This subject is old news to many people. It is now ten years since I retired from bulk management of other people’s rentals but surprise, I still face this issue occasionally despite being as careful as possible when choosing new tenants. The law keeps changing slightly and I am sure the operating systems of the Tenancy Mediators seems to be subtilty different perhaps because I do not go there very often and forget what they want. The smart process is to avoid the tenancy tribunal by lawfully convincing the tenant to pay.
Tenancy Services swamp Facebook with various posts but I do not recall reading any practical advice on rent arrears. Despite rent arrears being the single biggest issue facing landlords, media such as the web or magazines seem to shy away from such matters also.
Having successfully recovered a 4 week arrear issue with a tenant I thought you might find my recent experience interesting.
We have a studio flat with a good mature person who frequently pays late. Ho hum not a problem our property management software churns out a 14 day notice to remedy without any emotion. In the seven months the tenancy has been in operation we have issued four notices which have all until last week done the job.
Suddenly we had just on four weeks owing so the ladies passed the problem over to me to sort out. Now the key to quick resolution of rent disputes in mediation / Tenancy tribunal is using the Fast Track resolution. In my experience Fast Track gives you a quicker mediation appointment and is much easier for both parties to agree on the outcome. I suggested this procedure to the authorities decades ago and it works. Mediation avoids the horrible wait for tribunal.
I rang the tenant and I asked what was his proposal to remedy the issue. He claimed he had been out of the country and would pay that day. Well no money that night so I sent a simple text message saying. “confirming our phone call your arrears are $1507. I am about to make an application to the court to confirm the agreement we came to re settling this debt.”
That produced an instant payment into the bank confirmed with a screen shot of his bank transaction.
This is the advice Tenancy Services post on their web page.
Self-resolution has more information for help with this conversation.
Once the landlord and tenant reach an agreement, the landlord can proceed to the next part of the application process.
An agreement to repay a debt must have a minimum of four things:
- The actual debt amount calculated up to and including the day before the next due payment.
- Details of how the debt will be repaid.
- The date the payments will begin.
- The consequence(s) agreed to if any payments are missed while the debt is being repaid.
Step 2: Advise – Let the tenant know you are applying for FastTrack
The landlord must do the following before filing their FastTrack application:
- Advise the tenant that they (the landlord) will be filing a Tenancy Tribunal application for FastTrack Resolution. This formalises the agreement by way of a Mediator’s Order
- Get a current phone number from the tenant
- Check that the tenant is available to take the mediator’s phone call to confirm the FastTrack Resolution agreement details in the landlords Tenancy Tribunal application over the next two business days from the time the application is filed.
Before this stage you also need to have issued a 14 day notice. Note you are not permitted to suggest eviction if payment is not made. This is for the court to decide and landlords making such threats can get into trouble.
