In this edition: How long will it take for your property to rent? Rent Arrears Who’s Responsible? DO Be Alarmed! Smoke Alarms and the Law…

September 2015

Guess Who’s Coming to Queensland? Wish Upon A Star Charity Ball A Selection of Properties Recently Leased Quote Calendar of Events

Dear Landlord,

In some tenancy matters, the

legislation is ―silent‖ on whether it is

the Landlord or Tenant who may be

responsible for rectifying a particular

issue. Quite a common example of

this is dealing with mould in the

bathroom. We have included an

article that would hopefully help to

clarify any confusion.

Please feel free to contact our office

and speak to one of our Property

Managers should you have any

questions relating to your property.

Rental and Team Updates Plus An Invitation To Our Charity Ball

We bid farewell to Belinda Johnston

last month. We thank her for her

contribution to the department and

we wish her well in her new

endeavours. We welcomed Jodi

Swyny as our new Business

Development Manager/ Team

Leader. She would love to hear from

you so please feel free to call her

on 0429 544 159 or 07 3510 5220.

Lisa Taylor moved to a new role

within the business in contract

management expanding her skill

base and Kobe after two years on

reception is using her customer

service skills now to let your

properties.

If you haven‘t already heard,

RE/MAX Profile is hosting a charity

ball this Saturday at the Marriot for

the Make a Wish foundation. It will

be a fantastic evening with live

entertainment, 3 course meal and

plenty of auctions throughout the

night with proceeds going to Make A

Wish. We still have tickets available

and would love to see you there!

Please see more details on page

Best Regards,

Your property management team

Christina, Jodi, Helen, Iszabel, Kobe

and Haleigh

Our finance specialist

Joshua Vecchio can help with;

Interest in Advance, Home Loan Health Check,

Depreciation Reports and much more.

Call him now on 0432 989 866

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

How long will it take for your property to rent?

That of course depends on the time of the year so here are the latest statistics for August.

BRISBANE STATISTICS The Market

Source: rentfind.com.au

Rent Arrears

Under the RTRA Act, action can

only be taken against a tenant

when they are seven clear days

behind in their rent payments.

Best practice for our agency is

that we contact the tenant prior to

this time and advise them of the

rent payment being due. We are

committed to managing the rental

arrears situations and make

every attempt to contact the

tenant to discuss any payment of

lessor believes on reasonable

grounds that—

(a) the rent payable under the

agreement has remained unpaid

in breach of the agreement for at

least 7 days; or

(b) the tenant has breached

another term of the agreement

and the breach has not been

remedied.

(2) The lessor may give a notice

to the tenant requiring the

tenant to remedy the breach

within the allowed remedy period.

rent concerns on your behalf.

Section 280 allows our agency

on your behalf to serve a breach

notice to the tenant on the 8th day

of arrears. Under legislation

(Residential Tenancies and

Rooming Accommodation Act

QLD) the tenant is then given

the allowed remedy period (which

is seven days) to pay the rent

owing (plus in most cases, an

additional two days for postage if

the notice is posted). We shall

advise you promptly if rent

defaults occur and keep you

informed of the developments

until there is an outcome.

280 Notice to remedy tenant’s

breach

(1) This section applies if the

Brisbane, QLD August 2015 Annual Change

Median Weekly Rent - House $410 0.0%

Median Weekly Rent - Unit/Apartment $385 0.0%

Days on Market (Avg) 30.7 2.2 increase

Days Vacant (Avg) 18.2 1.3 increase

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

(3) This section does not apply to

an agreement for a short tenancy

(moveable dwelling).

Editor’s notes—

See section 325 (Notice to

remedy breach) for requirements

for the notice.

See section 328 (Allowed remedy

per iod) and schedule 2

(Dictionary), definition allowed

remedy period.

If a tenant fails to remedy a

breach for rent arrears (or other

breach), after seeking your

instructions, our agency on your

behalf can then issue the tenant

with a RTA Form 12 Notice to

leave for failure to remedy the

breach. The Notice to Leave

period for rent arrears is a further

7 days; a Notice to leave for

other than rent arrears is 14 days

(plus two days postage if posted).

This means that the tenancy will

be terminated due to the breach.

If the Notice to leave is

withdrawn, we are required on

your behalf to withdraw the notice

in writing to the tenant and seek

their written agreement to do so

(section 333 of the RTRA Act).

We will be in regular contact with

you should the above situation

occur.

(Dictionary), definition allowed

remedy period.

Our agency is a member of the

Real Estate Excellence Academy

Source:

Real Estate Excellence Academy

www.realestateexcellence.com.au

August 2015

Regrettably ‗bad things can

happen to good people‘ and by

this we mean that sometimes life

situations such as job loss,

mar r iage o r par tne rsh ip

breakdowns, deaths and other

societal issues may cause people

to act outside character causing

them to default on their

obligations. Landlord Protection

I n s u r a n c e i s s t r o n g l y

recommended to protect your

investment and for r isk

management.

281 Notice to leave for

unremedied breach

(1) The lessor may give a notice

to leave the premises to the

tenant because the tenant has

failed to comply, within the

allowed remedy period, with a

notice to remedy breach given to

the tenant by the lessor.

(2) A notice to leave under this

section is called a notice to leave

for an unremedied breach.

Editor‘s notes—

See section 326 (Notice to leave)

for requirements for the notice

under this section.

See section 328 (Allowed remedy

per iod) and schedule 2

Who’s Responsible?

Listed below are responses

sourced directly from the

Residential Tenancies Authority

and us here at RE/MAX Profile –

hopefully this helps to clarify any

confusion:

Mould

The Act does not make specific

reference to mould, but it does

detail requirements about the

standard maintenance of a

p roper t y t h roughou t the

agreement.

