WA Terminating Tenant - What to Do Under Property Law?

[Stefan Albu]

G'day

I have fallen victim to a professional rental defaulter. It's my own fault and I got stung as I live in Sydney and the unit is in Scarborough. The cleaner that cleaned the unit prior to re-renting the unit offered to rent the unit from me for $250 per week.

The rental market is tough at the moment so I jumped at it. The Lease papers were sent to him and as he had the key already, he moved in and hasn't signed and returned the lease. He has paid $250 and owes another $3000.

He is actually not living in unit and never was. I think he has sub let it, and has a nice $250 per week income. I have issued a termination notice 2 weeks ago. Where do I go from here under property law?

Thanks

 

[Lance]

You are in a difficult and unusual situation, not having signed lease papers. In saying that in accordance with the WA department of commerce, you should issue a written notice of breach of agreement with a requirement to pay in full and after 14 days you can issue the termination.

The department of commerce detail the processes fairly well. If the tenant fails to respond you may need to seek a court order to terminate the contract and take possession of the premises. The court can enforce the order by having a bailiff issued with a warrant to evict them.

The Department of Commerce website is linked here: When a tenancy ends | Department of Commerce