How long do possession orders take

As a residential landlord you will know that it is a criminal offence to unlawfully evict a tenant and that the standard method is to apply to the Court for a Possession Order. But what if the tenant has disappeared and you believe they have surrendered the property? Can you proceed to possession without a Possession Order? Lydia Anderson explains.. How can you be sure though that the property has been surrendered? Abandonment of a property If you are unsure about claiming that a tenant has surrendered the property you can place an Abandonment Notice on the door of the property.

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See a list of timeframes. A possession order is issued by VCAT and says the resident must move out of the property. A rental provider may apply for a possession order when a resident gets a notice to vacate but does not move out on the date they are supposed to. The possession order will usually be made at a possession hearing.

Renters will be told when and where the hearing will be. If they want to stay in the property, they must attend the hearing and dispute the claim. If the rental provider has applied for a possession order VCAT will consider whether it is reasonable and proportionate to make a possession order. VCAT will consider:. VCAT may pause or dismiss an application for a possession order if the notice to vacate was for unpaid rent, and VCAT thinks that other arrangements can be made to prevent the rental provider from losing money.

If VCAT has paused the hearing, they may make a possession order if the rent still has not been paid. If the rent has been paid, VCAT will dismiss the application.

VCAT will dismiss the application if the renter has had 4 or less notices to vacate for unpaid rent within 12 months, and the rent has been paid by the time of the hearing. If the possession order relates to a notice to vacate that has been given because of damage, danger, or threats, VCAT may choose not to make a possession order. Sometimes VCAT may make an order requiring:. Rental providers can apply to VCAT for a warrant of possession if the renter does not leave by the date in the possession order.

Renters can ask VCAT to postpone the eviction for up to 30 days under some circumstances. See Postponing eviction below for more details. Only Victoria Police can carry out a forcible eviction and only when they are acting on a warrant of possession granted by VCAT.

See Goods left behind by renters. During the hearing for a possession order, renters can ask VCAT to postpone the eviction for up to 30 days if they will face serious hardship if they are evicted.

Postponement of the eviction cannot be requested after the VCAT possession order hearing. To be granted a postponement, the hardship for renters will need to be greater than any hardship the rental provider will experience if the eviction is postponed. An eviction will not be postponed if the renter was given notice to vacate the rented premises for:. A postponement of a warrant can be cancelled and the warrant issued without delay if the renter:. Call us on 55 81 81 if you believe you are being illegally evicted from your rental property.

This table lists the timeframes for when a rental provider can apply to VCAT for a possession order after giving the renter a notice to vacate. Timeframes vary depending on the reason why the notice was given. At any time after the notice to vacate is given, but not more than 30 days after the end date in the notice. After the end date specified in the notice to vacate, but not more than 30 days after that date. On or after the end date specified in the notice to vacate, but not more than 30 days after that date.

In some cases, the operator or owner of a rooming house, caravan park or caravan must wait until the end date on the notice to vacate before they can apply for a possession order.

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All too often you could end up starting all over again. In London, it can take 6 weeks before you get a court hearing date. At court, we always suggest that the landlord and sometimes the agent attends.

They are represented by one of our advocates but it helps to have the landlord there as he can verify any facts for the judge. Using mandatory grounds, as long as we can prove that the tenant has breached the tenancy, the court must grant our landlord possession. If there are rent arrears, we would also seek a money order from the court. If granted, possession is usually ordered for 14 days later.

The tenant may not have been at court and will be written to anyway. Whichever procedure you use, you take the case to court to get the possession order. The court writes to the tenant to order them to leave. Usually this is 14 days later, but may extend up to 42 days if eviction will cause the tenant exceptional hardship.

Very few tenants remain in the property after receiving a court order. The bailiff removes the tenant from the property. This process can be much quicker to evict the tenant. It is vital that leave is granted on the possession order. This is not legally possible, and some operators have been unlawfully evicting tenants without leave, meaning the landlord could be sued for damages by the tenant and the council. No landlord wants to take action against a tenant.

But delay can just mean losing more rent. It can take two weeks to six months to get a tenant out. A mistake on the notice can make the process even longer. The secret to success is to act quickly and accurately. The longer you wait to serve a notice on a tenant, the more rent you stand to lose.

And you end up losing sleep too. If your notice is fine, then you just pay the balance of the fee and we issue the claim. If there is a problem with your notice or paperwork, we will advise you what to do next. Our in-house Solicitors are there to get your property back as fast as they can.

And we protect landlords and agents from themselves. As experts, we know that in the rush to get things done, errors can happen. And those errors can can come back later to mess up your case — and the whole process has to start again.

Because then it has to go to court. Any little error can get a case thrown out. And you have to start all over again. Attempting Short-Cuts. In an effort to be quick, some internet services aimed at landlords are using short-cuts around the process.