Reply To: Ending a Fixed Term lease and signing a new lease

Hi Kaindub,

Thanks for the reply. Note in this case I am the landlord and to clarify, I am in NSW.

The tenant is unsure if he wants to stay.

In several emails he indicated that:

(a) He wants to give notice to vacate (but so far has not done so);

(b) He wants a new lease, but only at 50% of the current rent; and

(c) Any new lease includes my undertaking to “accept” that in the event that he falls behind in rent at any time for any length, that I will not at any time seek that he pays any arrears. Note he does not seek rent deferral for the month(s) he claims to be unable to pay the rent, instead he seeks forgiveness for the months (in the future) that he will claim he was unable to pay.

Given I do not want the occupancy to fall into a periodic arrangement, I believe I must send him the Termination Notice to formally end the occupation.

But I don’t want to scare the guy into thinking that I am not open to negotiations. Hence my initial query: does sending the Termination Notice and at the same time (or close to that time) emailing him to make clear my willingness to negotiate, nullify the Termination Notice’s objective for him to yield up the premises at the end of the fixed term?