Tenant Information for Rental Properties of The Agency Team Bushby

When you are choosing home to rent, it's important to feel comfortable and confident in your decision. At The Agency Team Bushby, we want you to eventually call your rental home, so we have produced this information guide to provide a simple and clear understanding of the rights and responsibilities you have in the occupation of your new home.

THINGS TO CONSIDER:

Before deciding to rent a property there are a few rules and regulations that you need to take into consideration.

  • Not cause damage to the premises
  • Avoid causing a nuisance to the landlord or neighbours
  • Do not participate in anything illegal on the property

Application Process

PAYING RENT & BOND:

We accept the following payment methods for your fortnightly rent payments:

  • Direct Debit (Free)
  • RentPay $3.00 per month allows you to use Bpay ($0.88 per payment for savings accounts or $0.88 per payment plus 1.32% for credit and debit cards)
  • EFTPOS ($0.63 per savings or cheque transaction, 1.1% of the amount owing is charge per credit transaction).
  • Centrepay (Free)

For more details please visit our Rent Payment page.

To pay your bond – we will provide you with a Bond Lodgment Form and require all bond monies to be paid to Service Tasmania. You will be provided with a receipt which must be brought in to Bushby Property Group as proof of payment on your lease start date
Service Tasmania is located in Civic Square and is open 8.15am – 5pm Mon – Fri (business days)

UTILITY CONNECTIONS:

We provide a free service called Direct Connect for the connection of tenants utilities. Please visit directconnect.com.au. If you do not wish to use this service then you are responsible for ensuring your electricity, phone etc. are connected

For your information, the following numbers are:

By calling these numbers, you can connect the appropriate service to your new home.

CONDITION REPORTS:

A condition report is evidence of the state of repair and condition of the property at the beginning of the tenancy.

For your protection it is imperative that your Condition Report be carefully checked by yourself. At the commencement of your tenancy you will be provided with a copy & numerous digital photos attached taken at the start of your tenancy.

You will receive two copies of the condition report. Your copy of the condition report, with any additional comments is to be returned to our office within 2 working days of taking possession of the property, this is for your protection of your bond.

INSURANCE:

We strongly urge you to insure your personal possessions against any loss, damage or theft. The landlord has no obligations to insure your personal belongings.

During your tenancy

CHANGE OF DETAILS:

If for any reason you have a change of telephone numbers, email address or postal address i.e, change of employment or change of home number, it is vitally important that you pass on your new details to us.

In cases of emergency, if we do not have the correct phone numbers it is impossible to contact you.

We do not under any circumstances give your phone number out without your authority.

GARDENS:

Under the terms of your Lease agreement, the gardens to both the front and rear of the property are to be maintained and kept in the same condition as found and regular maintenance and watering of the gardens is expected at all times. There's nothing like a neat & tidy garden, which is why we encourage all tenants to consider using the services of our gardening experts. Contact the below services for a free, no obligation quote on keeping your garden & lawns in great condition.

Glens Gardening
0409 797 919

Revilo (Greg Oliver)
0418 399 390

As part of the condition report, we do take photos at the commencement of the lease. If the gardens are not maintained to their original condition, a claim can be made against the bond.

We believe that it is best to notify you now regarding what is expected in relation to both internal cleaning of the home and the external maintenance of the gardens, to ensure at the expiration of your lease, your bond will be returned to you in full.

Once we have had your vacating notice we will send you an itemised list of cleaning to be carried out for your convenience.

CARPETS:

Where stated, carpets are to be steamed cleaned by a professional company and the receipt returned along with your keys. Do not attempt to clean carpets yourself; many of the products available will strip dye from the carpet. We have been in the position where we have had to replace carpets. A very costly exercise for the tenant.

PICTURE/PHOTO HANGING:

We appreciate people like to make their new residence feel like home and their wish to hang photographs and paintings.
We insist, however, that before any hooks are hammered into walls that you contact us so we can get permission for you.
Permission is not unreasonably withheld in most cases, however, it is not permitted without the written approval from the landlord or the agent. Likewise, upon your vacating the property, the tenancy agreement states that you must return it to the same condition as you found it, therefore, it is expected that you will repair all marks to walls and any hook or screw holes.

