Rent Arrears

The Residential Tenancy Act 1997 is very specific as to the rights and responsibilities of landlords/agents and tenants when it comes to the payment of rent for a tenancy.

Rent in Advance
Rent is required to be paid in advance during the term of the lease whether it be for a fixed term lease or a non-fixed term lease.
For example: You move in on July 1st and you pay rent every fortnight. You will pay rent on July 1st and that will cover you for the fortnight from July 1st to July 14th.
In other words, you pay for time that you will be in the property, not the time you have already been in the property.

Payment Period
A payment period is how often you have to pay rent according to the lease.
A payment period cannot exceed four weeks (or two weeks for boarding premises).
Generally a payment period for rent is either one or two weeks. Whatever payment period you have accepted as a term of your lease you must remain in advance for this period. A payment period cannot be changed unless all parties to the agreement accept any change.
Note that in Tasmania, The Act states that a landlord cannot collect more that on period of rent in advance.

Rent Arrears
Rent Arrears occur when you are in the property but you have not paid rent for the period on the due date. However, it is not the same as the rent in advance period.
For example: You pay rent fortnightly and the next payment period is for April 1st to April 14th. If you do not pay the rent until April 5th, you would have been 4 days in arrears from April 1st until April 4th. In this case you would be breaching the rent in advance clause in your tenancy agreement and the owner/agent has the right to issue you with a breech notice or a notice to vacate if they feel it necessary, most owners will be forgiving once or twice however repeat offenses may see your owner become more demanding. This may also effect your option to renew the lease at the end of the lease term.

A Notice to Vacate for rent arrears must give you at least fourteen (14) days notice to solve the problem. This allows you:

to pay the arrears owing, thus remedying the problem (and therefore no further action can be taken) or
vacate the property (note that any rent arrears will be claimed as well as costs incurred by the owner, this includes a deduction from the bond). This process will have a negative impact on your future ability to rent and may also impact on you when applying for any kind of financial assistance.

It is important to note that during a twelve month period, if you get three Notices to Vacate specifically for rent arrears, the landlord/agent is entitled to rely on the third notice to have you vacate the property even if you are able to pay the arrears owing.

If an landlord/agent issues the third and final Notice to Vacate and you do not vacate the property they may apply to the Magistrates Court for an Order for Vacant Possession. This may also occur on any other Notice to Vacate for arrears if the arrears are not paid.

If you do get behind in the rent we recommend the following:

1. Be active in finding a solution and DO NOT ignore the problem.
2. Keep the communication flowing - Contact the landlord/agent to discuss the issue as soon a problem arises.
3. If possible pay the arrears or at the least make an application to enter into a payment plan to repay the arrears.