Notices to vacate and eviction

You can only be asked to leave immediately if you or one of your visitors:

• Seriously damaged the property, either intentionally or recklessly, such as damaging safety equipment like smoke alarms (section 142ZB)
• Endangered other people in the rooming house or neighbouring properties, or the rooming house operator or someone working for them (section 142ZC). For more on what ‘endanger’ means, see our page about the Consumer Affairs Victoria guidelines. These are official guidelines that set out how renters and rental providers (like rooming house operators) must follow the rental laws
• Seriously disrupted the peace and quiet of the other residents (section 142ZE)

If you get an immediate notice to vacate, contact us for urgent advice. This page has information about getting help.

You can be given a minimum of 2 days notice to vacate if you:

• Owe 7 days or more in rent (section 142ZF)
• Used, or let others use, your home for illegal activity (section 142ZI)
• Failed to comply with a VCAT order about breaching your duties as a resident (section 142ZG)
• Breached your duty as a resident after receiving 2 previous breach notices for the same duty (section 142ZH)

You can be given a minimum of 14 days notice to vacate if you threatened or intimidated the rooming house operator or someone working for them (section 142ZD).

You can be given a minimum of 28 days notice to vacate if you have a fixed-term rooming house agreement and it is coming to an end. The date they want you to move out must be on or later than the end date of your agreement (section 142ZA).

You can be given a minimum of 60 days notice to vacate if the rooming house:

• Is going to be repaired, renovated or demolished and this cannot be done unless you move out, and there is no other room you can stay in (section 142ZK)
• Has been, or is being, sold (section 142ZJ)

The rooming house operator must attach documents as proof.

If you have a fixed-term rooming house agreement, the 60 days cannot fall before the end date in your agreement.

6-month restriction on re-renting

If you move out so the property can be repaired, renovated or demolished, and this doesn’t happen, the rooming house operator cannot rent rooms out again for 6 months unless they have permission from VCAT (section 142ZL). The 6 months starts from the time they give you the notice to vacate. There are penalties if they re-let rooms without permission within 6 months. You can make a formal complaint to Consumer Affairs Victoria.

If the rooming house operator believes you or your visitors are acting violently or putting someone in serious danger, they can give you a ‘notice to leave’ (section 368). They must use the official ‘notice to leave’ form to do this. A notice to leave is different from a notice to vacate.

If you get a notice to leave, you must leave the rooming house immediately and not return for 2 full business days. You cannot go back during this time to collect clothes or other personal belongings – you have to arrange for someone else to get them.

The rooming house operator must let VCAT know on the next business day if they give you a notice to leave. They may also make an urgent application to VCAT to end your residency. If they apply to VCAT, you cannot return until VCAT makes a decision. VCAT must hear the application within 2 business days.

Make sure you take your phone and charger, and call VCAT on 1300 018 228 during the suspension period to see if the rooming house operator has applied to end your residency.

If the rooming house operator does not apply to VCAT to end your residency, the suspension will lapse after 2 business days and you can return.

You cannot be given a notice to leave if:

• The serious violence or dangerous behaviour was family violence, and
• It came from a visitor who is a family member of yours

If you receive a notice to leave, you can challenge it. If the rooming house operator was unreasonable in giving you the notice, you may also be able to get compensation. Contact us for urgent advice. This page says how you can get help.

You can wait until the rooming house operator applies to VCAT for a possession order before you challenge the notice to vacate.

The possession order hearing cannot be held until after the date you were asked to leave has passed.

You don’t have to pay a fee to challenge the notice at this hearing.

The rooming house operator must prove to VCAT that the notice is legally valid. Before the hearing, they have to send you a copy of their application and anything else they want to use as evidence.

You should go to the hearing so you can have your say. Read more on this page about what happens at the hearing.

For certain notices to vacate, you can apply to VCAT to challenge the notice before there is a possession order hearing. This is often called a ‘pre-emptive challenge’.

If you want to make a pre-emptive challenge, there are time limits. These depend on the reason why you are challenging the notice to vacate.

