 Hello and thank you for attending today's session. The RTA is presenting a series of educational webinars to help you understand Queensland tenancy laws. These webinars will include a series of tenancy essentials, the basics, and we will also be doing webinars on key topics based on feedback from previous webinars. The core responsibility of the RTA is to administer the tenancy laws for Queensland and also provide information for all people involved in the tenancy, that is whether you're the landlord, agent, tenant or a resident. My name is Lynne Smith and I am the Senior Community Outreach Officer with the RTA. My role involves raising awareness of the RTA's services and educating people on tenancy processes and tenancy laws. I appreciate your time is day well and this session will run for approximately 30 minutes. I'd like to acknowledge that we will have a variety of clients in today's session ranging from very experienced property managers to new landlord investors. This tenancy essential session today is all about the end of a tenancy. We will be looking at the overview of the life of a tenancy at the end, look at the basic rights and responsibilities for both the lessor, agent and tenant. I'll be going through the paperwork at the end of the tenancy, discuss how a tenancy can end in accordance with the legislation and what if there is a problem at the vacate inspection. I'll be looking at bond disputes and also what happens if the tenant does not vacate. Feel free to submit your questions throughout the session. You can type these in and I will address them either during the session or at the end. This webinar has been split into two parts. Part one is the overview of the tenancy at the end of the tenancy for general tenancy, basic responsibilities and paperwork required at the end. Today is all about the end of a tenancy. Basic future sessions will deal with issues during a tenancy and also some key topics. In this example the tenancy is continuing and then either the lessor or the agent or the tenant gives notice to vacate or their intention to vacate with the correct time frame. The lessor agent may wish to relet the property when the tenants vacate and whilst the tenants are still residing there they may wish to show perspective tenants the property. They need to give the tenants current tenants the required notice for the inspection. On the day of the tenant, the day that the tenant is due to move out the property will be cleaned as per the entry condition report. The tenant will hand over the keys and the exit condition report. The lessor agent will conduct the vacate inspection and confirm the place has been left in the same condition as what it was at the start, less fair wear and tear. Both the lessor and agent and the tenant completes the bond refund form and submits that to the RTA. The RTA will pay out the bond according to what has been agreed between the parties on the bond form and paying to their bank accounts. The majority of tenants will run smoothly and this is just a basic overview of the tenancy and has not dealt with any issues that might occur. During the webinar we will be looking at what happens if there is a problem. So the basic responsibility is at the end of the tenancy for both sides, for the tenant, the tenant is to keep to the terms of the agreement, pay rent till they vacate, clean as per the entry condition report, leave the property in the same condition as it was at the start of the tenancy, less fair wear and tear, complete the exit condition report form 14A and also provide their forwarding address if requested in writing to the lessor or the agent. They also need to hand over the keys for the rental property to the lessor agent at the end. As for the lessor agent, they also have responsibilities as well. They need to keep to the terms of the agreement, respect the privacy of the tenant for entry when they go to relit the property and give the required notice. Complete the exit condition report and provide the tenant with a copy and they also must keep the records for one year after the tenancy ends. The paperwork at the end of the tenancy, an example of the paperwork required is available on your screen. And here we have listed a form 12, the lessor agent will be issuing that, a notice to leave. A tenant may issue a form 13, notice of their intention to leave. A form 14A, which is the exit condition report, I will talk about that shortly. Form 4 is the refund of rental bond, which is submitted to the RTA to refund the bond that we hold. The form 15, if the property has been abandoned, then you can issue an abandonment notice. The time frame for this is seven days notice. Form 19 is a mortgage in possession. This form is used by the bank or mortgage provider and may be issued to end the tenancy because of the mortgage in possession. Time frames do apply and the tenant is required to be given two months notice on these grounds. This form is usually, as I said before, issued by the bank or the mortgage provider. The RTA does have a lot of forms. They are available to help you run your business as a owner or a manager of a rental property. Section 66 of the legislation outlines the process regarding the exit condition report. The tenant completes the exit report and gives the less or agent two copies. The less or agent inspects and makes any comments on the report and sends a completed copy to the tenant at their new address within three business days. All the RTA forms are available to download or order from the RTA's website or by phoning us. This is one of those areas where we find that a lot of tenants are not completing the forms. So we would highly recommend that you encourage your tenants to complete the 14A and follow the process. So again, the tenant completes the exit report and the less or agent inspects and makes their comments on the report as well. If possible, it's highly recommended to do the vacate inspection together with the tenant. If there's any problems, they then can be addressed directly. But once the less or agent has done the vacate inspection, the exit condition report is then compared to the entry condition report. Again, remember the tenant is to return the property in the same condition less fair wear and tear. Always complete the form in detail to show the condition of the property. Remember if the property