Host – Belinda Heit – Communication and Education – RTA 

Guest – Marc Fidler – Education – RTA 

Host: If a tenant or property manager ends a fixed term agreement before the end date, they are breaking the agreement, also known as breaking the lease. A tenancy agreement is a legally binding agreement and when broken may result in the need for compensation. Today's expert from the RTA is Marc Fidler. Welcome, Marc.

Guest: Welcome, Belinda. Thanks very much for having me along.

Host: No problem at all. Now, can you tell us about your role at the RTA and what you're responsible for?

Guest: Yeah, absolutely. So I'm a part of the team that's responsible for providing education to Queenslanders involved in renting and how the tenancy laws apply to them. So we do this in a number of ways, including hosting webinars, running face-to-face information sessions, and appearing on podcasts just like this one, to name a few of them.

Host: Yes, you're a busy man. Now, today's topic is breaking a lease, and it's one that's often discussed on the phone in the RTA Contact Centre. It can be complex for both tenants and managing parties. So, firstly, if I'm a tenant and I want to break my lease, what do I need to do and what do I need to consider?

Guest: Yeah, look, when a tenant is in a situation where they want or need to break a lease, they first must give written notice of their intention to leave to the managing party. So they should have a conversation with the property manager or owner to agree on the finer details, such as the vacate date and any other specifics, depending on their reasons for breaking the lease.

Host: So what kind of costs can a tenant be expected to pay when they break a lease?

Guest: So firstly, we need to remember that a tenancy agreement, as you mentioned, is a legally binding agreement. So if a tenant or resident ends an agreement early, which is generally known, as we said, as breaking the lease, then they may be responsible for reletting costs.

Now, these reletting costs are usually charged by the property owner or the manager for their work in finding a new tenant for the property. Now, you can find out more about reletting costs and how they're calculated on our website, or by listening to our podcast episode about the topic.

Now, if a tenant can no longer continue to safely occupy the property due to domestic and family violence, then they're not required to pay reletting costs. So again, more information about ending a tenancy in that situation, the domestic and family violence situation, can be found on our website.

Host: Good to know. Now, if a managing party wants to end the tenancy early, is that possible?

Guest: Yeah, look, it is possible. And the property manager and owner can discuss the potential compensation, such as moving costs or any other expenses involved because the tenancy ended early.

Host: Okay, so in an instance of, say, excessive hardship for either the tenant or the managing party, what are their options?

Guest: So look, if a tenant or the property manager or owner believes that they would be in a situation where they'd suffer excessive hardship if the tenancy was to continue, they have 2 options.

They can discuss with the other party to mutually agree on ending the tenancy early. The same considerations around time frames and compensation that we talked about earlier should be considered in that circumstance.

Or they also have the option to make an application, and it would be an urgent application, to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) to get a ruling from an adjudicator based on their individual circumstances. Now, the tribunal follows an evidence-based process. So the person who's applying to QCAT to terminate the tenancy must be able to show how they would face excessive hardship if the tenancy wasn't terminated.

Host: And what are the minimum notice periods tenants and property managers or owners must follow when ending a tenancy early?

Guest: Yeah, this is a good question and it comes up often and there are no minimum notice periods that the tenant or the property manager or owner must provide when ending a tenancy. So we suggest that they provide as much notice as possible because this allows for better planning and smoother transition from both sides.

So more importantly, tenants and property managers can negotiate to end a tenancy through mutual agreement. So if the tenancy is ended by way of mutual agreement, we encourage parties to ensure that the agreement's in writing and it covers the end dates and costs and those sorts of things. So it's important to keep in mind that notices to end a tenancy do need to be in writing and the appropriate forms to be able to do so are on our website.

Host: Thanks Marc for helping us to get a greater understanding on everything we need to know about breaking a lease. As always, if there are any issues in the tenancy, let the other party know as soon as possible and talk to each other to come up with a workable solution.

Remember, you can find out more about everything we've discussed today on our website at rta.qld.gov.au. Thank you for listening to the Talking Tenancies Podcast. For more information about the Residential Tenancies Authority, visit rta.qld.gov.au.