Apply within 14 days of getting the notice to vacate

You must apply within 14 days of getting the notice to vacate if you are challenging it because you believe you received it:

• Due to direct discrimination, and the reason given in the notice to vacate is that your fixed-term rooming house agreement is ending
• Because you reported damage, asked for repairs or stood up for your rights as a resident, and the reason given in the notice to vacate is that your fixed-term rooming house agreement is ending
• Because you reported damage, asked for repairs or stood up for your rights as a resident, and the reason given in the notice to vacate is that you or one of your visitors threatened or intimidated someone working for the rooming house operator

Apply within 30 days of getting the notice to vacate

You must apply within 30 days of getting the notice to vacate if you are challenging it because the reason given in the notice to vacate:

• Was caused by someone being violent towards you. See more on this page about notices to vacate when there is family or personal violence
• Is that the rooming house is going to be repaired, renovated or demolished, and the termination date in the notice is earlier than the end of your fixed-term rooming house agreement
• Is that the rooming house has been, or is being, sold, and the termination date in the notice is earlier than the end of your fixed-term rooming house agreement

What happens with a pre-emptive challenge at VCAT

When you make a pre-emptive challenge, you have to prove at a VCAT hearing that the notice is not legally valid.

If VCAT agrees it is not valid, you won’t have to move out.

If VCAT decides it is valid, the rooming house operator must still apply for a possession order. You can go to the possession order hearing but you cannot raise the same arguments you used for the pre-emptive challenge at this hearing. You can, however, tell VCAT other reasons why you should stay.

There is usually a fee for applying for a pre-emptive challenge, but you may be exempt from paying it. Find out more on our website about applying to VCAT.

Challenging a notice to vacate pre-emptively is just an option – you don’t have to do it. If you prefer, you can wait until the rooming house operator applies for a possession order, then challenge the notice to vacate at the hearing.

If you want to know if you can make a pre-emptive challenge, you can contact Tenants Victoria or another organisation for advice. See the information on this page about where to get help.

If VCAT decides the notice to vacate is not valid, it will dismiss the rooming house operator’s application for a possession order. You won’t have to move out.

If VCAT decides the notice to vacate is valid, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will have to move out. The next important step is for VCAT to consider if it would be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ to make a possession order so you have to move out.

To do this, it considers the impact the eviction would have on:

• You
• Other residents
• The rooming house operator
• Neighbours or other people who may be, or were, affected by your actions

VCAT must also consider:

• Your behaviour and the rooming house operator’s behaviour
• The seriousness of the problem, how long it has been going on and whether it can be fixed
• Whether someone else was responsible, and if family or personal violence was involved
• How other residents have been affected
• Whether a different order could be made instead of you being evicted
• The hardship you may suffer if evicted, compared to the hardship others may suffer if you are not evicted
• Anything else VCAT thinks is relevant

At the hearing, you can have your say. This page has more about telling VCAT why you should stay.

If VCAT decides it would not be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ to make a possession order, it cannot make that order. It may dismiss the application or it may make another order instead. You won’t have to move out. See more on this page about other orders instead of possession orders.

If VCAT decides it is ‘reasonable and proportionate’ to make a possession order, it must make a possession order. This page has more on what happens if VCAT makes a possession order.

If VCAT decides the notice to vacate is legally valid, you should give any evidence you have to show that it would not be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ to make a possession order and evict you.

You can give this information to VCAT and the rooming house operator at the hearing. Or you can give it to them beforehand – this is a good idea if you have documents, like support letters or details about your financial situation, that you want them to look at before the hearing. VCAT has more information on preparing for the hearing.

If you are concerned about sharing personal information relating to issues like trauma or your mental or physical health, you can raise this with VCAT and ask that the information be restricted under the Open Courts Act 2013. This usually means that your personal information will be anonymous and not made public. It will be up to VCAT to decide if this is appropriate.

To show VCAT that a possession order is not ‘reasonable and proportionate’, you can provide evidence about:

The behaviour of the rooming house operator

Did their behaviour contribute to you getting a notice to vacate?

Did they do something unlawful, such as entering your room without notice (for a reason that required notice) or harassing you?

Were they being unreasonable in giving you a notice to vacate? Why?

Your behaviour

Why were you given the notice to vacate? Was it because of something you did?

Was it something trivial?

Have you fixed, or can you fix, the problem?

Has it happened before? Can you show that it is unlikely to happen again?

Was someone else responsible?

If you weren’t at fault, can you show that?

Were there any witnesses who could write a statement or give evidence at the hearing?

If it was for something serious or criminal, are there police reports?

Family or personal violence

Family violence is committed by a family member. Personal violence is committed by someone who is not a family member. Was the reason for the notice to vacate related to someone being violent towards you?

Do you have any evidence of this? Evidence could include:

• Letters or statements from support workers, friends and family
• Reports from support workers or medical professionals
• Photo and video evidence
• Emails and texts
• An intervention order or an application for one
• Police reports or charges

Could a different order be made instead?

