u/SpecialRisk5544

Final Update: it's all sorted amicably. Thanks heaps for all the advice. Posted update in the comment.

I just need to vent because I'm feeling incredibly frustrated with our pm.

Me and my wife moved to Briabane couple of years ago. Back in March, we were issued a Notice to Leave because the owners want to do major renovations. Our lease officially ends on June 15th.

Because the market is so competitive, we started looking early. We emailed the PM back then to ask if there was any flexibility to vacate earlier if we secured a property, as we wanted to avoid an overlap in rent. She explicitly replied in writing: "If its just a few days to a week there should no penalties."

Based on that confirmation, we put in applications, got approved for a property, and signed our new lease today. We emailed her to bring our vacate date forward to June 5th (which is just 10 days early) and sent a signed Form 13 as per her request.

She just replied to our email trying to charge us a break lease fee of 1 week's rent, using the RTA reletting calculator. WTH??

They are kicking us out to renovate, so they aren't even re-advertising or re-letting the property. Plus, we only signed our new lease because she told us there would be no penalties.

I have already sent a firm reply back pointing out her previous email and the renovations, but I am just so stressed that they are trying to twist this into a standard break lease.

Being new to Australia and still trying to settle in, this is casuing me anxiety. The rent would be 420$ and I don't want to pay that for no fault of mine. Would the email be sufficient? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

Update: Got the below response for my email. Not sure what to respond.

I understand your question, however let me explain.

The 1 x weeks rent is not for re-letting costs, it's compensation to the owner for loss of rent.

You were given a Notice to Leave for the end of a fixed term tenancy. Owners are asking you to leave when you're lease is expired. So at the end of any lease, an owners has full right to ask a tenant to vacate, no matter what the reason. In my email on 11th May, "it read, "If it's just a few days to a week there should no penalties, it will depend on how long before you want to leave." You are vacating 11 days before the end of your lease.

This is not my decision, the owner has full right to ask for compensation for loss. I'm sorry this is not what you want to hear but I am simply following the instructions from the owner, which are completely within the legislation