RENTAL PAID/ CANCELLATION OF A LEASE AGREEMENT

[Dave A]

Not enough coffee yet this morning?

This relates to the sale of goods not rental income.

S 14 relates to the expiry and renewal of fixed-term agreements. It's also the section you have relied on in claiming your consumer's right to provide 20 business days notice of early termination.

Regulation 5.2.c & 5.2.d probably may not apply in your situation as it is clearly limited to goods, but the balance certainly does apply to goods and services.

I still can't find any reference in the CPA to the 10% figure you referred to earlier. Perhaps when you have a spare moment you could be so kind as to steer me in the right direction.

[Basment Dweller]

I'm not sure what the CPA states but when you sign a lease with a landlord you enter a written contract that binds you to a certain term, cancelling the lease comes with penalties, so what does the lease say?

The landlord probably incurred an agent commission cost and advertising cost to replace you with a new tenant.

The lease agreements I have with my tenants state a 'reasonable penalty fee no more than 2 months rental', so if I incur agent/advertising fees then I'm deducting that from the deposit. Agents commission is normally one months rental so a months rental deduction is a fair penalty when canceling a lease agreement.

[Houses4Rent]

First question is does the CPA apply and in most cases it does. If it does you have 20 business days notice which you used and the other side can claim damages if there are any.

Secondly was there a vacancy between your last day of lease and the new tenant moving in? If not no rental loss incurred and can be claimed as damages. Most often it actually enables the agent/owner to raise the rent earlier than anticipated (subject to demand/supply situation)

Thirdly legislation does not specify anywhere what "reasonable" means, but as far as I know damages must be true costs substantiated by invoices.

Who found the new tenant, you or the agent?

What did your breakdown of deposit say then?

If you disagree and the agency does not meet your expectation go to the rental tribunal for free advise.