Tenants leaving in December a bad Christmas present

Tenants leaving in December a bad Christmas present
Leah CalnanDecember 8, 2020

As the end of 2011 is fast approaching and Santa is less than two months away, owners and property managers should take a moment to think about the pros and cons of tenancy agreements expiring in December.  Now while in Victoria our legislation doesn’t allow us to enforce the re-signing of tenancy agreements, after the initial fixed period has expired and sometimes a tenant will be on a periodic lease or monthly tenancy and may in fact choose to vacate in December.

Having been a property manager for many years, I know we will never fully stop the above scenario from occurring or lease breaks happening or the execution of warrants during this time, but we can do something to reduce it happening.

Within my business it has always been our company policy that we don’t have fixed-lease agreements expiring in December and by that I mean, during the month of December when a property is leased, the tenancy agreement signed by the tenant and owner/agent will either be an 11- or 13-month lease.

So with my team, if the tenancy agreement is due to start anywhere between December 1 and December 10, we will prepare an 11-month lease.  Any time after December 11 will always result in a 13-month lease.  It just makes so much more sense to run a lease from the December 20 to the January 19, rather than from the December 20 to the December 19.

You will also need to consider what will happen in June each year – a six-month renewal could easily result in a vacant property just before Christmas.

So remember, December and especially Christmas time is crazy for all of us. So by implementing something so simple it will reduce any potential stress to owners and tenants alike. In my house, my husband’s motto is “happy wife, happy life!” so in business one of my motto’s is “Happy Owners = A Happy Team”! A win, win for everyone.

Leah Calnan is the director of Metro Property Management in Victoria and is the chairwoman of the REIV Property Management Chapter.

 

Editor's Picks