Property management tips - How do I know my tenancy agreement is protecting me?

We often see tenancy agreements that do not protect landlords as well as they could.

If you want to minimise your liability and the risk of unexpected costs, then you need the best tenancy agreement.

The best tenancy agreement will ensure that your rights are protected, that the tenants clearly understand their obligations.

The simplest way to get the best tenancy agreement is to have a template written by a specialist lawyer who is working in your interest.
Combine this with a comprehensive checklist to ensure all relevant special conditions are included.

We continually improve our checklist with all the things that might lead to unexpected expenses.
This might include:

Prohibit LPG bottle heaters which cause damp and condensation issues

Specify any appliances which are not going to be maintained

Specify that sub-letting is not permitted

Specify that a rent review could happen during a fixed term tenancy

Don’t include clauses that are illegal.
An example is requiring the tenant to automatically clean the carpets at the end of a tenancy.

The Quinovic tenancy agreement is quite different to the template available from The Department of Building and Housing which is designed to be neutral for both tenants and landlords.  

If you don’t have the best tenancy agreement, your tenant could make expensive demands that you have to meet.
For example you might have to repair a conservatory that you know always leaked, but is very expensive to fix.
Or replace an appliance that you didn’t want to.

You can also be fined up to $750 for having an illegal clause in your agreement.

See you soon,

Gerard