Bad Tenants HELP!

Trying2SaveABuck on 11/07/2017 - 13:39
Last edited 13/07/2017 - 13:24

So 7 weeks ago i rented my Unit out to a young couple (Expecting a baby) via and agent.

They basically paid a bond and paid up front, they have no paid their rent for this month and are 10 days late.

My dad is my maintenance man for my properties and on Sunday they saw him at the shopping center and went up to him and ask if he could fix the heat remote. My dad responded that he would fix the remote but expressed my concerns about them being (a week late) on their repayments.

My dad is well aware there is nothing we can do for 14-days but since they came up to him he was like i might as well mention it. The tenant responded that she had paid and to 'let your son know im sorry we were late' - i was like all good if they paid on the weekend i would get my payment on Monday or Tuesday.

I just got off the phone with the agent she said not only haven't they paid they also haven't responded to the 5 msg they have left them and no answered any to any calls (so im like FML).

What do i do???

The agent explained at 14-days an eviction notice is sent and if they dont vacate they need to go to VCAT etc etc.

I have got landlord insurance but i only purchased it last week because i needed to get it post EOFY so technically the rent was 2 days late when i got it but i wasn't even aware they were late (doubt that will matter to insurance so dont expect much)

Anyone got any experience in dealing with bad tenants?

On a side note the law is shit I always read about how 'tenants have it bad' because the law favors landlord that is absolute bullshit, if someone doesnt pay there rent why do i need to go to VCAT to evict them? the law is ridiculous and if anything is anti-landlords, anyone else feel the same way?

(Just a side note I'm not some rich property guru i brought this property with the aim to build equity so that one day i could by my own home im 27 and couldnt ever afford (Middle income earner) to buy in Melbourne without taking babe steps to my goals)

———————Updated 13/7/17———————————

So with Friday being the last days of there 14-day grace period my Agent had paid them a visit and apparently 'they were going to pay it today.' The agent managed to get the months rent minus $100 they were short which they are meant to bring today. The tenant has asked to go on a week-to-week basis opposed to month-to-month (which i prefer anyway).

So hopefully things start to work out apparently she hadn't called the agent back because she was 'ashamed' I think her husband might of spend all the rent $$

Hopefully if they pay week-to-week it keeps them on top of things from here on in (im not holding my breath).

I post any updates as things unfold.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Baysew on 11/07/2017 - 13:46
    +31

    Talk with your agent, that is what you pay them for.

  • [Deactivated] on 11/07/2017 - 13:55
    +10

    bikies

    • Kangal on 11/07/2017 - 19:35

      This "meme" never gets old.
      I think we need more alternatives besides Eneloops, 28 Degrees, Citibank Plus, Free SIM cards, Cheap Pizza, Dash cams, Online Courses, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro's… … …. …

      • eyeballz2770 on 12/07/2017 - 13:58

        … although phone is fine.

        :)

  • JetLi on 11/07/2017 - 14:03
    +3

    you wrote 10 months late, should be 10 days?

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 11/07/2017 - 14:19

      fixed

    • Shuey on 11/07/2017 - 14:24

      yea, seems like a typo.. should read as 10 days late.
      If the former, I'd imagine they'd be kicked out a long time ago.

  • jellykingdom on 11/07/2017 - 14:09
    +9

    I agree with you here. All the news articles talk about the lack of stability etc etc for tenants, but the fact is the bad ones are ruining it for everyone else. The landlords have such limited powers to get rid of bad or non-paying tenants, its actually astonishing

    The best you can do is hold onto your good tenants for as long as you can!

    • MrBear on 12/07/2017 - 10:30
      +1

      I've expressed this same opinion before about tenants currently having more "power" than landlords and always get slammed for it (presumably by tenants), but hey, I've got a thick skin.

      The law tends to swing (over decades) back and forth generally to give more "power" to either the landlords or the tenants. Right now, in NSW and probably most of Australia, it is in favour of the tenants. This was reinforced last year with new tenancy laws and lengthening the time a tenant has to move out, etc.

  • Randxyz123 on 11/07/2017 - 14:24
    +2

    You have a agent/property manager… Tell them to deal with it and let you know the outcome by COB Friday…

    THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE PAID FOR

    Tell your dad to inform them that he won't be fixing anything until they pay the rent or contact the agent.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 11/07/2017 - 14:30

      10 days soz typo

      My dad fixed it under the pretense they paid there rent but i called him told him not to do anything now.

      I dont think they will pay before 14-days simply due to the fact they have flat out lied twice!

      I have talked to the agent she has left them 5 times and gone to the property twice (They werent home both times)

      She is going to pay them a visit after work today hopefully they will pay or work something out with them.

      I guess im disappointing because i've always had good tenants my last ones lived there for 2.5 years and moved out because they brought there own home. I get things fixed within 14 days of a request and i offer longer leases at the same rent if the tenant has a good 12-month period.

