaba. short drive to the hinterland. hour to bris.

we agreed to stall the rent payments to encourage quicker tenancy.
we will still pay regularly enough but the starve-feed method may work best.

You are both douchebags.

renting sucks major arse.

grats on the haus, looks like the buy of the century.

Congratulations on moving your self imposed financial hardship over to someone else who doesn't deserve it.

SO wait - you signed a lease, then in the middle of that lease decided to buy a house. Now, because they are mean and nasty and making you keep your legal agreement, you are going to refuse to pay them?

It's people like you that give renters a bad name.

Take responsibility for your choices in life

I agree whit Kat (OMG)

I would advertise the house for rent then rent it out for more then what you pay and skim off the top until lease is up. I think this is called sub-leasing

Just get them to put it up for rental now and if someone wants to move right in their shouldn't be a problem.

I had paid in advance and someone moved in straight away and my real estate actually give me cash back from the date the next people moved in.

that was an country real estate don't think all of them would be like that. I think REMAX Colonial were c***s at Annerley.

I moved out of my old place at the end of our last contract and my old roommate got a new guy on the contract. The both moved out mid way through the contract (he moved to melb) and remax are making them pay until the end of the contract or someone else moves in. It doesn't look like remax have much interest in getting new tennants in urgently though, I think they increased the rent because if there are any takers they get more money, otherwise they've got a steady stream of cash anyway. Not sure if it's been rented yet, but it's a cheap (but old/crap) unit at Taringa, for the last 4-5 years that would have gone in a day, apparently not so much at the moment.

we agreed to stall the rent payments to encourage quicker tenancy. we will still pay regularly enough but the starve-feed method may work best.

You'd only be shooting yourself in the foot if you don't talk with the agent and/or landlord first.

Why so suddenly anyway? You're still two weeks away from settlement. Sounds like you got yourselves into deep, hot water if you can't afford to double up for a while with rent and mortgage payments until someone gets in as a replacement.

My first tenants cut their lease short by 5 months. They were liable for the full tenancy length + 1 week or until new tenants take over + 1 week.

Once they had moved out they stop paying rent until the full amount they owe is known. It is done like that in the ACT so that the pressure is on for agents and owners to find replacement tenants.

SO wait - you signed a lease, then in the middle of that lease decided to buy a house. Now, because they are mean and nasty and making you keep your legal agreement, you are going to refuse to pay them?

It's people like you that give renters a bad name.

Take responsibility for your choices in life

is it a good view from that high horse.

this is simply a question on ALL options we may have as we havent been in this situation before. we are aware we may be liable for the outstanding period of rent. we are taking responsibility for our decisions. non of which involve getting gear off in front of a camera in some c-grade attempt to draw attention to a below average soft porn performance.

by creating this thread i am doing some research to find out some situations you wont find out via RTA or talking to real estates. real estates use tactics on there clients so it would be irresponsible of me not to do the same.

but as mentioned delaying tactics can increase the amount of effort the real estate puts in. so far all i can see our 'one week rent' fee is paying for is an advertisement.
i have advised the real estate 5 weeks ago.
the owners are aware.

i have the right now i am paying a administration fee for breaking the lease i am entitled to see some administration effort on their part.

also
if they were to sell the house or as it says 'without grounds' i just read they only have to give 14 days notice under a fixed term arrangement. thats bloody nice isnt it. so if the owner sees an opportunity in the market to make some cash they can kick you out. but if you see an opportunity you are bound till the end of the lease.

My first tenants cut their lease short by 5 months. They were liable for the full tenancy length + 1 week or until new tenants take over + 1 week.

Once they had moved out they stop paying rent until the full amount they owe is known. It is done like that in the ACT so that the pressure is on for agents and owners to find replacement tenants.

very good to know ta.

i suppose that is the same as what we are thinking of doing. just wording it that way is the trick i guess.

also
if they were to sell the house or as it says 'without grounds' i just read they only have to give 14 days notice under a fixed term arrangement. thats bloody nice isnt it. so if the owner sees an opportunity in the market to make some cash they can kick you out. but if you see an opportunity you are bound till the end of the lease.

