Over the Christmas break is prime time for tenants to accidnetally slip into arrears and fall behind on their rent. Kick start the New Year with some simple tips for keeping your rental ledger on track. 

Your office was closed when my rent was due

This is a classic situation that many tenants find themselves in around their agent's Christmas closure period. Stanton & Taylor First National traditionally closes its doors as late in the year before Christmas Day as possible giving our tenants as much time as we can to get their rental payments processed. We also reopen right after New Year's Day. However it is easy to make sure you are covered across holiday periods.

1. Make an early payment

It is better for your balance to be in advance than it is for it to be in arrears, so if your rent is due right in the middle of the holiday closure period, come and pay the next instalment before our doors close. 

2. Make a slightly increased payment across time

If your rent is $200 per week, pay $205 per week across the year. After 40 weeks of the slightly increased rate you will have accrued a week's rent in advance covering you for any shut down period. 

My rent is due but my BPay hasn't hit your account yet

It is the tenant's duty to ensure that the rent owing is received on the due date. This means giving BPay two business days to process your transaction. If your money doesn't hit our account, our system will note you as being in arrears. This is an automated system so take into account that public holidays could slow your payments down and accidentally put you into arrears. If you receive a notification telling you that you are in arrears, it's not personal, it simply means you need to look into your account and figure out why your rental payment is late and rectify it to avoid further penalty. 

I asked for repairs to be done on my property and they haven't been done. Can I not pay rent?

Absolutely not. Failing to pay rent will not only result in your tenancy ledger showing you as being in arrears, but a failiure to pay for 14 days will result in a termination notice. There could be many reasons that the requested repairs were not carried out, particularly if they were reported close to Christmas or during the holiday closure period. Whilst we pass all maintenance requests on to the landlord, there can be delays during this particularly busy time of year. Failing to pay rent in protest is not the solution. 

How can I pay my rent?

There are multiple ways to pay rent. The following are all accepted forms of rental payment:

BPay

Eftpos (1.5% surcharge)

Money Order ($10 processing fee at Australia Post)

Bank Cheque ($15 processing fee at Bank Branch)