Abandoned premises

If the residential premises appear to have been abandoned by the tenant, a landlord may apply to the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal for an order to have the premises declared abandoned. Once such an order is given, the premises are considered abandoned from the date specified on the order.

The landlord or agent must present evidence to the Tribunal to support their claim that the premises have been abandoned. This may include statements from witnesses, notices of disconnection of electricity, telephone or gas, empty premises etc.

An application to the Tribunal is not necessary if there is sufficient information to be certain that the premises have been abandoned. In this situation, the premises can be secured immediately, though it may be advisable to obtain an order or seek further advice.

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Compensation

The tenant who abandons the residential premises is liable to pay compensation to the landlord for any loss (eg. loss of rent) caused by the abandonment. The landlord should take all reasonable steps to minimise any loss. If steps are not taken by the landlord to avoid the loss, compensation for that loss may not be recoverable.

Some of the costs the landlord may recover are the agent's reletting fee and reasonable advertising costs, if the abandonment occurs during the fixed term.

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Abandoned or uncollected goods

Items that have been left in the residential premises by the tenant after vacating become 'uncollected goods'. If these goods remain in the premises for 2 working days after the tenant has vacated, they may be disposed of if their value is estimated not to be higher than the cost of removal and storage. Otherwise they must be stored in a safe place. If the goods are perishable foodstuffs, they may be disposed of immediately.

Tenants may apply to the Tribunal for orders that the landlord deliver to them the goods left behind. Persons other than tenants and landlords who may have an interest in the goods also have the right to apply to the Tribunal (eg. an appliance hire company).

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Auctioning of goods

Once the uncollected goods have been stored for 30 days, they may be sold by public auction.

The landlord is required to account to the tenant for the balance of the proceeds of the sale after the deduction of the reasonable costs of removal, storage and sale of the goods.

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Notice to tenant required

If the uncollected goods are stored, a landlord or their agent must take the following steps within seven days of placing the goods into storage:-

• provide the tenant with a written notice that the goods are in storage, and
• publish the notice in a Statewide newspaper.

The notice may be given to the tenant by posting it to the last forwarding address known to the landlord. It may also be given to a person who was nominated by the tenant before the tenant vacated the premises.

The notice must contain the following:-

• the landlord's name and address, or an address where the goods can be claimed
• the tenant's name
• the address of the rented premises
• a description of the goods
• a statement that, on or after a specified date, the goods will be sold by public auction unless they are first claimed, and the reasonable costs of removal and storage, but not other costs (e.g. outstanding rent), are paid, and
• a statement that the landlord will retain the reasonable costs of removal, storage and sale from the proceeds of the auction.

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Claiming uncollected goods

A person who is entitled to possession of the goods left in the premises may claim them at any time before they are disposed of or sold, provided the landlord is satisfied that the claim is genuine.

The landlord is entitled to require payment of the actual costs of removal and storage of the goods being claimed before allowing the goods to be collected.

If the claim is for some but not all of the uncollected goods, and the remaining goods are still worth enough to cover reasonable costs of removal and storage of all of the goods, the landlord must deliver up those claimed goods without requiring payment for the costs of removal and storage of those claimed goods.

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