But the fixed term lease remains with the new owners so the tenants can't be forced out of the house until it expires. I was looking to sell my house at the start of the year and the RTA told me this.

ok there ya go.
i'm sure it will all work out fine. (for all parties)
it seems some people are all very concerned about real estates agents being done over all of a sudden. i guess its the usual argue for the sake of arguing around here.

if the owner had to do the work i'm sure it would be progressing a lot better. if we missed aweek rent i'm sure the RE would all of a sudden be very efficient.

thanks for all the constructive comments ppl.

You really dont get it do you. If you dont pay rent, not only to the real estate agent not get their cut but the OWNER of the property who also has a morgage to pay doesnt get their cut.

What you are proposing is a huge douchebag move and yes it might light a fire under the RE but most likely they will focus on sending debt collectors after you.

s it a good view from that high horse.

this is simply a question on ALL options we may have as we havent been in this situation before. we are aware we may be liable for the outstanding period of rent. we are taking responsibility for our decisions. non of which involve getting gear off in front of a camera in some c-grade attempt to draw attention to a below average soft porn performance.

What f***ing high horse? she did the right thing and paid out the term of an agreement? I would do the same thing because I understand what I sign and do. Clearly you have no clear argument and you know what you are doing is wrong so you attack her on a personal level......and if your wife agrees then she is an idiot as well.

Honestly I am sure you are excited about your house purchase and kudos to you, its a great thing but FFS, take some responsibility in your actions.

Grouphug?

I dont think sleepy wants to screw them over, he has given them ample time
they sound like they're not doing the right thing by him

I would just move out and keep paying rent, just pay it secondary to the mortgage
he gave them very adequate time

I'm a landlord myself and if i had someone go through the proper means of breaking a lease, I would have someone in my place in 2 weeks tops after they vacated

What if they have no one too fill it? How is that their problem. Mine was advertised in Feb of this year, when there was a supposed rental shortage. The place was advertised on 3 different sites, the agent brought people in for inspection twice a week and Im talking 10 - 14 people on some of these. The price was reasonable for the area, however it took 8 weeks in the end too move! Go figure. Just because they can't find someone doesn't mean he can try to avoid paying the fee's that he is contractually obligated to pay.

Try pulling that s*** with GE or someone else, he is lucky he can do it at all.

if no one was renting during the shortage, it was over priced - that simple
like i said before, they should have dropped the price to get someone in ASAP and then sleepy is only responsible for the difference

Maybe, but at the same time if you were renting your unit out and could either make $400 or $420 a week, which would it be?

I guess it depends on your "its business, not personal" approach and honestly I would consider dropping the price but at the same time, you can't blame them for it.

In regards to my situation, there was a rental shortage but not in that price range. Most of paddington was in the same price. They could have lowered it but they ended up finding someone willing to pay more, which brings me back to the point above. It would be nice if they did but you cannot act like a child if they dont, because the contract has been signed.

Maybe, but at the same time if you were renting your unit out and could either make $400 or $420 a week, which would it be?

if sleepy pays $420 now and they could only re-rent it at 400, the landlord legally has to do this if sleepy says its ok
because that makes him liable for $20 x weeks-left on rent

if its 6 months, its roughly 20 * 26, so not exactly spare change but way better than 2 or 3 months of full rent

it might be a legal binding contract but theres still some give and take in this world, you can't just reneg on your deal but you also can't be a c******* landlord and expect everything your way

thats the nature of the investment property market and every investor should know it, or will quickly learn it


last edited by tequila at 19:27:32 21/Jun/09

Hey sleepy,

We've lodged papers with the Small Claims Tribunal and the RTA as we are exactly in the same situation.

The Small Claims case is on the grounds of Financial Hardship and the RTA dispute is to get our bond back. Granted, we broke the lease and accepted we had to continue to pay rent until another tenant was found but we gave our Form 13 on 19 June 2009.

The agents won't return calls or e-mails and don't appear to be as proactive as they should be so we have been left with little choice.

Our opinion is that, with good reason, 1 months or 30 days rent after the lease break should be reasonable compensation for the owners. We took advantage of the FHOG and the Stamp Duty Exemption before June 30 so why are we being penalised when you're trying to do your bit for your family and the economy?

