So You Want To Move Into Your Investment Property?

Over the coming months, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at some of the more common property management issues that arise from time to time. We hope as property owners, you’ll find them useful as a handy reference should the same issue(s) be or become relevant to your living situation.

So, to get the first of our series started, here’s the first issue we’re addressing – owners wanting to move into a currently rented property.

When a landlord wants a tenant to vacate their premises so that they can occupy the premises themselves, the landlord faces two scenarios. Number one is the tenant’s lease has expired and is on a month to month agreement. Number two is the tenant is still within their original lease agreement.

In both cases, the tenant must be served with a “60 day Notice to Vacate”. Under the current Victorian Legislation, “The Residential Tenancies Act, 1997”, the following rules allow the premises to be occupied not only by the landlord, but also the landlord’s spouse, son, daughter, parent or spouse’s parent; or a person who normally lives with the landlord and is substantially or wholly dependent on them.

Tenant’s who are not on a fixed term lease, are entitled to provide a 14 day return notice indicating that they will vacate the premises earlier than the 60 day period and may vacate earlier any time between the 14 and 60 days notice.

When issuing the Notice to Vacate, there are several key points to consider. These include:

• Must specify a vacate date that is the day after the last day of the fixed term lease, or whilst a tenant is on a periodic (month to month lease)
• Must identify the relationship of the family member or dependent person
• The landlord or their family member must intend to occupy the premises immediately after the date on which the Notice to Vacate expires.
• The property is unable to be relet for a period of six months after the date on which the Notice to Vacate is served.

Once the Notice to Vacate has been issued to the tenant, an Application to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is required. This application costs only $40 and assists in gaining legal possession of the property should the tenant not vacate the property at the required time. It’s a small price to pay for added piece of mind/

Landlords moving into their property should allow a minimum of 3 business days between the tenant vacating the property and moving in themselves.  This will allow your property manager to obtain the keys, complete the final condition report and attend to any items that the tenant is responsible for (Eg. repairs or additional cleaning).

And there you have it. Follow these guidelines and you will be well on your way to moving in according to the law and with a minimum a fuss. For any further information, contact our Property Managers at MICM Property.

Stay tuned next month for the next of our series of articles on property management. If you have any particular articles you would like covered, please email us at newsletter@micm.com.au