VIC Tenant Rights - Tenant but not on the lease

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natasha.ann

Member
14 February 2021
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I signed a co-tenancy agreement in July 2020, with one other person with Century 21 Real Estate.
In Nov 2020, the other co-tenant moved her boyfriend into our property. He has since been here permanently, and she has provided him with a key.
Since the boyfriend moved in, within the first month I raised the issue with her, that the boyfriend needs to go onto the lease (which the boyfriend verbally agreed), however they have said that they have gotten approval from the landlord for him to stay on the property (but I have not seen it in writing) and he has still not been put on the lease with our real estate because the real-estate will not approve him because he will not give them proof about where he has been living before now or his financial situation. Which is (from my know age of what my co-tenancy and her boyfriend are telling me) is because of 3 reasons.
1. his parents in qld are both on disability payments, so he cant get Centrelink because of them, yet he is 20 years old.
2. The real-estate has asked him to provide information as to where he has lived for the past 3 years, (which he has been within the ARMY during that time) but he says that because he is no longer in the ARMY, he does not have access or can't get access to documents to prove that he lived with the ARMY during that time.
3. He can not get job seeker because he hurt his back in the ARMY and he is going to try and get a disability payment, while he waits for a ARMY payout. So, because of those reasons they keep putting off putting him on the lease and taking over my part of the lease, so I can move out. Because of these reasons my real estate wont let me out of my lease because my co-tenant can not afforded the rent by herself.

I can no lover enjoy the premises. They have taken over the full house. They have full use of 2 bedrooms, except my bedroom, but they are trying to bully me to move out of my bedroom to move into a smaller room, so they can have it. I already have all of my items in my bedroom only. I can't put items in the bathroom or any where else in the house, because they have taken it over. I eat, sleep and watch TV all in my bedroom. They even break my privacy by coming into my bedroom while I am at work without my permission.
They even recently gave their key to her sister, so that she could stay within the house while they were away for a week without my permission. I came home from work to find here there one afternoon. They also have consent to have one dog on the lease only but it must be outside full time, which it is not and they have just bought home another dog without permission from me or the real-estate. I also can no longer use the driveway to park my car because his in there and there is no room left, so I am made to park my car out the front of the house on the nature strip.

I have raised the issue with the real estate agent, and they are saying I can not get out of the lease unless the boyfriend goes on the lease, however the real estate agent wont put the boyfriend on the lease because of him not willing to provide the needed information. I have also tried to raise the issue with my co-tenant, however she keeps making excuses, and recently the boyfriend verbally abused me.

Legally, where do I stand under property law with breaking the lease ? My understanding is, that him being there is a breach of the residential tenancy agreement and it breaks my right for "Quiet Enjoyment" on the tenancy agreement.
 
Last edited:

Rod

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27 May 2014
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... him being there is a breach of the residential tenancy agreement and it breaks my right for "Quiet Enjoyment" on the tenancy agreement.
Yes. Send the landlord, via the agent, a breach of duty notice. Do it the correct way else you could find yourself served with a breach notice if you just up and leave.

In the meantime be firm and tell the boyfriend to keep his car out of your car spot until he is on the lease (PS and this is one of those 'quiet enjoyment' matters).
 

natasha.ann

Member
14 February 2021
2
0
1
Yes. Send the landlord, via the agent, a breach of duty notice. Do it the correct way else you could find yourself served with a breach notice if you just up and leave.

In the meantime be firm and tell the boyfriend to keep his car out of your car spot until he is on the lease (PS and this is one of those 'quiet enjoyment' matters).
Thank you for that information. What is the correct way to send a breach of duty notice via the agent, to the landlord? What do I need.
Also can I get out of the lease early this way without paying ?
I'm scared to go home on my days off, and sadly I wont be able to tell the boyfriend to keep his car out of the driveway because I'm scared of them.
 
Last edited:

Rod

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27 May 2014
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I wont be able to tell the boyfriend to keep his car out of the driveway because I'm scared of them.
Possible grounds for a personal safety intervention order (PSIO). This may solve the boyfriend issue.


What is the correct way to send a breach of duty notice via the agent, to the landlord? What do I need.
Download the form from Consumer Affairs, fill it in and send to the agent.