Vacating your rental property

The vacating process begins when you issue a Notice of Intention to Leave or the landlord issues a Notice to Leave.

Leaving at the end of your tenancy

If you are vacating your rental property at the end of your tenancy, you must give a least 2 weeks notice to Real Estate Rentals.

If your landlord does not wish to renew your lease at the end of your tenancy, your property manager will give you 2 month’s notice.

Leaving before the end of your tenancy

If you are vacating your rental property before the end of your fixed term tenancy, you may have to pay compensation to the landlord, equal to:

• the amount of your rent until the landlord is able to relet the property; and
• the amount of the landlord’s costs of reletting the property; and
• the amount of any difference between what you would have paid the landlord for the balance of your rental period and the amount he landlord receives under any new rental agreement.

How to give notice

To end your tenancy you must give Real Estate Rentals a Notice of intention to leave (Form 13) and you must give the correct notice period.

Other things you must do

All the keys (including any extra keys you had cut) must be returned to Real Estate Rentals.

Your property must be left in the same condition as when you moved in (except for fair wear and tear). We strongly recommend that you use our Cleaning Checklist as your guide to vacating your rental property. The cleaning checklist details your obligations, including your obligations in regard to general cleaning (including carpet cleaning and your obligations if you have a pet), appliances and outdoor areas (including gardens). If your property is not left correctly, we will hire professional cleaners, tradespeople and gardeners at your expense and the costs will be deducted from your bond.

You must complete an:

• Exit condition report (Form 14a) – the Exit condition report shows the condition of the property when you leave and should be completed on handover day when you are ready to move out. You must fill it out and give two copies to your property manger to be compared against the Entry condition report (Form 1a) to determine if the property is in the same condition as when you moved in, apart from fair wear and tear.  Your property manager will then inspect the property, make their own notes on the report and send a completed copy to you at your new address within 3 business days
• Refund of rental bond (Form 4) in order to get your bond back.

Getting your bond back

In order to get your bond back you should leave the property in the condition it was in when you moved in, apart from fair wear and tear.

If you and Real Estate Rentals agree about the bond refund, the Refund of rental bond (Form 4) can be signed by you and your property manger and submitted to the Residential Tenancies Authority by mail, in person or online.  If the form is signed as agreed by all people, the bond refund is generally processed within 2-3 working days.

If you and Real Estate Rentals do not agree, then this process will occur.