Can my landlord/agent evict me?

The landlord or agent can serve a notice to vacate however,only the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT) can order an eviction, and only the police can carry out the eviction.

An important protection given by the RTA is the prohibition in section 37 against a landlord attempting to recover possession in any other manner than that provided by the Act.

All tenancies in the ACT are regulated by the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (RTA).

The terms of your tenancy agreement are set out in the RTA and Standard Lease, and are known as the Standard Tenancy Terms (STT). The landlord, or their agent, may only terminate a tenancy agreement in accordance with Part 4 of the RTA, and the STT.

The general effect of the legislation is to ensure that a tenant can only be evicted in the ACT if:

• They have breached the terms of their tenancy agreement; or
• The landlord has other lawful grounds for termination or reason for needing to recover the premises.

A landlord cannot terminate the tenancy just because the agreed fixed term has expired. When a fixed term expires it does not end the tenancy—it just means that the tenancy no longer has a set term, this is called a periodic tenancy.

For details about the eviction process go to our factsheet - Eviction in the ACT

You can also see - Can the landlord or agent change the locks or call the police and have me evicted?