Tasmania Rent Arrears Notice to Vacate: The 14-Day Rule and Three-Strike Threshold

A tenant behind on rent is the most common reason Tasmania landlords reach for a Notice to Vacate. The process looks simple — 14 days' notice — but the tenant's statutory right to cure the arrears, and the three-strike rule that overrides it, trip up landlords who do not understand how the two interact.

The 14-Day Notice for Rent Arrears

Under Section 42(1)(b) of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997, a landlord can serve a Notice to Vacate when the tenant is in rent arrears. The minimum notice period is 14 days.

The notice must state the exact dollar amount of arrears owed as at the date the notice takes effect. Not an approximate figure — the exact amount. A notice that says "several weeks of rent" instead of "$1,480.00" is defective.

The Tenant's Right to Cure

Here is where the 14-day notice differs from longer-period grounds. The tenant has the full 14-day notice period to pay the outstanding rent in full. If they pay every dollar before the notice expires, the notice becomes void by operation of law. You cannot proceed to the Magistrates Court on a cured notice.

This catches many landlords off guard. They serve a notice expecting the tenant to leave, and then the tenant pays on day 13. The notice evaporates.

The same right to cure applies to non-rent lease breaches — if the tenant remedies the breach (fixing the damage, ceasing the prohibited activity) before the 14-day period expires, the notice is void.

The Three-Strike Rule

The cure right has a limit. Section 42 establishes a rolling 12-month recurrence threshold:

1. First notice — tenant pays within 14 days → notice void
2. Second notice (within the same 12-month period) — tenant pays within 14 days → notice void
3. Third notice (still within that 12 months) — even if the tenant pays every dollar, the notice remains valid

On the third strike, the landlord can proceed to the Magistrates Court for an Order for Vacant Possession regardless of whether the tenant has paid.

This rule exists to prevent tenants from repeatedly falling into arrears and curing at the last minute indefinitely. If you are dealing with a persistently late-paying tenant, track every notice you serve and the date it was served. The 12-month period is rolling, not tied to a calendar year. Check whether the two earlier rent-arrears notices fall within the same rolling 12-month period as the third notice.

Breach of Lease (Non-Rent)

The same 14-day notice and cure mechanism applies to non-rent breaches. If a tenant is breaching a lease term (e.g., unauthorised occupant, property damage, prohibited use of the premises), you serve a 14-day notice specifying the breach. The tenant has 14 days to fix it. The three-strike recurrence exception applies to rent-arrears notices, not non-rent breaches.

Substantial Nuisance

Substantial nuisance under Section 42(1)(c) also carries a 14-day notice period, but there is a practical difference: nuisance is harder to "cure" than paying a debt. The Magistrates Court will assess whether the nuisance was genuine and substantial, not merely annoying.

After the Notice Period

If the tenant does not pay (or this is a third-strike notice and payment does not void it), and the tenant has not vacated by the date of effect, you have 28 days to file an application for an Order for Vacant Possession in the Magistrates Court. The filing fee is $78.40.

Bring your rent ledger showing the arrears, copies of all three notices if relying on the three-strike rule, and your proof of service for each notice.

For the full arrears-to-court workflow — including a rent arrears tracker and the three-strike timeline — the Ending a Tenancy in Tasmania guide covers each step with worked examples.

See more Tasmania guides →