It is the responsibility of the

tenant to notify the property

manager/owner of any serious/

extensive mould problem.

If the mould is a result of an

issue in the property, such as a

roof leak, it is generally

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

the property owner/landlord's

responsibility to clean the mould

and make any repairs necessary

to maintain the property in good

repair.

If the tenant caused the

mould, they are responsible for

its removal and may have to pay

for to repair any damage caused.

At the first sign of any

problem, the property manager/

owner and tenant should discuss

the issue.

An example of who's

responsible: if the tenant

continually allowed steam to build

up in the bathroom without

proper ventilation and/or regular

cleaning, resulting in mould, then

the tenant may be liable.

However if there is no exhaust

fan in the bathroom or no security

screens on the bathroom window

for example to allow proper

ventilation then it becomes a little

more difficult to prove a tenant

liable for this. If the mould is a

result of a structural issue, e.g. a

roof leak, then the lessor would

be liable for the repairs.

Please feel free to contact our

office and speak to one of our

Property Managers should you

have any questions relating to

your property.

Source:

Real Estate Excellence Academy

www.realestateexcellence.com.au

DO Be Alarmed! Smoke

Alarms and the Law…

Sections 104RA-104RJ of the

Fire and Emergency Services Act

1990

By law, property owners must

install smoke alarms in all

domestic dwellings. Queensland

Fire and Emergency Services

(QFES) recommends a l l

residential accommodation be

fitted with photoelectric smoke

alarms. Find out more on the

QFES website (fire.qld.gov.au).

You must:

install smoke alarms in

compliance with the Fire

and Emergency Services

Act 1990

replace smoke alarms

before the end of their

service life (smoke alarms

are required to have a

recommended service life

of at least 10 years under

normal conditions of use)

test and clean smoke

alarms and replace any flat

or nearly flat batteries

within 30 days before the

start or renewal of a

tenancy

not remove a smoke alarm,

remove the battery (other

than to replace it) or do

anything to reduce the

effectiveness of the alarm

(e.g. paint it).

The tenant must:

test and c lean (by

vacuuming or dusting)

smoke alarms at least once

every 12 months » replace

any flat or nearly flat

batteries

advise the proper ty

manager/owner if there is

any issue with the alarm

(apart from batteries)

allow the property owner/

manager right of entry to

install/test smoke alarms

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com FREE Information Guide For Landlords & Tenants

investors and development

companies in the last six months

in particular,‖ Mr Johnson said.

―The Melbourne market was the

f i r s t t o b e h i t , t h e n

the Sydney market and Brisbane

is always a bit slower and lags

behind [but] we're certainly in the

middle of the wave now.

―I can't see this slowing down up

here for the next 18 months,‖ Mr

Johnson said.

Source:

www.smartpropertyinvestment.com.

au/news/14474-queensland-new-

target-for-overseas-investors 12

August 2015

not remove a smoke alarm,

remove the battery (other

than to replace it) or do

anything to reduce the

effectiveness of the alarm

(e.g. paint it).

Penalties apply if you do not

comply with these requirements.

Source : Man ag ing Genera l

Tenancies in QLD – RTA Information

Handbook v3 May15

ously ill children the much

needed healing power of a wish

is an important and beautiful

cause for contribution. We're also

making sure the event will be fun

for all - with so many great

auction items and lucky door

prizes, and you'll love the

entertainment too which includes

a live band and magic/comedy

show. We hope you can make it,

but if not, and you'd like to make

a donat ion to Mak e -A-

Wish® Australia, you can do so

also through our Everyday Hero

page. To donate now, please go

to http://www.sbm21.com/c.cfm?

l=556816&c=28715457&m=1590

32&b=1410034

Please find below ball invitation.

Wish Upon A Star

Charity Ball

Our office fundraising Ball will

be on Saturday! We hope you

can join us and please feel free

to send invitations onto your

friends.

We realise that it can sometimes

feel difficult to ask people to sup-

port a charity, there are so many

to choose from, but we passion-

ately believe that giving seri-

Guess Who’s Coming to

Queensland?

Overseas investors who have

been dr i v ing up pr ices

in Sydney and Melbourne have

turned to a third Australian state

capital city according to one

property lawyer.

Chinese capital is pouring into

the Brisbane and Gold Coast

property markets at a rate ―never

seen ever before‖, according to

Andrew Johnson, head of Mills

Oakley Lawyers Brisbane

property team.

―We've seen a massive swell of

inbound investment in south-east

Queensland from mainly Chinese

16th September Mid Month Accounting 1st October End of Month Accounting

A Selection of Properties Recently Leased

East Brisbane Unit $400 p.w.

2 bed, 2 bath 1 car accommodation Quote

―No two leaves are alike, and yet there is no antagonism between them or between

the branches on which they grow‖.

—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Indooroopilly Apartment $575 p.w.

3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car accommodation

RE/MAX Profile Real Estate 141 Boundary Road TEL 07 3510 5222 FAX 07 3876 5544

www.profilerealestate.com.au Bardon QLD 4065 Jodi profilemanager@remax.com.au

www.propertyrentalsbrisbane.com PO Box 388, Paddington, 4064 Helen helenbryan@remax.com.au

Iszabel profilerentalsteam@remax.com.au

Errors & Omissions: These details have been prepared by us on information we have obtained and while we trust it to be correct, is not guaranteed by us and you should rely on your own enquiries.

Bowen Hills Unit $500 p.w.

3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car accommodation

Calendar of Events