Under the Residential Tenancies Act 1995 (SA) a rooming house agreement can be ended by a proprietor or resident in a number of different ways.

Specific forms must be used when giving written notice to terminate a rooming house agreement. These forms may be viewed and downloaded from the SA Government - Forms and Fact sheets for Rooming House Tenancies website.

Termination for abandonment, unpaid rent, damage or breach

A rooming house agreement can terminate when:

* A resident will be taken to have abandoned a room if [s 105U(2)]:

In circumstances where a resident has abandoned a room, the proprietor may seek orders from SACAT relating to the date on which the room was abandoned, and any compensation payable as a result of the abandonment [s 105V].

Termination for prescribed reason

A proprietor may only terminate a periodic agreement for a reason prescribed by regulations [s 105U(6) and Residential Tenancies Regulations 2010 (SA) reg 19I]. At least 60 days notice must be given.

Regulation 19I sets out the following reasons:

In the case of a periodic agreement, a resident may terminate for no reason with one day of notice [s 105U(7)].

If a resident abandons a room in a fixed term rooming house agreement of 6 months or more, they may be liable for costs caused by the abandonment. The proprietor must take reasonable steps to mitigate any loss [see s 105V(3)-(4)].

Termination based on abuse of a rooming house resident

Where an intervention order is in force against a resident for the protection of another resident or domestic abuse has been committed by a resident against another resident, the resident subjected to the abuse may apply to SACATfor an order to either terminate or replace the existing rooming house agreement [s 105UA(1) and (3)]. SACAT must be satisfied that the intervention order is for the protection of the applicant or a domestic associate of the applicant who normally resides in the rooming house, or domestic abuse has been committed against the applicant or their domestic associate who normally resides in the rooming house. The resident against whom the intervention order is in force or who has committed domestic abuse may be required to pay compensation to the proprietor for the termination of the agreement or damage to property [s 105UA(8)-(10)].

Property abandoned by the resident after vacating

Specific rules govern what a proprietor can do with property left behind by a resident who has vacated the rooming house [s 105W and reg 19J].

The proprietor may dispose of or destroy perishable goods at any time after taking back possession of the room [s 105W(1)(a)].

Other property (other than personal documents) must be kept safe for at least 7 days and the proprietor must make reasonable attempts to notify the former resident that they have left property behind [s 105W(1)(b)]. After at least 7 days have passed, the proprietor may dispose of or destroy the items.

Personal documents must be kept safe for at least 7 days, and the proprietor must make reasonable attempts to notify the former resident that personal documents have been left behind at the premises [s 105W(2)]. If the former resident does not reclaim the documents within the 7 day (or more) period, the proprietor can dispose of or destroy the documents after that time.

If the proprietor has incurred reasonable costs in storing the property, they may require the former resident to reimburse them of those costs [s 105W(3)].