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Vacating a Rental Property

Moving from one property to another can be a stressful time. We hope that this page will help to clarify your rights and obligations as a tenant vacating a premises. The vacating process begins when a tenant issues a Notice of Intention to Leave, or when a lessor issues a Notice to Leave. If a tenant intends to leave when their contract expires, they are required to provide at least two-weeks notice. In the same situation, a landlord is required to provide two-months notice if they have no intention of renewing the lease.

Once adequate notice has been given, a tenant will be issued with a vacate date. This is the latest date that a vacating tenant is able to return the keys to Rental Express. A tenant is also required to have all their property out from the property and have left the property in good order. You are required to pay rent until this date, regardless of whether you occupy it in the final days or not.

Tenants are required to complete an exit condition report upon leaving a property. We highly recommend that you make our cleaning checklist your guide to preparing for the vacating process. This details all your obligations with respect to cleaning, smoke detectors, appliances and so forth. If the property is not left in a respectable condition, we will hire professional cleaners at your expense, this cost will be deducted from your bond.

If the agent and tenant agree on the bond to be refunded, they will together submit a bond refund request form. Once this is complete, you will be refunded the agreed amount as directed by the form. This is typically processed inside of 14 days. If the tenant and agent disagree on the return of the bond, you may file a dispute to the RTA in Queensland or to the Magistrate's Court in Western Australia.

Further Information (Queensland Tenants)

Should you need any further information on the vacate process, the RTA have a collection of informative tenant fact sheets which can be found at http://www.rta.qld.gov.au/tenant.  Alternatively, your property manager will be happy to answer any questions you may have.