has damage at the start of the tenancy, then the tenant is not responsible for that damage at the end of the tenancy. Fair wear and tear are signs of normal usage of the property or it could be caused by the environment. So carpet or curtains may be faded by the sun or it could be that you have small scuff marks on the wall as part of normal usage of the property. We do recommend taking photos at the start and also at the end of the tenancy, particularly if there's a problem. That is there may be a stain on the carpet or a mark on the wall or the oven's not cleaned. It's always best, as I said, to take these photos as proof of what the situation is. We do appreciate the photos that are the questions that have been coming through for this session and I will try and address some of those questions shortly. So what happens if there is a problem at the vacate inspection? What happens if you find that there is some cleaning to be done or a stain on the carpet that was not there at the start of the tenancy? If you're doing the inspection together with the tenant, you can discuss it directly with them there and then and actually take action in relation to whether they're going to clean these items or what needs to happen. If the tenant is not present, then communicate the issues with the tenant. Inform them that there's a problem and work out what it needs to be taken to rectify it. Will the tenant come back to do minor cleaning or is there a trace person required to do any repairs? Communication is the key to resolving a lot of these issues, particularly when there is a problem at the end with the condition of the property. You need to work out who, what, where and why and how the items are going to be rectified. Often we hear from tenants that they left the property in better condition at the end than what it was like at the start. And this is where a fully completed and signed detailed entry condition report and photos at the start is compared to at the end of the tenancy and these will come into place and actually as evidence. Or if the tenant states that there was a mark when I moved in and again referring to that entry condition report helps as supporting evidence. Now some of the questions that are coming through, there's been a lot of questions about what is fair wear and tear. Fair wear and tear is deemed to be considered to be minor signs of the usage that occurs during reasonable use of the property. So commonly it might be a minor bump or a small mark on the wall. It could also be changes that happens with the age or with age or with the environment. The examples I'd like to give for wear and tear versus damage. So it may be a minor scuff mark on the corner of the wall compared to a large hole in the wall. So the minor scuff mark being the fair wear and tear, the large hole in the wall may be looking at damage. Or it might be where carpet pile has been flattened by foot traffic or flattened by furniture compared to a large stain or burn marks in the carpet. An example also can be from the environment. So again by sunlight or by rain. It could be the fading of the curtains by the sun or the paints fading or discolouring just over a period of time. So again you have to look at that the legislation states the tenant returns the property back less fair wear and tear. So that's what fair wear and tear as examples would be. One of the other questions coming through and what happens if the tenant does not complete the exit report. It seems to be quite common as I said before that the tenants are not completing the exit report but we would encourage you to ensure that you advise the tenants that's their responsibility in this process. However if they don't complete it I would think it's best business practice again that you still do complete one. Particularly if there's a problem and this process you need to go to the adjudicator in front of it, go to the adjudicator at a tribunal they would possibly want to see an exit condition report to compare to that entry condition report. So always try and complete the reports where possible. What do I do if the tenant stops paying rent and I have given them two months notice? Whether you've given the two months notice to end the 10C or not, if a tenant stops paying rent legislation allows a process. So when the tenant is seven days behind in rent on the eighth day you can issue a notice to remedy breach. If it's still not rectified by the due date then you can issue a notice to leave given the correct time frame. So just because you actually give someone two months notice to end the 10C if someone stops paying rent there's a process that you can follow that's available for you under the legislation. So in summary for part one I'd like to point out you need to know your rights and responsibilities. Ensure that there is correct notice given to end the 10C. Complete the required paperwork and always make sure that you keep copies. Communicate if there's a problem. Ensure the RTA has your current details, your address phone, email and bank account details and if you need any 10C information whatsoever please make sure you do contact us. We're here to help you. Please view part two of the 10C Essentials, the end of a 10C and in this session we'll be looking at how a 10C can end, what if there is a problem, bond disputes and what happens if the 10C does not vacate. Thank you for your attention during this webinar and I hope this has been helpful for you in your business owning or managing a rental property. A post survey will be available shortly please complete this as this is a great opportunity for you to let us know about what topics you are interested to know more about. We will be running future webinars on a variety of topics based on feedback we receive from today's session along with more detailed topics. Future events will be mentioned in Open House Newsletter and also on our website. Our information workshops will continue across the state during 2014 with plans for the Gold Coast and Cairns regions earlier next year in 2014. Again thank you for your time today. It's been my pleasure to speak with you. If you have not attended to your questions during the session I will try and make attempts to address them personally afterwards. Please take a few minutes now to complete the post webinar survey and thank you for your attendance today.