A residential tenancy agreement is a legally binding contract between the owner of a property (the "landlord”) and a person or company wishing to occupy the property (the "tenant”) under which the landlord grants to the tenant the right to occupy the property for use as a residence.
The right of occupation does not have to be exclusive, which means that the tenant may have the right to share the property with others.
A residential tenancy
agreement is for tenants renting houses, townhouses, units and similar
properties. It can be used for a furnished property or unfurnished property.
A residential tenancy
agreement cannot be prepared in relation to premises used to provide aged care,
retirement villages, nursing homes, serviced apartments, holiday or caravan
parks, hotels, motels, hostels or temporary accommodation.
At the commencement of
a residential tenancy:
· a residential tenancy
agreement should be prepared;
·
the landlord must give
the tenant a copy of the relevant renting guide for tenants that is generally
available from Fair Trading or Consumer Affairs in the relevant State or
Territory;
· if the property is
strata titled (e.g. a unit), the landlord must also give to the tenant a copy
of the strata by-laws for the strata in which the property is located, which
should be available from the strata manager;
· the landlord and the
tenant should each complete a condition report for the property and keep a copy
for their records. A condition report is a record of the condition of the
property at the commencement of the tenancy and may be used as evidence of the
state of repair or general condition of the property at the commencement of the
tenancy if there is later a dispute between the landlord and tenant; and
· the tenant should pay
rent in advance and a bond (if any) to the landlord.
At the end of the
initial fixed term (e.g. 6 months or 12 months), the landlord and tenant may
enter into a further agreement for a further fixed term; the tenancy may
continue as a periodic agreement on the same terms and conditions as the
existing agreement; or the tenancy may be terminated by either party.
Source: https://legalvision.com.au/when-to-use-a-residential-tenancy-agreement-or-general-tenancy-agreement/
Don’t forget
to upload the tenancy agreement onto the RealRenta platform to form part of the
tenancy file.
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Jason Gwerder
Wednesday, 18 March 2020
