South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts80—Notice of termination by landlord on ground of breach of agreement
(1) If the tenant
breaches a residential tenancy agreement, the landlord may give the tenant a
written notice in the form required by regulation—
(a)
specifying the breach; and
(b)
informing the tenant that if the breach is not remedied within a specified
period (which must be a period of at least seven days) from the date the
notice is given then—
(i)
the tenancy is terminated by force of the notice; and
(ii)
the tenant must give up possession of the premises on or
before a day specified in the notice (which, subject to
subsection (2)(c), must be at least seven days after the end of the
period allowed for the tenant to remedy the breach).
(2) If notice is given
under this section on the ground of a failure to pay rent—
(a) the
notice is ineffectual unless the rent (or any part of the rent) has remained
unpaid in breach of the agreement for not less than 14 days before the notice
was given; and
(b) the
notice is not rendered ineffectual by failure by the landlord to make a prior
formal demand for payment of the rent; and
(c) the
day specified in the notice for the tenant to give up possession of the
premises if the rent is not paid in accordance with the terms of the notice
can be any day after the day on which the tenancy is terminated under the
notice 1 ; and
(d) if
the tenant gives up possession of the premises—
(i)
the landlord is entitled to compensation for any loss
(including loss of rent) caused by the termination of the tenancy (but the
landlord must take reasonable steps to mitigate any loss and is not entitled
to compensation for loss that could have been avoided by those steps); and
(ii)
the Tribunal may, on application by the landlord, order
the tenant to pay to the landlord compensation to which the landlord is
entitled under this paragraph.
(2a) For the purposes
of subsection (2)(d), the regulations may make provision in relation to
the matters to which regard must be had in determining whether a landlord has
taken reasonable steps to mitigate any loss.
(3) If notice is given
under this section in respect of a residential tenancy agreement that creates
a tenancy for a fixed term, the notice is not ineffectual because the day
specified as the day on which the tenant is to give up possession of the
premises is earlier than the last day of that term.
(4) The tenant may at
any time after receiving a notice under this section and before giving vacant
possession to the landlord, apply to the Tribunal for an order—
(a)
declaring that the tenant is not in breach of the residential tenancy
agreement, or has remedied the breach of the agreement, and that the tenancy
is not liable to be terminated under this section; or
(b)
reinstating the tenancy.
(5) If the Tribunal is
satisfied that a tenancy has been validly terminated under this section, but
that it is just and equitable to reinstate the tenancy (or would be just and
equitable to reinstate the tenancy if the conditions of the order were
complied with), the Tribunal may make an order reinstating the tenancy.
(6) An order
reinstating the tenancy under this section may be made on conditions that the
Tribunal considers appropriate.
(7) On an application
for an order reinstating the tenancy, the Tribunal may make alternative orders
providing for reinstatement of the tenancy if specified conditions are
complied with but, if not, ordering the tenant to give up possession of the
premises to the landlord.
Note—
1 Ie the requirement to give the tenant at least
seven days to give up possession of the premises if the tenant remains in
default does not apply.