Your Guide to Renting With Barry Plant

Once the bond is paid and cleared in our account we will lodge your bond with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA). You will receive an email directly from the RTBA advising you that we have initiated a bond lodgement on your behalf. Please keep an eye out for this important email as it requires you to confirm the lodgement in order for you to be able to track your bond in the future. It’s important that you check your email and junk mail in the days following payment of your bond to ensure that you receive and action the lodgement. If you have not received an email from the RTBA within 10 days of paying your bond, please contact your property manager as a matter of urgency so we can track your bond and ensure that it is correctly allocated.

Renters are responsible for charges relating to connection and consumption of water, electricity, gas, telephone and internet.

We can refer you to a specialist connection company that takes the hassle out of organising your utility connections.

See details in the “Important information” section at the back of this booklet, or talk to your Property Manager. There is no cost for this useful service.

• Electricity connected
• Gas connected
• Telephone connected
• Internet connected
• Water usage registered

The Condition report is an important document as it records the condition of the property when you move in and is then used as a reference to complete the final inspection and bond refund at the end of the tenancy. The Condition Report will be completed in the days prior to you moving in and will be provided to you when you collect your keys.

The Residential Tenancies legislation requires you to return your signed/amended copy of your Condition report to us within 5 business days of the agreement start date. If it is not signed and returned, you will be deemed to have agreed with the agent’s report on the condition of the premises when you commenced your tenancy. This could cause a delay in the refund of your bond when you vacate the property if there is a dispute.

A Rental provider is required by law to disclose particular information about the rental property before a Renter enters into a rental agreement. The disclosure statement gives you information about the property, the owner’s intentions and other important details. Prior to signing your agreement, it’s important that you read the disclosure statement that we provide and speak to your Property Manager if you have any questions.

Rent and bond payments must be paid and cleared in our account before we will hand over the keys on the commencement date of the agreement. Payment options are outlined in the “Important information” section at the back of this guide.

Your Property Manager will confirm a key collection time prior to your commencement date. Keys can be collected from our office at the agreed time. Please bring with you the original ID that was used when you applied for the property. Once your identification is verified the keys and Condition report will be provided. We cannot issue keys earlier than the start date of the tenancy, for both legal and security reasons.

All adult Renters that apply for the property must sign the Residential Rental Agreement prior to the agreed commencement date.

Moving home can be a busy, often stressful time. Below are some of the things you may need to consider organising in preparation for the move. Don’t forget to notify important businesses/organisations that you are moving, for example:

• Gas & Electricity
• Internet
• Phones
• Water
• Insurance - contents
• Voter registration
• Pet registration
• Banks/financial institutions/super
• Car registration/insurance/road tolls
• Magazine subscriptions
• Australia Post – address redirection

We know there's lots to think about, so here are a few other things to consider:

• Book your removalist
• Arrange care for any pets on moving day
• Book vacate cleaners
• Arrange contents insurance
• Book moving in “time allocation” with building manager if required, confirm key collection time
• Collect/purchase moving boxes
• Contacts for cleaners/gardeners during the tenancy or for moving out

• Application approved
• Residential Rental Agreement and Renter Disclosure document received
• Received link and read the Consumer affairs “Renters Guide”
• Residential Rental Agreement signed by all parties
• First months’ rent paid into the Agents nominated trust account
• Bond paid into the Agents nominated trust account
• Bond lodgement confirmation received via email and lodgement confirmed
• Key collection time confirmed with agent

The Residential Tenancies Act sets out the rights and responsibilities of both Renters and Residential Rental Providers. Prior to signing your Residential Rental Agreement, it’s important that you read and understand the responsibilities of being a Renter in Victoria.

Consumer Affairs Victoria have summarised this information on their website, as detailed below.

It is a requirement of your tenancy that you seek written permission from the Residential Rental Provider if you wish to have another person move into the property.

Any additional occupant will be required to provide identification and to complete a rental application. Their references will be checked and their application presented to the owner for approval.

If the Residential Rental Provider consents to the additional party moving in, they will be added to the lease and you will be jointly responsible for the property.

Should you wish to copy additional keys, please email the office to advise how many extra keys have been cut so this can be recorded. It is important to note that when your tenancy finishes all keys must be returned. If you change the locks during tenancy, you must provide us with a new set of keys for property access. This is a requirement under the Residential Tenancies Act.

GENERAL REPAIRS

Under the Residential Tenancies Act all maintenance requests must be made in writing. Please see our maintenance reporting instructions in the “Important information” section at the back of this guide.

URGENT REPAIRS

Urgent items are generally those that could cause injury to a person or damage to the property, and may include:

• Burst water service, blocked or

broken toilet system.

• Serious roof leak.
• Gas leak or dangerous electrical fault.
• Flooding or serious flood damage, serious storm or fire damage.
• Failure or breakdown of any essential service or appliance provided by the Residential Rental Provider or agent for hot water, water, cooking, heating, cooling or laundering
• Failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply.
• Any fault or damage in the premises that makes the premises unsafe. An appliance, fitting or fixture that is not working properly and causes a substantial amount of water to be wasted.
• A serious fault in a lift or staircase.

