March 2011
In January 2011 the NSW Parliament passed the Residential Tenancies Act (2010) (the Act).
The Act applies to all “Residential Tenancy Agreements” in the State of New South Wales. It contains some significant provisions, including the following examples:
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A Landlord must ordinarily have a written Residential Tenancy Agreement, although the Act acknowledges the existence of oral agreements.
In the event a Landlord does not hold a written Agreement he or she:
1.1 cannot increase the Rent; nor
1.2 try to terminate the Tenancy during the first six (6) calendar months of the Tenancy Period (Section 14); and
1.3 the Act also prevents a Landlord from imposing penalties and premium rents and prohibits a request for a Tenant to pay more than two (2) weeks rent in advance;
1.4 Importantly, if a property is being sold, the Landlord must give the Tenant at least fourteen (14) days written notice of the intention to sell prior to the property being made available for public inspection.
When the Landlord enters into a Contract to sell the property on a vacant possession basis, the Landlord must give the Tenant at least thirty (30) days notice to vacate;
1.5 The role of a mortgagee is also important for a Tenant. In summary, once a mortgagee (for example, a Bank or other Lender) becomes entitled to possession of the property then any Residential Tenancy Agreement between the Tenant and Landlord is automatically terminated.
The Tenant is not obligated to pay rent during the thirty (30) day period of notice to vacate in those circumstances.
There are a large number of other relevant provisions under this Act which we would be happy to discuss with either our Landlord or Tenant client if needed.
Advice can be given by Matt Howlin, Bruce Honeyman and Jodie Jamieson.