  • JetLi on 11/07/2017 - 14:27
    +3

    unfortunately it's all procedural now and yes, the rules are in favour bad tenants when trying to kick them out for default rent, that's why landlords insurance is a must. You should have purchased this through the agent, it's usually a lot cheaper and the agent will do all the paperwork for you when lodging a claim.

  • geek001 on 11/07/2017 - 14:32
    +9

    Mate, the thing about property investment is that you will get bad tenants, that's the cost of doing business. You should not sweat tenants being 10 days late. I have had tenants that were 2 months behind, it is a good idea to have a backup plan in case of tenants do not pay up or trash your place and did a runner. Insurance claims can take months to approve. Good tenants can become bad overnight due to their circumstances, illness, divorce, domestic dispute, etc. so your agent needs to be on top of these things. The only advice I can give you is make sure you have a good agent, even if you have to pay a bit more, a bad agent can cost you more in the long run.

  • Ocker on 11/07/2017 - 15:01
    +4

    Renting residential properties is a mugs game. Owners rights get trampled on and the only people guaranteed to make money out of the process are agents

    • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 08:25

      I agree. Invest in commercial property. It has a higher percentage rent/cost and commercial tenants tend not to screw you around as much.

      • WT on 12/07/2017 - 08:45

        only down side is capital gains seem to be slower then the comparable residential lots

        • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 08:50
          +3

          Than than than

        • Speckled Jim on 12/07/2017 - 10:03

          Blame Malbourne.

        • MrBear on 12/07/2017 - 10:32
          +3

          @USB-V: I always thought we blamed smashed avocado on toast?

  • TheBilly on 11/07/2017 - 15:03

    Sucks man, feel for you. If you can do us a favour and post back once it is resolved and how you resolved it, that would be appreciated. It is the cost of doing business unfortunately i.e. you had 2.5 years of good tenants and now a bad experience. Get these guys out and hopefully it is onwards and upwards.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 11/07/2017 - 15:05

      Ill let people know technically they have until friday to pay im hoping the agent catches them and they pay up and if they dont im hoping they just get out without a fuss but im not holding my breath.

  • John Kimble on 11/07/2017 - 16:41
    +1

    So many spelling errors.

    • tomleonhart on 11/07/2017 - 19:25
      +2

      I know. I can't read the whole thing as I keep seeing thing like "there rent"

      • Trying2SaveABuck on 12/07/2017 - 08:27

        Keep seeing thing(s) like

        ;)

        • tomleonhart on 12/07/2017 - 08:29

          WHAT ? There's more than 1 ??? Admittedly I stopped reading at the first "there rent". ;P

        • Trying2SaveABuck on 12/07/2017 - 08:34

          @tomleonhart:

          Ummm if you kept seeing thing(s) like implies more then one - typos happen especially on a community forum next time you might be less of a flog about it

        • tomleonhart on 12/07/2017 - 08:38

          @Pastry: My OCD doesn't allow there, their and theirs to be mixed up unfortunately so I'll still be a flog the next time I see one! :D

        • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 08:50
          +2

          @Pastry:

          Typos are a slip of the fingers. Your 'typos' seems to repeat so often one might suppose they are ingrained misunderstandings of the English language.

        • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 08:51
          +2

          @Pastry: Punctuation, yo. You're not showing 'slips of the fingers', you're showing ignorance. Confusing then and than is just embarrassing.

        • ryzza22 on 12/07/2017 - 11:02
          +1

          @tomleonhart:

          The amount of OCD diagnoses seems to have risen alongside the popularity of unwelcome grammar correction.

        • John Kimble on 12/07/2017 - 17:27

          @tomleonhart: I haven't checked it carefully, but at first glance there's at least 5 to 10.

      • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 08:48
        +2

        Oh thank God! I thought I was the only one cringing my way through it. "They brought there own home." Oh Lordy!

        • Trying2SaveABuck on 12/07/2017 - 08:53

          Fine ill go back in use the proper 'their' just saying you cant bag someones gamma when with poor grammar?

          Regardless going though a rough time to make fun of someone during it shows poor character - bag me all you want but i'd be a shamed of myself if i just kicked people when they were down.

        • tomleonhart on 12/07/2017 - 09:11
          +1

          @Pastry: I'm *ashamed of myself writing this comment.

        • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 09:13
          +1

          @Pastry: hopefully your tenants are not down when you kick them out then

        • [Deactivated] on 12/07/2017 - 10:39
          +5

          @Pastry:

          Cry me a river. I'm very sympathetic to your situation with the bad tenants. But seriously do yourself a favour and read. It'll help with your grammar. It's truly painful to read your gibberish.

        • John Kimble on 12/07/2017 - 17:26
          +3

          @mnermner: Nah, young couple expecting a baby, there fine.

  • Christy Bambi on 11/07/2017 - 17:33

    You got an agent and your pay them a commission out of the rent. Make them do the hardwork

    • Kangal on 11/07/2017 - 19:21
      +1

      Agents really do not care about rentals.