Please see our maintenance reporting instructions in the “Important information” section at the back of this guide.

Our office does not guarantee that a spare set of keys is held for every property. If a set is held and you wish to borrow the keys for 24 hours to gain access, a security deposit of $200 will be required until they are returned. If you have misplaced your keys after hours, you may call a locksmith to assist you to get back into the property - this is at your cost.

By signing the Residential Rental Agreement, you are making a commitment to pay the rent in full and on the date specified. This is a legally binding agreement which must be adhered to. We have a zero-tolerance policy on rental arrears and you may be served with a notice to vacate if you fall behind with your payments.

When transferring funds via the internet or depositing funds at a bank branch, you must allow 2-3 days for the funds to appear in our account.

Please take this into consideration when paying rent, so that the funds hit our account by the rent due date.

We understand that there may be a rare but unforeseen circumstance that means the funds won’t reach us on the due date. Always contact your Property Manager in advance to advise of such a situation so that we can advise your Rental Provider.

It is important to note that the utmost care must be taken to ensure that you do not cause nuisance by disrupting your neighbours with unreasonable noise levels. Loud music, parties or otherwise can disrupt a neighbours’ right to peace, and the quiet enjoyment of their residence. This is even more critical in the case of units and apartments, because of the close proximity of other properties. You also have an obligation to ensure that your visitors are not disrupting neighbours when they are walking from your premises to their vehicles.

If there has been property damage caused by you or your visitors you are obligated to let us know immediately or on the next business day (if the incident occurred on a weekend or public holiday). Any restoration/repairs must be carried out as soon as practicable and by a suitably qualified person.

It is important to note that the owner does not insure the Renters personal contents. Renters must arrange their own contents insurance. If any goods or possessions are damaged, destroyed or stolen because of circumstances affecting the property, (i.e. fire, storms, power outages, flood, break-ins) they are not insured by the Residential Rental Provider. Please seek independent advice regarding the type of insurance that may be suitable to your personal circumstances.

We will conduct a routine inspection at the property after three months and approximately every six months thereafter. Inspections may be conducted in person or virtually (with your assistance) from time to time.

You will be given sufficient notice of our inspections and are welcome to be in attendance. However, if you are unavailable, we will use our spare keys to access the property, in order to carry out the routine inspection.

Please note that the inspection will also involve taking a video or photos of the property and any repairs required. From time to time the Residential Rental Provider may attend in person or virtually via a phone or tablet. If you have any personal items that you do not wish to be seen in our video/photos/inspection, please remove or cover them prior to our scheduled appointment.

The key objectives of the inspection are to:

• Ensure you are maintaining the property in a reasonably clean condition
• Ensure there has been no damage caused to the property
• Ensure external areas including gardens and driveways are being maintained
• Identify any current or preventative maintenance issues
• Determine the wear and tear on the property
• Record the overall condition of the property.

We strongly recommend that you or your visitors smoke outside the property to avoid costly cleaning and restoration costs. Renters are responsible for cleaning and deodorising the inside of the property to eliminate smoke odours. Any expense for cleaning walls, carpets and other floor coverings, curtains or blinds as a result of people smoking inside will be charged to the Renter.

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is explicit about how a tenancy ends. It can only occur when one of the parties to the Residential Rental Agreement gives the required notice to the other in writing.

If you want to vacate the property at the end of the Residential Rental Agreement, or a date after the end of the lease, you must provide at least 28 days’ notice in writing of your intention to vacate and specify the date that you will leave the property.

Please note: Rent will be payable until the

28th day or until you remove all of your possessions from the property and return the keys to our office.

Under extreme circumstances, a lease can be broken. There are penalties involved with a break lease and Renters are responsible for the lease until a suitable new Renter is found. There will be a lease-break fee and advertising costs that the Renter must pay. Please refer to your lease or speak to your property manager for further information.

If the Residential Rental Provider is planning to rent out the property, Barry Plant will coordinate leasing inspections to commence and will give notice on when the inspections will commence.

When vacating a property, it’s the responsibility of the renter to organise the final metre reading and/or disconnection of utilities including electricity, gas, water, phone (landline) and internet. It’s also recommended that you set up a mail redirection which can be set up via the AusPost website.

Once keys are received at our office, we will then carry out the final inspection as soon as practicable. Renters are invited to attend the final inspection at a scheduled time.

Provided that all rent and outgoings are paid and the property is clean and undamaged, a digital bond claim will be completed. This will be emailed to the Renters to be signed by all parties who signed the original Bond Lodgement. If there are no deductions or disputes over the bond, you will usually be able to obtain your bond refund from the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) within approximately 5 days of returning the signed Bond Claim form to the RTBA.

The RTBA will email you the claim form to sign and you will be able to nominate a bank account where you would like your bond to be refunded. Ensure that you check your emails, including your junk mail, for this important communication