Over the next few weeks we will look at the 14 Fundamentals Of Effective Property Management with Changing Places CEO and Founder, Cameron Fisher.

Last week we looked at Tenant Selection – digging deeper, this week we discuss Lease Agreements – providing protection for you.

It is very important Lease Agreements are in place for your own protection. This is the contract between you and the tenant and obligations of both parties are detailed. Changing Places’ leases have roughly sixty clauses in them. I know of some people who have managed their own properties and have no leases whatsoever. Then they come to me when they have a problem concerning a tenant. You are not in a very strong position if you have only a simplistic lease or none at all. With our leases, they are very thorough, we request that the tenants sign every single one of the clauses so if we have to take a matter to the residential tribunal (VCAT in Victoria), it is evident that they have seen, signed and agreed to the clauses.

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One of the clauses may concern pets. Some owners will allow pets, as the owners might have an older home, it might be a little run down, and allowing pets allows the owner to achieve a better tenant and higher rent. However in such cases, we have clauses that stipulate that the garden has to be reinstated upon leaving, the carpets must be steam cleaned and pet deodorisers used through the house. These are all important clauses to have in your lease agreement.

Some properties also have open fireplaces. We don’t like to see tenants using open fireplaces, as there have been far too many houses burnt down where people were irresponsible with the use of a fireplace. Again, we have a clause in place that states tenants aren’t allowed to use the open fireplaces. We need to do this to safeguard the landlords if the tenant chooses to use the fireplace against instructions which results in damage to the property. With the lease, it is important it is returned to us signed and we know what the tenant’s responsibilities are, as this is helpful in circumstances where we have to take lease breaches by the tenant to a tribunal.

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