Could VCAT make another order that would allow you to stay instead of making a possession order?

For example, could VCAT make a compliance order telling you to fix the problem and not repeat it?

Or order a payment plan to pay off overdue rent?

Hardships you may face if evicted

You should provide details of any hardships you may face if evicted. Try to get letters of support and other documents to help show that these hardships are likely to happen.

Hardships may include:

• Homelessness: If evicted, would you be at risk of homelessness? Have you tried to find other accommodation but been unsuccessful? Do you have evidence of this you could show VCAT?
• Financial hardship: Are you struggling to make ends meet? Can you afford to leave? Can you afford to find new accommodation? Are you working or is Centrelink your only income? Do you have evidence of your financial situation you could show VCAT?
• Connections to your home and local community: What connections might you lose if evicted? Do you have cultural links to your home or area? Are there local services you would no longer be able to use?
• Family connections and considerations: Do you have family connections in the area? If you have children, how would eviction affect them? For example, instability, insecurity, changing schools, or not being able to access support services
• Mental and physical health: Could being evicted affect your health? For example, is your current home easily accessible or modified to suit a disability? Would having to find a new home affect your mental health? Will you lose any current health supports, or find them more difficult to access?

Hardships the rooming house operator may face if you stay

Even if you think the rooming house operator is going to say it will cause them hardship if you don’t move out, you should still explain to VCAT that a possession order would not be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ because the impact on you would be greater, and detail how you would be affected.  VCAT may agree with you.

For example, in some previous cases relating to overdue rent, VCAT has ordered a payment plan instead of a possession order because the resident’s risk of homelessness was more severe than the rooming house operator’s risk of financial hardship.

If VCAT decides it would not be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ to make a possession order, it may make a different order instead. You won’t have to move out.

If VCAT makes a different order, you will be told on the day of the hearing about what happens next.

Payment plan instead of possession order

If your notice to vacate was for overdue rent, VCAT could put the application for a possession order on hold and make an order for a payment plan instead. This means you could pay the overdue rent back over a reasonable period of time.

Compliance order instead of possession order

In some cases, VCAT may make a compliance order instead of a possession order, giving you a chance to avoid eviction.

A compliance order requires you to follow your legal duties as a resident. If you don’t comply, you could receive another notice to vacate, return to VCAT, and risk eviction again.

For example, if you verbally abuse or threaten another resident and then receive a notice to vacate for causing danger to others, VCAT may decide that, although you were causing danger, it would not be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ to make a possession order. Instead, VCAT may make a compliance order that requires you to not cause a nuisance or verbally abuse or threaten other residents. For more on what ‘reasonable and proportionate’ means, see the section on this page about what happens if VCAT decides the notice to vacate is legally valid.

Once the rooming house operator has obtained the warrant of possession, it is usually valid for 14 days. This is the time when the police can evict you. But they cannot do it overnight between 6 pm and 8 am or on a Sunday or public holiday.

If the rooming house operator gets a warrant of possession, the police will come to your home or call to let you know. They then usually give you a couple of days to leave before they return and change the locks.

If you have to move out immediately

Some possession orders say you have to move out on the same day as the VCAT decision. This means the rooming house operator can get a warrant of possession immediately and give it to the police. From this time on, there is a risk of the police coming to your home to evict you.

If you think you are going to be evicted immediately, try to arrange for somewhere safe to stay.

If you have nowhere to go, there are housing services that may be able to help. Contact the Victorian Government’s crisis accommodation services or call the 24-hour number: 1800 825 955.

If you don’t have time to move all your possessions out, take photos as proof of ownership in case anything is unlawfully disposed of or stolen. Find out more on our page about goods left behind.

At the possession order hearing, you can ask VCAT for extra time to move out. The maximum amount of extra time VCAT can give is 30 days.

VCAT can do this by:

• Delaying the issue of a warrant of possession to the rooming house operator by 30 days
• Setting your vacate date 30 days from the date of the possession order

Before giving you extra time, VCAT will consider:

• The hardship you would suffer if you did not get extra time
• The hardship the rooming house operator would suffer if you did get extra time

You should take any evidence of your hardship to the possession order hearing, such as proof that you have applied for other rental properties, medical certificates and letters from support workers.

If VCAT makes a possession order and you weren’t at the hearing, you can apply to VCAT to reopen the order. This is sometimes called a review.

