 Hello and thanks for watching today's recording on selling a rental property and what you need to know. My name is Lynn Smith from the Communication and Education team with the Residential Tenancies Authority. In today's topic, we will be looking at the first steps with regards to the early days when a tenant is first informed and how, photography when the property is advertised, rules around entry and notice requirements, open house inspections and mortgage in possession. Please note the RTA cannot provide legal advice and you are encouraged to stick your own independent advice to make informed decisions. So when the property owner has decided to sell their investment property or the rental property, the first step is to inform the tenants or the residents. While in some cases, there may have been some early communication between the property owner or the managing agent in informing the tenant of what's about to occur. There was also the official way that the tenant needs to be notified. The selling agent needs to issue a notice of less or intention to sell. This notice is going to inform the tenant who is the selling agent and what their sales strategy is going to be in relation to selling the property and what promotions are going to be undertaken. So that might be like signage, what type of advertising and whether the property has been listed for the normal sale or going through to auction. If there is a managing agent involved, a copy of this notice must also be given to them by the selling agent. Should the tenant seek confirmation of the selling agent's appointment, then the selling agent needs to show the tenant written evidence of their appointment. It's important to remember there needs to be a level of respect for both sides, respect by the selling agent that tenants are still residing in their home, with their possessions and the tenants respecting the owner's decision in having to sell the property. In these early days of notification, good communication and setting up how future communication will occur is vital to a successful relationship. There's a part of the legislation that points out that should a rental property be listed for sale within the first two months of a tenant signing an agreement, then the tenant may give notice to end the tenancy and leave without any further penalty. This must be done within 14 days of being notified and the tenant can give two weeks notice of their intention to vacate and leave. This does not apply though if the tenant knew or was informed that the property was already listed or about to be listed for sale prior to signing that agreement or entering into that agreement. The other option is that the tenancy can also continue through to the term of that tenancy. So when the rental property does go on the market, there's a good chance the selling agent would want to be taking photos and promote the property as part of their marketing strategy and whether that's online or through a newspaper advertisement or on signboards. The Residential Tenancies and Rumi Accommodation Act states that the lessor or the lessor's agent must not use a photo or image showing the tenants' possessions in the advertisement unless the tenant has given written permission. This generally comes into effect and particularly concerns when there are photos being taken internally, when there are tenants' possessions such as furniture, personal items and family photos that may be captured as part of that photo. So good communication again between everyone, respect and clear expectations of what will or will not be photographed along with written permission should be sorted with the tenant before any photographer is engaged. The Residential Tenancies and Rumi Accommodation Act is very clear regarding the rules of entry and the reasons when a property owner or agent or a trace person or a secondary agent can enter the rental property. The rules of entry are outlined under sections 192 to 199. Under section 202, value to comply with the rules of entry and unlawfully entering the rental property, there are enforcement penalties that are applicable. The rules outline why you can enter, how to inform the tenant, what notice timeframe must be given and when the entry can occur. Entry cannot occur on a Sunday or a public holiday without the consent of the tenant. Entry must also occur between 8am and 6pm and if it's outside these hours, you must also have the tenant's consent. To enter to show a prospective purchaser requires a minimum of 24 hours notice to the tenant. A reasonable time must have passed before another inspection or an open house can be held. The Act also allows entry to occur by way of mutual agreement and it would always be best practice to ensure if you do have consent by mutual agreement that you record this and confirm this in writing to avoid any confusion or loss of memory down the track. So as an example, by way of an email or diary notes. To enter the rental property, the tenant must be given a notice of the intended entry and to do this, the agent needs to issue an entry notice. That notice includes all the items that you see listed on the screen. So not just the address of the rental property, but who's issuing the notice, when and by what method, who's entering the property, the reasons why, and also the date and time of that entry. The RTA has all our forms and information, all of our entry available on our website. Should there be a reasonable excuse from the tenants not to give entry and this could be such as like an illness or being a shift worker, then it's up to the parties to negotiate and organize alternative time. So should parties not be able to resolve the entry issues, they can apply to the RTA's free dispute resolution service for assistance through our conciliation process. However, in all disputes, the RTA always recommends self-resolution in the first instance. The RTA has done previous webinars on self-resolution and we recommend viewing these for some hints and tips on resolving tenancy matters, along with other dispute information on the RTA's website, rta.qld.gov.au. The legislation outlines that the whistle must take reasonable steps to ensure that the tenant has quiet enjoyment of the property. This particular section does come with penalty units similar to that for unlawful entry as previously mentioned. So for quiet enjoyment, both the tenant and the owner or the managing agent and the selling agent would need to consider how many inspections are taking place in any one week. Is it deemed reasonable? So reasonable is just one of those gray words. So we need to put a common sense approach on this. So what might be reasonable to someone may be seen as unreasonable to someone else. So the RTA does not regulate the number of how many prospective buyer inspection can take place when selling a property. Again, it reflects back to that reasonable test. So if two inspection times reasonable per week, we have looked possibly the answer is yes. Is five inspections a week reasonable? Yeah, well probably the answer might be no. Both the tenants and the selling agent should communicate and negotiate to ensure everyone is hearing to the legislation and that everyone's rights and needs are being addressed. With modern technology, other consideration may be given to organising virtual inspections with both parties agreeing. For open houses to occur while the tenant is still resigning in the property, the tenant must be given written permission for the selling agent to conduct these. Same rules apply for on-site auctions. Owners and managers in towns and selling agents should also continue to monitor and comply with any public health orders or other restrictions and refer to the Queensland Health's website for any updates. Just to touch quickly on the mortgagee in possession side of things. Noting that this form is not issued by the agent or the owner, but the owner's mortgagee provider. If the property owner fails to make loan repayments on their rental property and defaults on the mortgage, the lender, usually a financial institution like a bank or a credit union, may take possession of the property. The notice to vacate form from mortgagee to tenants informs the tenant that the mortgagee or the appointed person will be taking possession and for general tenses, the tenant must be given two months notice. The agreement ends on the day the tenant vacates the property and rent must be paid up to and including that date. So the tenant in this mortgagee situation does not have to wait for two months. They could leave earlier once they receive that notice and inform the bank or the credit union. In some cases, the bank or the credit union may ask the tenant to pay rent direct to them as the mortgagee instead of the manager or the owner. So just in summary, ensure you understand your rights responsibilities under the legislation. Make sure when you're issuing any notices, the correct timeframe has been adhered to. Good communication and respect during these times is essential when selling a property. Ensure you, whether you're the tenant, owner, or the agent, require assistance. The RTA's free dispute resolution service may also be able to help you. You can connect with the RTA by subscribing to the RTA News for regular updates on current topics. If you have subscribed, you may have recently been asked to resubscribe to confirm your subscription. Please do so so that you can continue to receive the RTA News emails and keep up to date. You can also follow us on LinkedIn. The RTA produces various educational resources, including our webinars on tenancy legislation and key topics, as well as our Talking Tenancies podcast series. You can access both of these through the RTA's website or for podcasts, your preferred app, whether it's Spotify, Google or Apple. The RTA's website has a lot of information to help you and everyone navigates the tenancy laws and processes. All our forms, publications, back sheets and other educational resources are all available at rta.qld.gov.au. You can access the website and all of that as bonds through our RTA web service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Or if you need assistance via the phone, please contact our friendly contact centre staff available Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm on 1300-363-11. Thanks for your time today.