Renter Resources

In line with Consumer Affairs Victoria, monthly rent is calculated as follows:

The weekly rental amount is divided by 7 to determine the daily rental rate, then multiplied by 365 (days per year) to determine the yearly rate and finally divided by 12 to determine the monthly rental amount.

For example, a property is advertised as $200 per week ($200 divided by 7) is $28.57 for the daily rate. The yearly rate ($28.57 x 365 days per year) is $10,428.05, and the monthly rate ($10,428.05 divided by 12) makes the monthly rent $869.00.

Also note:

Always round the number to two decimal points (i.e. $$.cc). If your final figure has more than two decimal points, round up or down as shown below:

• If the third number after the decimal point is 0 to 4, round down.
• If the third number after the decimal point is 5 to 9, round up.

Example

$180 (weekly rent) ÷ 7 = $25.714285 per day and is rounded down to $25.71

In Victoria, renters no longer need to ask for written permission to make minor alterations, like nailing a picture hook into the wall. However, they are still obliged to restore the property to its original condition when they move on.

If your rent is not paid on time, you are considered to be 'in arrears'. This is a serious matter and means you are breaking the terms of your rental agreement.

Not only are you causing financial hardship for your landlord, but you are also establishing an adverse rental history for yourself which could make it difficult when applying for future rentals.

Once you are 'in arrears', you will be sent correspondence from your property manager; these may include but are not limited to; phone calls, text messages and letters.

At the beginning of your tenancy, you are provided with a “Paying rent magnet”, which explains how you are to pay your rent and includes your reference code which you must have as a reference with each payment. Please message your Property Manager through the PropertyMe portal if you cannot find this.

All rental payments are to be made electronically using the reference code. If this reference code is not included in your payment, we may not be able to allocate your rental payment, which may lead to you being considered in 'arrears'.

Please Note: Armstrong Real Estate is a cashless office and does not have EFTPOS facilities available.

We all have times when money is tight; if you know your rent is due and you will not be able to pay it in time, please call or message us through the PropertyMe portal immediately.

Suppose you have a good history of paying on time. In that case, your property manager and Residential Rental Provider may show more understanding if you communicate your issue as soon as it arises. If your circumstances have changed, i.e. you lost your job, got sick, separated etc., which is going to affect your rental payments for a period of time, there may be some options to help, like a payment plan etc. The most important thing is that you keep communicating with your property manager.

In accordance with the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, it is part of our service to your Residential Rental Provider to conduct regular inspections of the property's condition.

We will inspect your home three months after your rental agreement begins, and then each sixth month following. We notify you of the inspection time by email, giving you at least one week's notice.

The purpose of the inspection is to ensure that you are caring for the property satisfactorily but also to check for any maintenance required.

Along with the inspection notice, we will include a Maintenance Form. Should any repair or maintenance items require attention, please complete the form and leave it for collection on the kitchen bench.

If you cannot be present for the inspection, you are welcome to have a friend or family member present on your behalf to report any matters affecting your tenancy. We will enter the premises with our management key if you cannot be present. Should the property have an alarm, please get in touch with our office with the alarm code or leave the alarm off at the inspection time. Likewise, if you have pets, please make sure they are secured at the time of inspection. We will also need access to the garage, so please ensure access is available during the inspection.

Your responsibility is to ensure that the property is safe for entry for your property manager. Please be aware that your Residential Rental Provider is invited along to these inspections and may be in attendance on the day. If your Residential Rental Provider cannot attend, your property manager may take photographs during the inspection.

According to your rental agreement, it is the expectation that you maintain the property at the same or higher standard that you first rented it in. This includes regularly maintaining and watering the gardens, including the trees and shrubs, mowing the lawn and removing all garden rubbish from the property. If any plants at the property die during your rental agreement, you are expected to replace them with the same or similar. In addition, if the lawn dies, it is expected that you lay lawn seed and re-establish the lawn to its original condition.

If you wish to plant additional plants in the gardens, please message your property manager through the PropertyMe portal detailing which plants and where you wish to plant them. This will need to be approved by the Residential Rental Provider prior to you making any changes.

The rental provider must provide, free of charge, a set of keys or another security device (for example, to access an apartment building's car park) to each renter who signed the rental agreement.

If both a key and device are required to enable the renter to access and enjoy the rented property, the rental provider must provide both free of charge.

If the renter requests an additional key or device, Armstrong Real Estate will charge a reasonable fee before giving it to you.

Your Residential Rental Provider insurance does not cover your possessions. Therefore, you will need to take out and arrange contents insurance to protect your processions.