Reopening an order gives you the opportunity to present your case and have the previous order cancelled.

You need to apply to reopen the order within 14 days of finding out about the order.

You also need to apply before the police evict you. Once you have been legally evicted, VCAT has no power to order that you be allowed to move back into the property.

If possible, go to VCAT in person and apply for an urgent review. If you cannot get to VCAT, use the form on VCAT’s website to apply: Application to reopen an order. If you need assistance with the form, call VCAT on 1300 018 228. Also see the information on this page about getting help.

When you apply to reopen the order, ask VCAT to get the police to put a stop on the warrant of possession (if the rooming house operator has one). You should also call the local police station to confirm that you have lodged the application to reopen the order with VCAT.

You should then:

• Put a copy of VCAT’s written confirmation of the review hearing on your door
• Give a copy to the rooming house operator
• Keep copies for yourself

At the review hearing you will need to convince VCAT that you had a good reason for not going to the original hearing, and that you have a reasonable case to argue if they reopen the order.

If VCAT accepts your explanation, it will set aside its earlier decision and re-hear the application for a possession order. Be ready to tell your side of the story on the same day.

There is no fee for applying for a review hearing.

A restraining order is an order from VCAT that tells someone they must do something, or stop doing something.

If the rooming house operator threatens to illegally evict you, you can apply to VCAT for a restraining order to stop them doing this. Apply in person or call 1300 018 228 and ask for an urgent hearing.

Find out more on our page about restraining orders.

If you are illegally evicted, you can also lodge a complaint with Consumer Affairs Victoria. There are harsh penalties for individuals and companies convicted of carrying out an illegal eviction.

You can also seek compensation for any inconvenience, costs, loss or damage to your goods caused by the rooming house operator’s unlawful actions. Find out more on our website about claiming compensation.

If you need support in dealing with a notice to vacate or eviction, help is available.

These extra resources may assist if you are dealing with a notice to vacate or eviction.

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is Victoria’s main law for renting. It describes the rights and duties of renters and rental providers (such as rooming house operators) in numbered sections.

The sections in this list relate to notices to vacate and eviction in rooming houses. Click on a link to see the section in the Act.

• Section 142R – Offences relating to interference with rights
• Section 142ZA – End of fixed term rooming house agreement
• Section 142ZB – Damage
• Section 142ZC – Danger
• Section 142ZD – Threats and intimidation
• Section 142ZE – Disruption
• Section 142ZF – Non-payment of rent
• Section 142ZG – Failure to comply with a VCAT order
• Section 142ZH – Successive breaches by resident
• Section 142ZI – Use of room for illegal purpose
• Section 142ZJ – Sale of rooming house
• Section 142ZK – Repairs or demolition
• Section 142ZL – Prohibition on renting after notice
• Section 142ZM – Notice to have no effect in certain circumstances
• Section 142ZT – Form of notice to vacate
• Section 142ZX – Resident may apply to VCAT
• Section 142ZZ – Resident may challenge a notice to vacate on grounds of family violence or personal violence
• Section 142ZZA – What can VCAT order? – family and person violence
• Section 322 – Application for possession order by rental provider
• Section 329 – Hearing of an application for a possession order
• Section 330 – VCAT order for a Possession Order
• Sections 330A – What is reasonable and proportionate
• Section 331 – Application for possession may be dismissed or adjourned
• Section 332A – VCAT may dismiss possession order application and make a compliance order in certain circumstances
• Section 333 – Contents of possession order
• Section 351 – Issue of warrant of possession
• Section 352 – Postponement of the warrant of possession
• Section 368 – Notice to leave – serious acts of violence
• Section 369 – Notice to leave – offence to stay on premises
• Section 371 – Notice to leave – how long does a suspension last?
• Section 372 – Notice to leave – offence to re-enter premises during suspension
• Section 372A – Notice to leave – resident can arrange for collection of personal items
• Section 374 – Notice to leave – urgent applications to VCAT
• Section 377A – Notice to leave can’t be given if notice to vacate also given
• Section 506 – Service of documents

The Residential Tenancies Regulations 2021 provide more detail and definitions, and specify updates to the Residential Tenancies Act.

The Residential Tenancies (Rooming House Standards) Regulations 2023 set out the privacy, safety, security and amenity standards in rooming houses.

These other Acts and regulations also apply to notices to vacate and eviction:

• Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1998: Section 120 – Re-opening an order on substantive grounds
• Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Rules 2018: Regulation 4.24 – Reopening an order