What should you check in a Melbourne rental agreement before you sign?

1What are the six things to check before you sign?

Form, amounts, term, disclosures, terms and copies, one by one.

The one people miss is the condition report. You must be given 2 copies (1 if it is electronic), you return a signed copy within 5 business days of moving in, and it decides whether anything comes out of your bond. The short version of filling it in: photograph and write down holes in walls, stains on carpet and anything that does not work. The details are in the condition report guide.

Rent increases are not part of the pre-signing checks, but your agreement will mention them. Rent cannot go up during a fixed term unless the agreement says it can and says how it is worked out, and a proper increase needs official notice at least 90 days ahead. The rules are in Victoria’s rental changes.

2What do you say when an agent pushes you to sign this weekend?

You do not have to sign on the spot. Take it home for a night.

Say you have just seen a place on Saturday afternoon and the agent slides the agreement across: “It’s a standard agreement, just sign, it’ll be gone tomorrow.” Three sentences will do. One: “I’d like to take it home tonight and reply in the morning.” Two: “Can you email me the agreement? There are a few things I want to check.” Three: “If it has to be today, I’ll pass on this one.” You do not need to say it well. The point is that you do not sign on the spot.

“Standard agreement, no changes needed” deserves a second look. The standard terms in the prescribed form (Form 1) are set by law and will not change because you ask. But if the agreement has an extra page of “additional terms”, that page is the part you can negotiate, and the part that may be void. You can ask: are these additional terms from the owner, or from the agency’s template?

Write down anything promised verbally. If the rental provider says at the inspection that they will replace the hot water system next week, ask the agent to put it in the additional terms there and then. If it cannot go in, email them the same day and ask them to confirm. Once you have signed, getting someone to honour an unwritten promise is hard.

3Which terms are void even if they are written in?

Prohibited terms are void, and the rental provider can be penalised.

An agreement also cannot say that you are bound by a contract you did not agree to in writing after having a chance to review it, that you cannot claim compensation if the property is not available on the start date, that you owe a fixed fee for ending early (unless the agreement sets out how it is worked out), or that you pay the excess on the rental provider’s insurance.

If you spot a term that looks wrong, do not argue. Ask the agent which rule it relies on, and if they cannot say, ask them to delete it. The term is void either way, but the decision to sign is still yours. If you are unsure, call the Study Melbourne Hub (1800 056 449, 24 hours) for free legal advice.

4What must the rental provider tell you before you sign?

Three to watch: ownership, minimum standards, check dates.

The official list has 18 items. The three that matter most to a student are whether the person is the owner or has the right to rent the place out (the key to avoiding scams), whether the property meets the 15 categories of minimum standards, and the date of the last electrical and gas safety checks and any outstanding recommendations (each is due every 2 years).

The rest include whether they plan to sell, whether a lender is taking action to take possession, whether there was a homicide or drug offence at the property in the past 5 years, any repair notice for mould or damp in the past 3 years, asbestos, any notice about building defects, and any owners corporation rules. If they have not said, ask, and write it down.

After you move in you can also ask in writing for the electrical and gas check records, and they must give them to you within 7 days. If no check was done in the 2 years before you moved in, the rental provider must arrange one as soon as possible.

5What extras can you negotiate?

Pets, cleaning, gardens and changes to the property can all be discussed.

You or the rental provider can ask for additional terms: whether you can keep a pet, how cleaning is handled, who looks after the garden, whether you can change the property, or something specific such as “replace the oven within 6 months” or “no smoking inside”. A term that conflicts with the rental laws, such as “inspections every month”, has no effect even if it is written in.

Additional terms cannot take away your legal rights or contradict the rental laws or the standard agreement, or they are void. Write down what you want, send it to the agent, ask them to put it on the additional terms page once the rental provider agrees, and read the page again before you sign.

6What do you pay if you leave early?

There is no penalty, but you cover the rental provider’s reasonable losses.

You may have to cover three things: rent until a new renter moves in, reasonable advertising costs, and a re-letting fee (only if an agent re-lets the place, shared in proportion to the time left). The official example: with a re-letting fee of A$500 and 6 months left on a 12-month agreement, you pay A$250. Once a new renter moves in you stop paying rent, and if the place was not advertised or no agent was used, you do not pay those items. The rental provider must do everything they can to re-let quickly.

Here is another one. Say you are on a 12-month agreement at A$400 a week and leave with 4 months left, and the agent finds a new renter three weeks later. You pay those 3 weeks of rent (A$1,200), plus 4/12 of a A$500 re-letting fee (about A$167), plus reasonable advertising costs if they advertised. That comes to about A$1,370, far less than paying out the remaining 4 months (about A$6,930). The numbers are made up to show the method. You can still claim your bond.

If the costs look too high, talk to the rental provider or agent first. If that fails, you can apply to VCAT to decide whether the charges are fair. In severe hardship, such as loss of income, a serious medical condition or a family tragedy, you can also ask VCAT to release you without paying these costs. Agreements longer than 5 years have a cap on compensation, but the 6 or 12-month agreements most students sign are not affected.