Please message your property manager immediately through the PropertyMe portal. We understand that mistakes and accidents happen, and we expect some fair wear and tear; however, it's better that you notify us instead of us noticing it at an inspection.

Renters who want to have a pet in the property must ask their Residential Rental Provider for permission. Rental providers must have a good reason to refuse the renter's request. Residential Rental Providers can apply to VCAT for an order to refuse permission.

According to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, the owner of the property has the right to sell the property at any time however they cannot ask you to vacate the property until the completion of your rental agreement. Just because the property is being sold does not necessarily mean that you will be asked to vacate the property at the completion of your rental agreement. Often rental properties will be purchased by investors who wish to continue leasing the property so you may be able to continue living at the property as you have done, the only thing that's changes is the Residential Rental Provider.

According to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, the owner of the property has the right to move into the property however they cannot ask you to vacate the property until the completion of your rental agreement.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, if the landlord requires you to vacate so that they or one of their family members can move in, a formal Notice to Vacate through VCAT will be served issuing you with not less than 60 days' to vacate providing the vacating date falls on or after your rental agreement expiry date.

If this occurs during business hours, you can come to our office and borrow our master keys. Please call our office before you come to our office to confirm that the master keys are in the office.

You will also need to provide us with your ID. You must return the keys to our office within the same day.

If you cannot come to our office and want to send a third party to pick up the keys, you need to provide us with written or verbal consent beforehand, and your representative will need to provide their ID.

If you need to borrow keys after hours, you must contact a locksmith at your own cost. If the locksmith needs to change the locks, you will need to provide the office with a copy of all entry and exit door keys under the legislation.

When your rental agreement is nearing its end, we will contact you to ask if you want to enter a new rental agreement. If you want a new rental agreement, we will confirm this with your Residential Rental Provider and if all parties agree we will prepare the new rental agreement for you to sign. It is at this point you may be notified of a potential rent increase.

If you have decided to move on when your rental agreement finishes, you must give us a minimum of 28 days written notice before your end-of-rental agreement date.

Sometimes things happen, and a renter needs to move out of a property before their current rental agreement has expired. This is known as a 'Rental Agreement Break'. Following the Residential Tenancies Act and your rental agreement's special conditions, you are required to:

• Give us written notice of your intention to break your rental agreement
• Pay rent up until the rental agreement ends or until the new renters rental agreement commences (whichever comes first), even if you have physically vacated the property before that date.
• Pay a break rental agreement fee of 2 weeks' rent + GST. You will be invoiced for this amount and must pay the invoice amount immediately.
• Notify us of a date you will be vacating the property so we can prepare it ready for re-leasing

If you know someone who wishes to rent the property, they must complete the application process as usual. You can discuss this with your property manager in more detail; however, you must understand there is no guarantee that this application will be approved.

You cannot use your bond for rent. Your bond is held in trust by Residential Tenancies Bond Authority Bond (RTBA), not by Armstrong Real Estate.

Following your final inspection, your property manager will have ten business days to lodge your bond refund form or make an application to VCAT. Once your final inspection is completed and all matters resolved, you will be asked to sign a 'Bond refund form, which will be submitted to RTBA, who will refund your bond directly into your nominated bank account; this may take up to 72 hours.

Under the legislation, you can be fined if you refuse to pay your rent because you want to use your bond to pay your rent.

Once you have given notice, your property manager will complete a final inspection to compare the property condition to when your tenancy began. We expect some fair wear and tear; however, we will look for visible signs of damage and check that the property is cleaned to the standard expected in your rental agreement.

Your property manager will discuss with you any items requiring your additional attention. At this time, you will also be asked to provide a receipt for carpet cleaning or any other special requirements e.g flee spraying (if you had a pet at the property) etc.

Armstrong Real Estate must complete a thorough inspection of the property before the beginning of your tenancy, noting in detail the property's condition, including any damage cited and photos of the property and all items at the property.

This condition report will, in turn, be used for your final inspection to ensure you have returned the property to the Residential Rental Provider in its original condition.

As required by legislation, you will be given two copies of the prepared condition report via email when you collect your keys. You must check over the condition report and make any required amendments or additions; you have three business days to complete it.

We recommend you go through the property before you move any personal belongings in. If you agree with our comments, you don't need to add any additional comments. However, if you notice something we haven't mentioned or disagree with our statements, put your comments in the 'renter comments' of the relevant area and category. Please note no maintenance should be reported through the report; please do this through the PropertyMe portal.

If you fail to return the amended condition report within the allocated time frame (3 business days), the original condition report will be declared as true and correct.