End Of Tenancy Cleaning – Rights And Duties Of A Tenant

Tenants always want to stay in a well-maintained property and keep a healthy relationship with the landlord. However, at the end of tenancy or during moving out, tenants often experience disputes with their property manager on the security deposit. If you want to avoid this issue, you need to know about the rights and duties of a tenant.It can help you to enjoy a successful tenancy. End of lease cleaning is considered as one of the primary reason for the renting dispute. People often hire professionals who perform end of lease cleaning in Gold Coast to tackle this problem, but it is not the only thing you need to know. Here are some important rights and duties that you must know as a tenant. Have a look!

Rights

There are numerous rights that a tenant enjoys while living in a rental property. These right help you to stay peacefully in a rental property. Here are a few tenants’ rights that you should know. The tenant must receive a copy of the entry condition report from the property manager/owner at the start of the tenancy. The landlord will specify whether each item mentioned on the list is undamaged, clean, and working. The tenant has the right to disagree by including comments. The photographs or video will support what is mentioned in the report. Thus, if you are moving to a new house, you must take pictures of the property first. It will avoid future disputes with the landlord, especially with the bond refund procedure. Your property manager/owner can ask you to pay your security deposit prior to your move into the property. However, if the property manager takes a bond, you must receive a receipt. The landlord must lodge it with the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) within ten days, and you will get a letter from RTA about the bond money. Moreover, the law says if the rent is up to $700 per week, a landlord can ask for an amount that is equivalent to 4 weeks rent. But if the rent is more than $700, the property manager and tenant should negotiate the amount. During the lease agreement, the hike in the rental fee is only allowed if a special clause has been added at the start of the lease period regarding the same. If the rental fee is granted, the landlord can increase the rent only once in 6 months. However, to do that, the property manager needs to give a notice of 2 months to the tenant. The landlord can request you choose their preferred cleaners at the end of the lease. However, you have the complete right to clean the property on your own or hire professionals who perform end of lease cleaning in Gold Coast. There are numerous companies in the market, so you need to be a little careful while choosing the service provider. Hire a reputed company that can assure you of the return of the bond money. Being a tenant, you have the right to enjoy your privacy during the lease tenure. Your property manager/owner can only visit the property after providing you notice. The landlord can generally inspect the property only once in every three months. For that, you must get a seven-day notice before an inspection. However, if your landlord wants to visit the property for other reasons like repairs and other urgent issues, a 24-hour notice must be served. As per the law, if the tenant has signed a lease agreement for a fixed period, the landlord cannot sell the property immediately and ask the tenant to leave. However, if you are on a periodic lease agreement (like month to month), the property manager can ask you to vacate the house with at least 4-week notice.

Duties

The tenant must fulfil all the responsibilities to avoid any dispute with the landlord. If you fail to do that, you might have to leave the property or lose your bond money. At the end of the lease period, you must clean the property properly before returning the keys to your landlord. To deep clean the property, you can either hire professionals who perform end of lease cleaning in Gold Coast or do it on your own. After the final inspection, if the landlord is not happy with the cleaning standard, you can lose some amount from your security deposit. You must focus on the following areas:

• Remove the cobwebs from ceiling
• Clean the toilet, bathtub, shower glass, sink and bathroom tiles
• Remove dirt from the kitchen counter, cabinets, shelves, and tiles
• Clean appliance like an oven
• Remove the tile grouts
• Clean the windows, light fixtures and walls of the living room and bedroom
• Remove dust, pet hair and stains from the carpet
• The entire floor of the house

Being a tenant, it is also your duty to maintain the property and make sure there is no damage. A little wear and tear can be acceptable (depends on your landlord), but you must repair any major damage like holes in the walls, broken windows, and so on. Moreover, you should make any changes in the rental property without the permission of your property manager and must change it the way it was when you move out. You cannot leave the property without informing your property manager. In fact, if you are moving out of the rental property, it is essential to give a two month notice period to your landlord. And if you are moving out of the property before the end of lease period, you need to pay the rent for the remaining months. Irrespective of any reason, you are not allowed to stay in the property after the lease period is over. You need to inform the landlord and need permission. If there is any clause that indicates the renew of the lease period, you will have to take care of the rent for all the months. So, if you hire experts who perform end of lease cleaning in Gold Coast, make sure it is before the lease period is over. You cannot have pets in your rental property if the landlord has not allowed you. Before moving in, read the agreement properly and check if there is any clause on pets. If the landlord allows having pets in the property, the number and type of pets must be mentioned in the tenancy agreement. You must pay your rents on time. If you have delayed the rent for more than seven days, you may get a ‘notice to remedy the breach’ from your landlord. If you fail to make the payment even after that, you will receive ‘notice to leave’ after seven days. After that, you must move out of the property or clear all the payment and request you, landlord, to continue the lease period.

Endnote

Millions of people live on rent across the nation due to many reasons. Regardless of the reason, it is important that you learn about your rights and duties as a tenant. This knowledge will help you to maintain a healthy relationship with your property manager during the stay and even at the end of the lease period.