Current tenants

Congratulations! The next step is to organise a time with your property manager to sign the lease. We will normally arrange a sign-up within 24 hours of your approval.

We’ll send you the relevant legislation documents and a list of helpful tips with the confirmation of your sign-up appointment. Make sure you read them prior to the appointment so it runs as smoothly as possible.

Ask any further questions at the sign-up appointment, whether they relate to the property, Tenancy Agreement documentation or terms of the lease. Try to come to the sign-up with your questions already prepared.

Organise with your electricity/gas provider to have your services connected on the first day of the tenancy. Take advantage of any free services on offer by an agency to assist with your utility connection.

Ensure you bring the bond (4 weeks’ rent) plus the first 2 weeks’ rent with you in the form of a bank cheque or money order (made out to Independent Property Management) upon commencement. We can also accept EFTPOS but cannot use credit facilities.

You can change your account details at any time through the Sorted app.

Rent receipts can be easily accessed through Sorted. Just log into your Sorted account and go to the ‘statement section’.

Forgotten your Sorted user name or password? Just click the ‘forgotten password’ or the ‘forgot my login’ link on the Sorted app home page and follow the directions.

No, you don’t need to be present during routine inspections. If this is the case, we will use our set of office keys to access the property.
If you would like to be present during your routine inspection, please let your property manager know so they can arrange a time that works for both of you.

In the event of urgent repairs occurring outside of office hours (between 5pm and 8am Monday to Friday and 24/7 on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays), please follow our ACT or NSW procedures.

A maintenance issue is when something is not working as it’s intended e.g. appliances, leaking taps, doors not latching, blocked drains, etc. There’s also general property upkeep such as failed hot water systems.

You are responsible for replacing light bulbs and batteries where safe to do so, as well as maintain the garden, including mowing and weeding. All other maintenance and repair work is the responsibility of the owner.

All maintenance needs to be reported through our online tenant concierge service 'Tapi' - ACT or NSW. 

It is a term of your agreement to report all repairs and maintenance as early as possible. Even if the problem is only minor now, it could easily worsen and cause more damage in the long term, especially when it relates to electrical or plumbing work.

Urgent Repairs as set out in the Residential Tenancies Act 1997
as follows:

• A burst water system
• A blocked or broken lavatory system
• A serious roof leak
• A gas leak
• A dangerous electrical fault
• Flooding or serious flood damage
• Serious storm or fire damage
• A failure of gas, electricity or water supply to the premises
• The failure of a refrigerator supplied with the premises
• A failure or breakdown of any service on the premises
  essential for hot water, cooking, heating, cooling or laundering
• A fault or damage that causes the residential premises to be
  unsafe or insecure
• A fault or damage likely to cause injury to person or property
• A serious fault in any door, staircase, lift or other common
  area which inhibits or unduly inconveniences the tenant in
  gaining access to and use of the premises.

Anything outside of this is general maintenance and should
be reported to your Property Manager in writing the next
business day.

Once we receive your maintenance request, we seek the owner’s instructions and approval (and obtain quotes if need be). We’ll keep you informed during this process and provide updates as things progress.

The owner has 4 weeks from the time of reporting to attend to a maintenance issue. In the case of urgent repairs, these must be attended to ASAP.

The tradesperson will be in touch with you to organise an appropriate time to complete the work. It’s essential that you don’t ignore calls from unrecognised numbers if you report maintenance, as it’s probably the tradesperson trying to organise a time with you. If you don’t hear anything within a couple of days, please let your Property Manager know. If you prefer, you can give us permission to hand out our office set of keys for the tradesperson to attend when you’re not home.

Please get in contact with us immediately and we’ll follow up with the tradesperson urgently to have any outstanding work completed.

We strongly recommend you, or a representative, attends the final inspection.

Whether you’re in a fixed term or periodic tenancy, you need to provide a minimum of 21 days’ notice in writing to your Property Manager (email is fine).

The owner must make reasonable efforts to find a new tenant, but you’re required to compensate the owner for the breach by either:

• Continue paying rent until either a new tenant is found or your fixed term period ends (whichever comes first) and pay an additional week of rent as compensation to the owner to cover their advertising and re-letting fees; or
• If there is a specific clause in your Tenancy Agreement, you will be required to pay a breach cost of 6 weeks’ rent when the breach occurs within the first half of the fixed term, or 4 weeks’ rent when the breach occurs within the second half of the fixed term.

The property must be returned in a clean condition, as per the inventory and condition report (fair wear and tear considered); please refer to our detailed vacating guide for more information. The carpets must also be professionally steam-cleaned and you’ll need to provide the receipt to your Property Manager. We also have a list of cleaners who do an excellent job.

Fair wear and tear is the expected deterioration of the property from both natural forces (wind, rain, sun etc.) and normal, day-to-day use.

Upon vacating the property, the tenants must have the property professionally cleaned, carpets professionally steam cleaned and the carpets pet treated with fumigation and deodorizing and receipts provided, as per section 71AE (4) (ii) of the Residential Tenancies ACT 1997, as well as any other items specified in your Tenancy Agreement.

If the property is damaged or unclean, or if there are unpaid invoices or rent, the cost to cover damages or unpaid amounts will be claimed from the bond.

The final inspection is usually conducted on the final day you pay rent or as soon as possible after, to be arranged at a suitable time with your Property Manager. All your personal belongings must be removed and the property thoroughly cleaned as outlined earlier.

You’ll be given the chance to rectify any issues within 24 hours or we can organise for the work to be done on your behalf. A reinspection will occur once this is completed.

• Organise a cleaner and removalist or allow plenty of time if you’re doing it yourself
• Organise professional carpet cleaning allowing enough time for them to dry for the final inspection
• Close or transfer your utility accounts
• Redirect your mail

Your bond will be refunded once:

• the final inspection has been passed in line with the inventory and condition report;
• all keys have been returned to your Property Manager; and
• all outstanding rent and invoices have been paid.

The bonds office can take 4-8 weeks to process the refund,
however if you sign the bond refund form, the process is
usually quicker.