Tag: formal-payment-plan-3.3.1

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What happens if  the Notice to Vacate is invalid?  

If your Notice to Vacate is invalid, it means that VCAT cannot make any decisions to evict you based on that Notice. If your rental provider has applied to VCAT, you can ask VCAT to check whether the Notice is valid before making any decisions. 

If you are 14 days behind in rent, your rental provider can issue you with a new Notice to Vacate, even if the previous Notice was found to be invalid.  

We recommend that if you are behind on rent, you offer a payment plan to the rental provider as soon as you can. 

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What if I have withheld rent because of unfinished repairs? 

Unfortunately, VCAT will not consider repairs in the amount of rent you owe and whether to allow the landlord to evict you.  

There is a separate process to follow for unresolved repair issues. You will need to continue to pay rent while waiting for repairs to be done, or waiting to be paid back for urgent repairs. If you haven’t already, we recommend taking steps to request repairs before a VCAT hearing so you can tell VCAT that you have started the process. 

Tenants Victoria’s Repairs Toolkit can help you to understand your options for repairs. Anika Legal can help you request repairs from your rental provider, and apply to VCAT if needed. Apply for help on Anika Legal’s website. 

Read more about repairs from Consumer Affairs Victoria.