Overdue rent

Financial counsellors provide independent and non-judgemental information, advice, advocacy and support to people experiencing or at risk of financial difficulty. Government and other agencies also offer rent assistance and other financial programs that may help you.

If you need assistance with other matters that may be affecting your ability to pay rent, such as family or personal violence or gambling, there are services that can help.

To learn more, visit our page on financial hardship.

If you are on a low income or a pension, it may be easier to pay your rent on time by paying fortnightly instalments when you receive your income. While your lease (officially called a rental agreement) may require a monthly rent payment, you can ask, in writing, whether your landlord or agent will agree to a fortnightly payment.

It is important to remember that if your lease requires you to pay monthly, this is by calendar month, which is usually 2 or 3 days more than 2 fortnights (28 days). To avoid falling into rent arrears (getting behind in your rent), you need to pay enough rent to cover the extra days each month.

If you receive a pension or benefit from Centrelink, your rent can be deducted from it and paid directly to the landlord (officially called the rental provider) using Centrepay, which is a payment system administered by Centrelink (Services Australia). If you pay your rent via Centrepay, you must cancel the payments when you move out.

Visit the Services Australia website for more information on Centrepay.

Rent receipts should tell you what date the rent is paid up to. Ask for a rent receipt whenever you pay your rent. If you are not sure when your rent is paid up to, contact the landlord (officially called the rental provider) or agent and ask for a copy of your rent payment record, which is often called a rent ledger.

Utility providers – such as for electricity, water and gas – are required to provide reasonable payment plans if you are struggling to pay your bills. Being on a payment plan may make it easier to pay your rent.

If you are on a payment plan with a utility provider, don’t switch providers until the debt is fully paid. If you change providers before fully paying the debt, you may have to pay it immediately.

If you receive Centrelink benefits, you may also be eligible for the Victorian Government’s Utility relief grant scheme.

The official notice to vacate form must be delivered to you:

• In person
• Electronically (such as email), but only if you have agreed to receive notices this way, or
• By registered post

It cannot be sent by ordinary (regular) post or left in your letterbox or under your door or handed to someone else.

To learn more, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.

The notice to vacate must:

• Be in the correct form, which is Consumer Affairs Victoria’s: Notice to vacate to renter/s of rented premises [Word]
• Be addressed to you
• Be signed and dated by your landlord (officially called the rental provider)
• Clearly say why you are being asked to leave, and the reason must be legally valid. In this case, the reason is that you have 14 days or more of unpaid rent
• Say the date they want you to leave by (the termination date). This cannot be less than 14 days from the date of the notice to vacate
• List the amount of rent that is owing
• Have any necessary supporting documents attached. See the Consumer Affairs Victoria website for information on what evidence must be provided with a notice to vacate

To learn more, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.

If you believe that you have received a notice to vacate for unpaid rent due to a recent rent increase, you should check whether the rent increase is legally valid. This includes whether your landlord (officially called the rental provider) or their agent told you about the rent increases in the right way (in writing and using the correct form) and that they were allowed to make the increase. See our page on rent increases to learn more.

If you believe that an invalid rent increase is why you have received a notice to vacate for unpaid rent, you should request that VCAT adjourn (delay) any hearing about your notice to vacate until you have had a chance to challenge your rent increase. See our page on rent increases to learn more.

If the rent increase is found to be legally invalid and, as a result, the amount of unpaid rent listed in the notice to vacate is significantly incorrect, VCAT may decide that the notice to vacate is invalid and dismiss the landlord’s application to evict you.

If you are unsure about whether your rent increase is legally valid, Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how to get help.

Even if the notice to vacate is legally valid, if you have paid all overdue rent before the termination date on the notice to vacate, VCAT must dismiss the landlord’s application to evict you.

However, if VCAT sets a hearing date, it is still very important that you attend. You should bring evidence with you that you have paid back all overdue rent before the termination date on the notice to vacate. For advice, including information about gathering evidence, see VCAT’s webpage about preparing for a hearing. See also the information on this page about bringing evidence to VCAT.

Note: This is not the process if this is your fifth notice to vacate for overdue rent in the relevant 12-month period. See the information on this page about what happens if this is your fifth notice to vacate.

If this is your fifth notice to vacate for overdue rent in the relevant 12-month period and you have not moved out by the date listed on the notice to vacate, the law is slightly different. The first 12-month period starts on the first day of your lease (officially called the rental agreement).

If you do not move out before the termination date on the notice to vacate, the landlord can apply to VCAT for a possession order (the next stage of eviction) once the termination date on the notice to vacate has passed. To learn more, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.

VCAT is not obliged to put you on a payment plan or refer you to a financial counsellor, even if you have paid back the overdue rent and are currently up to date with your rent payments. Instead, VCAT will decide whether it is reasonable and proportionate to evict you. See the information on this page about how VCAT decides what is reasonable and proportionate.

It is very important to attend the VCAT hearing where this is decided. If you need legal advice, Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how to get help.

If the notice to vacate is legally valid, and you cannot or have not paid the overdue rent before the termination date on the notice to vacate, then the landlord (officially called the rental provider) can apply to VCAT for a possession order (the next stage of eviction).

