If the rent (or part of the rent) remains unpaid for at least 14 days, the lessor may, depending on the tenant, repair the violation of a notice (Form 2 – also known as a notice of violation). The tenant then has seven days off to pay the rent due. If the rent is not paid within the time limit, the lease automatically terminates (Residential Tenancies Act 1996 (SA) s 80 (2) (c)). This is different from other circumstances when a tenant violates an agreement [cf. S 80 (1)), under which the tenant has an additional period of seven days off. See below, Other Offences. Victims of domestic violence have some protection when they can terminate a lease for reasons of domestic violence – see our section below: intervention orders and rental contracts. The court also has the power to compensate a lessor for loss and inconvenience where a housing rental agreement has been terminated following an intervention order (see 89A (10)). If the tenant rents a room in shared accommodation, it is very important that the agreement defines the parts of the tenant`s exclusive premises and the parts of the tenants. A housing rental agreement is concluded when one person (the owner) grants another (the tenant) the right to live alone or with other dwellings for rent. An agreement may be concluded in writing, orally or even tacitly.
The tenant may apply to the Civil and Administrative Court of South Australia (SACAT) to reinstate a rental agreement if the breach has been corrected or if the tenant does not believe that he has breached the agreement. Right to terminate or replace existing leases Regular leases (234.7 KB PDF) do not have a date on which the lease ends. They last until either the tenant or the lessor announces in writing the termination of the lease. If a lessor has committed a serious breach of the rental agreement, a tenant may apply for termination of the rental agreement [see 88]. The provision of section 88 is appropriate even in the case of an offence that cannot be corrected. A party to a lease who wishes to request an order must first complete an application and pay the application fee, which is US$78.00 as of July 1, 2020 [see South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Fees) Regulations 2020 (SA)]. Further examples of inconsistent lease terms can be found in the factsheet “Rental terms which are not incompatible with the Residential Tenancies Act 1995”. A lessor may attempt to terminate either a temporary lease or a periodic lease if the lessee violates the agreement [s 80].
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