He also owns properties in Queensland, which he rents out. As a landlord, he understands the value of the ‘no grounds eviction’ clause in the rental agreements. As a renter, he recognises it is problematic.

The clause allows for a property owner to evict their tenants within 90 days, without providing a reason. It is an area of the law that advocates have long been trying to do away with.

“If a tenant is paying the bills on time and you’re a good tenant, then evicting without a reason is probably a bit rough,” Mr Day said.

“It’s not so much a question of the time period, 90 days is three months and in a place like Wagga where it isn’t too hard to find another property then that’s a decent amount of time.

“But it’s the inconvenience of having to move at all, especially for a family.”

That is a sentiment shared with Leo Patterson Ross, senior policy adviser at Tenants Union NSW. He believes if landlords are not required to give a reason for eviction, in some circumstances renters may be mistreated.

“We hear reports that people have asked for repairs to be made, and they’ve been ignored at first and then they keep asking, and suddenly they get an eviction notice,” Mr Ross said.

“If landlords have this trump card to evict people without a reason, it actually keeps their tenants quiet and not asserting their rights because they’re afraid if they become a hassle, they’ll be evicted.”

“The 90 days is not the problem, it’s the reason for eviction that we’re looking to challenge,” he said.

“If you consider it as any other consumer contract, it’d be strange. Say if your phone provider decided after a year you wouldn’t be allowed to use their services any more, and they didn’t give a reason.”

In Mr Day’s opinion, the landlord has an obligation to their tenants to at least give a reason for eviction.

“I see it giving landlords more power if they want to get rid of their renters for damaging the property, but at the end of the day, a contract’s a contract and you have to uphold that.

“It’s in the landlord’s best interest to keep long-term renters anyway, and the way I see it is the only reason you might want to terminate that is if you’re looking to sell the property entirely but then I would always have a discussion with the renters long before it comes to that.”

Vickie van Heuzen is the business development manager at PRDNationwide Wagga. She sees the 90-day no fault eviction process as a good compromise for both landlord and tenant.

“It used to be that the renter had to hand back the keys after the 90 days had finished, so they’d keep paying for it up until then even if they’d found another place to move into,” Ms van Heuzen said.

“That’s not the case anymore, the tenant can hand back the keys at any time in that 90 days, and stop paying then.”

According to PRD’s records, most renters in Wagga manage to secure another property within just 30 days. 

“It’s quite a favourable situation, [but] if anything, it’s a little harder on the owner,” Ms van Heuzen said.

“If [the owner is] wanting to do renovations on the property they don’t really know when in that 90 days their tenants will be gone so it is hard to book a firm date to begin work on the place.”

“The challenge is always there for the renter because they don’t know when they’re going to get an eviction but our advice is to negotiate a fixed lease,” she said.

“The owner can’t take possession of the home during the time determined in the fixed lease.”

For Mr Ross and the Tenants Union, the bigger issue sits beyond the availability of rentals, and more into the perception of renters.

“People rent in different ways, and for the short-term renters it’s fine for it just to be a house that sits somewhere in their transition to home ownership,” Mr Ross said.

“But what we’re seeing is that people are staying in rental situations for much longer, and they’re actually becoming the family home,” he said.

In those situations, Mr Ross says, the most important thing is stability for the children.

“They want a stable, safe environment for their children, and they can’t get that if they’re being evicted all the time, or if they’re worried they’ll be evicted at any moment,” Mr Ross said.

“If a family is evicted, and for whatever reason, they end up moving farther away, that can affect which schools the kids are going to.”

“I think the important thing is we move away from seeing renters as young people living in share houses where they can up and leave at any time. Wherever you’re living, that’s home while you’re there.”