If you are a landlord or estate agent, you must, by law, give your prospective tenant a copy of Renting a home: a guide for tenants (PDF, 734KB), on or before the day they move in. You may be fined if you do not do so.
Before asking a prospective tenant to sign a Residential tenancy agreement (PDF, 944KB), you must give them a copy of the unsigned agreement.
Once the agreement is signed, you must give the tenant a signed copy within 14 days.
Rooming house owners
If you are rooming house owner, you must, by law, give every new resident a copy of:
- Rooming houses: a guide for residents and operators (PDF, 1.9MB)
- the house rules (if your rooming house has them)
- Rights and duties of a rooming house resident poster (PDF, 202KB).
You must provide every resident with these documents on or before the day they move in. You may be fined if you do not do so.
You must also give them a:
- Notice to proposed rooming house resident – exclusive occupancy right (PDF, 52KB) or
- Notice to proposed rooming house resident – shared room right (PDF, 54KB).
These notices inform the resident if they have an exclusive right to their room or if they have to share it.
You must also advise residents of any extra amount that will be charged for additional services provided such as cleaning, linen or meals.
If you enter into a tenancy agreement with a resident who has ‘exclusive occupancy’ rights to a room, you must follow the Residential Tenancies Act 1997’s requirements relating to ‘tenancy agreements’.
We recommend you read Rooming houses: a guide for residents and operators in conjunction with Running a better rooming house: a best practice handbook. This handbook, produced by the Registered Accommodation Association of Victoria, includes practical information to help owners improve their operations. Download or order your free copy from the RAAV website.
Caravan park owners
As a caravan park owner, you must, by law, give prospective residents a copy ofCaravan parks: a guide for residents, owners and managers (PDF, 2.5MB) on or before the day they move in. You must also give them a copy of the caravan park rules. You may be fined if you do not do so.
You must also give residents a Notice to prospective caravan park residents becoming a resident at this caravan park (PDF, 49KB), which explains their responsibilities.
The Victorian Caravan Parks Association can also provide more information to caravan park owners.
Site owners
If you are a site owner you must, by law, give prospective site tenants a printed copy of Movable dwellings: a guide for residents, owners and managers (PDF, 1.8MB) on or before the day they sign the site agreement. You must also give site tenants a Notice of cooling off period for site tenants (Form 2A) (PDF, 439KB), which explains their right to withdraw from the site agreement within five business days of signing it.
The Victorian Caravan Parks Association can also provide more information to site owners.
Contact details
As a landlord, agent or owner, you must advise tenants or residents of your contact details in writing on or before the day they move in. You could face a fine if you do not provide these details.
You must provide:
- your full name, address (either a physical address or post office box) and telephone number; agents should also give a fax number
- an emergency telephone number that can be used out of business hours, preferably 24 hours a day.
If your contact details change during a tenancy or residency, you must advise the tenant or resident in writing within seven days.
If you are an agent managing a property, you must advise the tenant or resident, in writing:
- your full name and address, address, telephone number and fax number
- whether you can authorise urgent repairs and, if so, the maximum amount you can authorise
- the telephone or fax numbers to be used for urgent repairs.
Ending a lease early
You and your landlord, caravan park owner, rooming house owner or site owner can agree to end an agreement early. It is important to put this agreement in writing.
This written notice should include any agreed costs, terms and conditions, and the date the lease is to end.
If you have a fixed-term lease but need to end it early, you should give written notice as soon as possible. Breaking a lease may require you to pay compensation to your landlord or owner.
Tenants, residents, landlords and owners can apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to reduce the period of the tenancy agreement on the basis of severe hardship.
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