We're a family of 5 and simply cannot pay both rent and mortgage.

Good luck.

ps: good score, the place we purchased is nothing like yours but we're happy with it and it's something we can leave for the kids, cheers...

whatever ever happened to a deal being a deal?

whenever my tenants break leases, i haul their asses into court.

What rental agency Franko?

call me crazy, but I figure if you're the one ditching out on the lease you should be the one finding new tennants to take over. this doesn't seem any different to me if it was just yourself moving out of a house of mates (moving interstate for work) or you and your Mrs deciding you just want out of the area.

I've never had a problem finding someone else to fill my spot (with the exception of a place I lived @ in Logan for 6 months). It's pretty clear by the terms of the lease that you're paying out the butthole for nothing if you don't get someone else in there so why not at least try?

it doesn't cost tha much to advertise a place for rent in the weekend paper

Thanks koopz,

We're already on it, even on the local community notice board...

Cheers.

Breaking a lease is bad form and it's no wonder the agency and/or landlords are pissed.

You're having a sook about not being able to afford rent and mortgage - but what about your landlord!? They have their own rent/mortgage to pay for - and you have just f***ed them out of one of their income streams that they have budgeted for and are depending on for the remainder of the lease period.

I would do as infi says and give my lawyer a call.

Yeah everyone's a victim these days. I blame the government.

Leasing a house is a business arrangement. Like any business you need to be able to deal with debtors and late payment.

You are under no 'moral' obligation to immediately pay rent to the landlord as soon as it is due, anyone in business knows the accounts payable game! Look after yourself and your family above all else, let the landlord deal with their own problems.

we had a whole bunch of issues with our property manager. told us we couldn't pay the bond via CC, being a b*tch about having maintenance work carried out, the place was unsafe. she was 20, fat, and on such a high horse that no-one could reach her.

so i complained to the boss of ray white alderley (surprisingly, not ray) who sent me a letter back saying she has been spoken to, she was out of line and to not hesitate to call her if there are any more problems.

ever since then, she was fkn nice. sending nice emails, getting things done, being polite. i thought it was all a scam to then slam us with our condition report and take all our bond (note: we live in a house built in 1940, so you can imagine the condition). but in fact what happened is she called and said we did a good job cleaning, we just missed some marks in the lounge room so i went back and gave it a clean. got our whole bond back today. sweet jesus

told us we couldn't pay the bond via CC

This is law I think?

law to be able to pay it via cc?

in any case, we received notice from the boss stating she was wrong and they could infact accept cc payments

Hmm, was ages ago (and in a diff State) but when I lived in NSW it was law that you couldn't pay for rent with credit.

No one allows bond via CC.

Has to be one of those post office cheques or cash.

Everything is Negotiable.
Courts are a headache and its not always a certainty one side will win and then there is the time factor.
Make a generous offer to the Owner.

Make a generous offer to the Owner.

You're trying to tell me that people who rent are reasonable and have money?

YEAH RIGHT

What do they owe $500 ?
offer 400 the more you offer the better the chance the problem goes away.
If you are in the wrong Own It and solve the problem.
Refusing to pay is just Childish.

hey, don't tell me, i'm not an irresponsible renter, i'm a homeowner. the only person i answer to is me.

now get off my lawn!

No one allows bond via CC. Has to be one of those post office cheques or cash.

wrong

hey, don't tell me, i'm not an irresponsible renter, i'm a homeowner. the only person i answer to is me.

Im not ready to buy a house yet, how does that make me irresponsible :(

wrong

Im just basing that off the 5 agents that go through the RTA that I have had in the past, all said no CC, only cash or cheque, not even eftpos.

But thanks for backing up your claim with facts. They probably do allow it but dont like you because your such a miserable c*** :)

You are under no 'moral' obligation to immediately pay rent to the landlord as soon as it is due, anyone in business knows the accounts payable game! Look after yourself and your family above all else, let the landlord deal with their own problems.

No moral obligation but you are under a legal one, as per the tenancy agreement that is signed saying you have to pay your rent on X day. I don't know why people would try to get out of doing this when their "financial hardship" is because they just bought a house. It's not the landlords fault you can't time your purchase right so that your settlement is closer to when your lease expires.