The landlord cannot apply to VCAT for a possession order until after the termination date on the notice to vacate. To learn more, see our page on notices to vacate and eviction.

At a possession order hearing, you can ask VCAT for a payment plan. If VCAT thinks you could pay off the overdue rent over time, while not getting behind in your current rent, it can adjourn (delay or put on hold) the possession order application and make an order for a payment plan.

Many renters are successful in this application if they have a plan to pay back the overdue rent over a reasonable period of time. If VCAT is not sure of your financial ability to follow a payment plan, it can put the application on hold and refer you to a financial counsellor who can help assess your financial situation. If VCAT refers you to a financial counsellor, it may ask the counsellor to write a report after their assessment. This can help VCAT decide if it should make an order for a payment instead of a possession order.

Note: Different rules apply if this is your fifth notice to vacate in the relevant 12-month period. See the information on this page about what happens if this is your fifth notice to vacate for unpaid rent.

If you need legal advice, Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how to get help.

Bring evidence to VCAT

Usually there is a reason people fall behind in their rent. Make sure you take as much evidence as you can to the VCAT possession order hearing to show how you got behind, such as unexpected car repair expenses or any hardship you are experiencing, and how you can pay off the overdue rent over time while also continuing to pay your usual rent. This shows VCAT that there will be no loss to the landlord if you stay at the property and that it does not need to make a possession order.

Evidence should include details about your income and expenditure. Gather any documents that support this, such as pay slips, Centrelink payment statements, proof of rental payments and bank statements. You can also ask anyone who can support your case to give evidence at the hearing or provide a statutory declaration if they are unable to attend.

If VCAT decides to make an order for a payment plan, it will put the application for a possession order on hold, usually for 3 to 6 months.

The payment plan order will set out how much you need to pay towards the overdue rent over time to get the rent up to date. You will also need to stay up-to-date with your current rent obligations.

If you follow the payment plan by paying back your overdue rent and staying up-to-date with your current rent, as required by the VCAT order, VCAT must dismiss the landlord’s application to evict you. If this happens, your lease (officially called the rental agreement) will continue as normal, and you can stay in your home. However, for this to happen, you cannot develop additional overdue rent during the payment plan period or any time from the date of the landlord’s original application to the date of the next hearing at the end of the payment plan.

If you do not follow the VCAT order for a payment plan – for example, you do not make an ordered payment, or you end up with more overdue rent while the order is in place – the landlord can renew their application for a possession order.

If this happens, VCAT will send you a ‘notice of hearing’ telling you when the next hearing will be. You must go to this hearing to tell VCAT why you did not, or could not, follow the payment plan order or why you ended up with more overdue rent. If you do not attend, there is a chance VCAT will make the possession order, and you will be evicted.

If your financial situation has become worse, you can ask VCAT to make an order for a different payment plan that you can follow more easily.

As at the first hearing, if VCAT decides that you can afford to pay the overdue rent and not get further behind with your current rent, it may change your payment plan or order a new one with different payments and time periods.

If VCAT decides you cannot afford to pay the overdue rent and your current rent without getting further behind in your rent, it will decide if it is reasonable and proportionate to make a possession order that the landlord can use to evict you. See the information on this page about what is reasonable and proportionate.

If VCAT decides not to put you on a payment plan or refer you to financial counselling, before it can make a possession order it must consider a range of factors and decide whether it is reasonable and proportionate for the landlord (officially called the rental provider) to evict you.

See the information on this page about how VCAT decides what is reasonable and proportionate.

The factors that VCAT will consider in deciding whether it is reasonable and proportionate to make a possession order (for eviction) include:

• The hardship you and your household may suffer if it makes a possession order
• The hardship other parties, such as the landlord, may suffer if it does not make a possession order
• The nature, frequency and duration of overdue rent that led to the notice to vacate
• Whether the total amount of overdue rent is small
• Any family violence or personal violence intervention orders or related matters
• Whether you or someone else who is not a renter caused the failure to pay rent
• Whether you have paid back the unpaid rent or are close to paying it back, or you have made attempts to pay it back
• Whether it can make any other orders, instead of ending your lease (officially called the rental agreement)
• The behaviour of the landlord
• Anything else it thinks is relevant

If VCAT decides to allow the eviction, and makes a possession order, it may allow you more time to move out.

It is important that you know your rights during the eviction process. These rights include that only the police can carry out an eviction, not the landlord personally. See our page on notices to vacate and eviction.

If you need legal advice, Tenants Victoria and other organisations can help. See the information on this page about how to get help.

If you need support to deal with overdue rent or a notice to vacate for unpaid rent, help is available.

There are resources to assist you with understanding more about overdue rent.

The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is Victoria’s main law for renting. It describes the rights and duties of renters and landlords in numbered sections.

The sections in this list relate to overdue rent (rent arrears) in private rentals. Click on a link to see more about the section.

• Section 42 – Where and how is rent to be paid?
• Section 91ZM – Notice to vacate for non-payment of rent
• Section 91ZN – Termination after death of a sole renter
• Section 213 – Compensation for unpaid rent
• 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 352 – Postponement of the warrant of possession
• Section 353 – Immediate issue of warrant if failure to comply during postponement
• Section 452 – General applications to the Tribunal
• Section 506 – Service of documents

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