"Blue Tak" or sticky tape must not under any circumstances be put on walls, doors etc.

PETS:

In accordance with your Tenancy Agreement, pets are not allowed unless you have the written consent of the landlord or his agent. It is not our policy to hinder people who have pets from leasing properties.

Landlords will consider pets, provided they have been given adequate notice and that the pets are housed outside the dwelling.

If you are considering getting a pet after taking a lease agreement, please contact our office first so we can get approval from the landlord. Should you be approved we will require you to sign a Pet Agreement, which are collected and signed at the office.

REPAIRS:

In accordance with your lease agreement, any damage, malfunction or problem should be reported immediately to our office.
All repairs are to be put in writing via email to your Property Manager or to rentals@bushby.com.au, they can also be lodged at the office or using our online maintenance request form.

If necessary, an inspection will be carried out promptly, and the matter reported to the landlord for the appropriate action. If it is an urgent repair, then we have the right to have the repair carried out immediately.

Our company will always act on a problem as soon as possible. For your information however, sometimes, it can take time to locate landlords and to obtain their authorisation to carry out repairs. This is not a delay that we try to prolong, we action the problem and give it our attention as soon as possible.

REGULAR INSPECTIONS:

Our company carries out regular inspections on the property and written notice is given to you when this is to occur. Our endeavours are to make sure you are happy and answer any complaints that you may have, therefore, we believe that it is a good idea if you are able to be home when we carry out these inspections – however, if you cannot make the inspection time, our Property Managers inspect the property in your absence and contact you if they have any concerns. You will be emailed a pre-inspection checklist to complete and leave at your residence if you are unable to be in attendance, where any maintenance or concerns can be highlighted to your Property Manager.

KEYS:

A duplicate key to all properties is retained by Bushby Property Group for emergency access. Under special circumstances, and on producing identification, the keys can be borrowed, during office hours, but must be returned within twenty four (24) hours. No service by our is staff available out of office hours or on public holidays.

It would be therefore advisable, that you also make private arrangements regarding the location of a spare key, should you inadvertently lock yourself out.

CHANGE OF LOCKS:

Locks may only be changed, after first obtaining permission from Bushby Property Group on behalf of the Landlord, and then on the strict understanding that you supply us with a spare set of keys. Remember, it is in your best interests to ensure that we have access to your property.

CONTACT YOUR PROPERTY MANAGER:

You can contact your Property Manager by calling our office (03) 6333 3600 during business hours or by emailing them. As our Property Managers are in and out of the office most of the day we do ask you make an appointment should you need to speak to them in our office.

Vacating

HOW TO GIVE NOTICE:

Your Residential Tenancy Agreement is a legal and binding contract, providing protection for both you and the Landlord.

Provided your lease has expired, notification must be given in writing and it must be in accordance with the terms of the Residential Tenancies Act – i.e 14 days notice. If for any reason you need to discuss your intention to vacate further, please contact our property managers to discuss the matter before you action your notice

BOND

The bond is held as security against any damage or undue wear and tear and not for rent arrears.

We make every endeavour to let out properties in a clean and tidy condition, and to make properties attractive to you, we request that landlords do their utmost to present the property in its best condition.

In accordance with your Tenancy Agreement, the property must be maintained and kept in a fit and proper condition. It is therefore expected, that the property will be left in the same condition as you found it.

We carry out thorough condition reports at the time of leasing and again at the expiration of the Lease, therefore, it is vitally important that the contents of the condition report are agreed upon when you move into the property.

Over many years of property management experience, we have noticed that there have been several areas that have been neglected, so to ensure that your security deposit is refunded to you in full at the expiration of the Lease, particular attention should be taken to areas such as kitchen bench tops, cupboards and sinks, bathroom and kitchen tiles to both floors and walls, if applicable, oven griller and hotplates, exhaust fans where installed above stoves and in bathrooms and carpet is to be clean. An itemised cleaning list will be given to tenants when notice to vacate is provided to our office, to ensure these areas of cleaning are met.