A landlord has lost thousands of dollars attempting to evict tenants from his property, only to find out that his property manager had made a major mistake.
Truck salesman Adam Le Fevre owned an investment property in Mackay in North Queensland and his nightmare started when he decided to sell the house last year.
Mr Le Fevre told Daily Mail Australia he used his superannuation to buy the property in the hope it would lead to a comfortable retirement.
‘I bought it at the time when the Reserve Bank Governor said there won’t be any rate increases for at least two years,’ he said.
‘And lo and behold, 12 or 13 consecutive rate increases which put the property into a point where it was not covering itself. I made the reasonable decision to offload.’
Adam Le Fevre (pictured) owned an investment property in Mackay in North Queensland and his nightmare started when he decided to sell the house last year
He advised his leasing agent in late 2023 of his decision to sell the property and not to send out a lease renewal notice.
Mr Le Fevre then received a contract for the sale of the property on January 25th, with the settlement scheduled for April 17th, which was a month after the tenant’s original lease was set to end.
‘The plan was the lease would expire on March 14, giving them plenty of time to leave. The lease was going to expire, and technically should have worked well.’
However, he later found out that his rental agent had mistakenly sent the tenants a lease renewal in January, extending their lease for another year.
‘So they signed it. They sent it back, and they told me the real estate agent signed it also. And I was furious, absolutely furious,’ Mr Le Fevre said.
The agent attempted to cancel the lease by emailing the tenants and subsequently issued a notice to leave in early February, specifying that the tenants were required to vacate the property by April 11.
‘An email has been sent to the tenants explaining the legal reasons for the cancellation of the lease,’ the agent wrote in an email to Mr Le Fevre and his selling agent.
Mr Le Fevre used his superannuation to buy the property in ‘the hope of a comfortable retirement’, but then interest rates started rising and he was forced to sell
Tenants still refuse to leave – even though notice to vacate was issued
The tenants were still not gone by April 11, and Mr Le Fevre and the agent sent the tenants an ‘official notice to leave, dictating the tenants must be out by April 11.
As a last resort, Mr Le Fevre applied to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal for a ‘warrant of possession’.
Mr Le Fevre said the hearing was set down for May 1, and the tenants requested an adjournment, with the next hearing on May 8. It was successful on May 14.
‘The tenants didn’t finally get out of the property until the 17th of May.’
The rental agent told the ABC they ‘acted in accordance with legislative requirements … and on the client’s lawful instructions.’
Mr Le Fevre said he was ‘frustrated and dismayed’ by the eviction process, and added there is an imbalance of power heavily favoring tenants.
‘That imbalance is tipped over the edge by the laws, or the inability to take action against an overstay renter, to get them out. ‘
Because of the delay in the tenants moving out of his property, Mr Le Fevre is now facing breach of contract action from the new owners.
‘They have sold their property and had to move out, so they were in temporary accommodation. They’re seeking recovery of the cost for storage and kenneling of pets.’
Mr Le Fevre said he could be potentially facing damages of up to $8,000.
He has also had to cover expenses for flights between Brisbane and Mackay, as well as legal fees, that he claims amount to about $7,000
The agent attempted to cancel the lease by emailing the tenants and subsequently issued a notice to leave in early February
Landlord calls out tenant’s reluctance to vacate
Mr Le Fevre claimed that the reason the tenants did not vacate was because they were unable to find a suitable alternative property.
‘I understand things are tough, but if you if you look at the available rental market in Mackay, there are a large number of homes that you know suit all forms of renters,’ he said.
He believed they were being too fussy.
‘The problem is when a renter decides that they will only live in the one suburb they’re in at the moment, and the house must be suitable for their dog, must be suitable for their kids, and it must be close to the school so they can walk to school. Your options become a little less.’
Mr Le Fevre said during research he did at the time there were a lot of rental properties available at the time of the eviction.
‘So you know, it’s not it’s not like they were scraping, and they might have been challenged to reach that amount per week, but at the $550 to $700 a week mark, there were no less than 30 to 40 properties available on the market.’
Even though they didn’t comply with the request to vacate, Mr Le Fevre remarked that they were still good tenants.
‘At no time were the tenants delinquent in their payments. At no time were they disrespectful or caused any damage to the property beyond normal wear and tear.
‘From all accounts they were were good tenants, until such time came as they were asked to leave.’
As someone who rents himself, Mr Le Fevre said that he would never consider overstaying a lease.
He recounted a previous experience where he, as a tenant, had received a notice to vacate.
‘And not for one moment did I say, well, can I milk this for how long? Or no, I’m not going to stay. Or I can’t find place to live.’
‘Yeah, it’s a challenge to find a place to live, but you know. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.’
He said that contrary to the common belief that landlords are wealthy, he doesn’t even own his own home.
‘I could retire comfortably today, no problem, but I’d have to f***ing die on Friday. That’s how comfortable I am… not.’
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