      They pretend they do, but time after time, they neglect it.
      The sales is where the real moneys at, and so, sales is what they focus mostly on.
      Case in point: rental listings. Very rarely timely updates on websites, only a crappy printout in the desk… contrast to sales.

      A Real Estate Agency will not fire an agent for a muckup with rentals, but they won't hesitate to fire someone losing a good sale.

      • MrBear on 12/07/2017 - 10:38
        +1

        I once asked my property manager to send me a PDF of a past yearly income/expenses statement as I had lost it and needed it for my end-of-year tax filing. She forgot and I contacted her on a Friday afternoon to do it again, she said she would do it straight away before heading out for the weekend.

        She ran the report and sent it to me via email. The report contained the yearly income/expenses statement for EVERY SINGLE ONE of that real estate's landlords. There were hundreds of records and I could see how much each landlord made on every property and who these landlords were.

        I sent her an email about it and she never responded. She started at a new agency a month later…

      • Ken1977 on 12/07/2017 - 17:04

        Ignorant misinformation, rentals are a massive part of most agencies, and when landlords decide to sell properties or purchase new ones they prefer to use the same agency, so not having a rentals department would cut you out of a very large income stream.

        • Kangal on 12/07/2017 - 20:35

          I can see how that argument could be put forward, but from my experience in 3 different cities from different Agencies under multiple times the results have always been consistent.

          Agents want to seem professional, but in general, don't care for rentals.
          They care for sales.
          And they know that putting a landlord to let doesn't guarantee them for sales down the line, in fact, more and more Ozzies are choosing to keep their properties for rental and inheritance, rather than to sell and have an extravagant retirement as before.

        • Ken1977 on 13/07/2017 - 09:53

          @Kangal:

          Rentals is a very large percentage of revenue, Sales can fluctuate many times a year. Rentals is regular income. You can also build your rentals portfolio and sell it to another agency.

  • ozbjunkie on 12/07/2017 - 08:26
    +3

    Threads like these make me hope that I'm forever welcome in my much loved rental property, 4 years here, not a day late with rent. No damage, smile during inspections like a good peon.

  • furys12 on 12/07/2017 - 10:06
    +1

    On a side note the law is shit I always read about how 'tenants have it bad' because the law favors landlord that is absolute bullshit, if someone doesnt pay there rent why do i need to go to VCAT to evict them? the law is ridiculous and if anything is anti-landlords, anyone else feel the same way?

    As a tenant thats the most annoying thing, the laws are absolutely in favour of the landlord except in the case of the worst of the worst tenants, squatter level losers who know they can just stop paying rent and live in the house, likely trashing it because that particular part of the law favours them , i'm not saying your tenants are these people, but the idea that in general the laws are against landlords is just wrong and its stories like these that pop up skewing the perception.

  • Odin on 12/07/2017 - 10:41
    +2

    Talk about over-reacting. Jeez man, just wait and see what happens. Talk to the agent. Just relax.

    • robbyjones on 12/07/2017 - 17:13
      +1

      Everyone under stressful situations love being told to 'just relax'

      • John Kimble on 12/07/2017 - 17:19
        +1

        I hate being told to relax when I am relaxed!

  • [Deactivated] on 13/07/2017 - 13:37
    +1

    The tenancy laws certainly favours the tenants but big picture, tax laws definitely favours the owners. Negative gearing, immigration, interest rates, offset leasing costs… all these factors made it possible for those who can buy into the market to have tenants who will find it difficult to break out of leasing.

    Tenants who lie about paying is a pain and are certainly not trustworthy people, however to play the victim of tenancy laws is like buying a BMW and complaining about servicing costs.

  • psyren89 on 13/07/2017 - 13:49

    The agent managed to get the months rent minus $100 they were short which they are meant to bring today

    Here we go.

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 13/07/2017 - 14:06
      -1

      Oh bad the things is they both have decent jobs make decent money compared to how low there rent is 330 per week.

      • John Kimble on 13/07/2017 - 15:27

        That's a really naive way of thinking. You have no idea what other expenses/issues they may currently be dealing with.

  • thriftybunny on 13/07/2017 - 14:59

    Mate I've had it way worse than you, not a cent for months, had to go to court, they didn't turn up so court date was delayed, they finally turned up and offered to pay in installments, would have taken them a year to just come back from arrears, we said no. Got police warrant to evict them, they left when cops came, but smashed doors and windows, set a small fire in the laundry and tore curtains. Yes insurance did cover most of it, but the hassle. & They were a family with kids, needless to say the oldest followed his parents' fine example, he came back to the empty property with friends and did more damages, it was partially caught on the neighbour's security camera. Police involved again but all I got was a police report..

    • Trying2SaveABuck on 13/07/2017 - 15:03
      +2

      This shit man i feel for you. It is the stress that makes it worse, the stress of them damaging property!

    • Dadidalol on 15/07/2017 - 19:28

      Oh god that sounds absolutely awful! I really hope I'll never come across people like that….they should really stop breeding!

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