u/Inside-Resident-5042

We bought our first home around 2 years ago, Since the previous owner was building a new house, we agreed to rent it back to him for a year. After that, the same real estate agency rented it again to new tenants(without our approval). Everything seemed okay at first, but the tenants stopped paying rent from January 2026 (they had only paid up to mid December 2025). At that time I was overseas and kept hoping they would catch up, but things only got worse. The agent eventually issued a termination notice and applied to NCAT when the arrears went above $7,000.

The first NCAT hearing came after around 5 weeks, but the member adjourned the case for another 5 weeks saying the tenants should be given another chance with a new termination notice. Then at the second hearing, a different member dismissed the application saying because a new termination notice was issued, a completely new NCAT application was required. We believe this was negligence from the agent, but they refuse to accept any responsibility. So another application had to be lodged, which again took around 5 more weeks for hearing. By then the rent arrears had gone above $17,000. Since NCAT has a limit of $15,000, after deducting the bond we could only get an order for around $14,800. The tenants never attended any hearing, still refuse to pay, and still refuse to vacate the property. We are now applying for Sheriff eviction next week, but today the tenant said they still haven’t found another property and cannot leave.

To make things harder, landlord insurance will only cover around $4,500 because of excesses, limits, and unpaid waiting periods. We are immigrants and came to Australia with large debts from college and migration costs. We now have a 2 year old boy and are currently living in a friend’s living room because we cannot afford both rent and mortgage together. This house was supposed to be our family home, and now we are even worried about security and possible damage before we can move in. Mentally this whole situation has been exhausting. Has anyone been through something similar in NSW? Any advice on sheriff eviction, protecting the property afterward, recovering money beyond NCAT limits, or whether it’s worth pursuing the agent for negligence?

I failed 2 startups as a founder.

When I look back now, I see I never clearly listed my assumptions. I was just thinking in my head and trusting it.

Now I’m trying to be more clear and structured.

For a new idea, I try to write down every assumption I have.

Not just basic ones, but going a bit deeper like:

• who exactly has this problem
• how often this problem happens
• how painful it really is
• how they are solving it today
• what they don’t like in current solution
• if they will trust a new solution
• if they are willing to pay, if yes how much ?

Sometimes I feel like I still don’t go deep enough.

Like, how far should we go?

Do you break assumptions into smaller parts? Do you rank them by risk? Do you test one by one?

Curious how others here do it.