Legal notices
Drafting an arrears or entry notice — finding the right form, the right wording, the right dates — takes 30-45 minutes and one mistake restarts the clock. Staged AI drafts cut it to minutes, and fewer invalid notices means arrears stop aging while paperwork gets redone. Indicative figures; every portfolio differs.
Every state has different statutory forms, different minimum notice periods, different legal phrases. PMFriend ships current per-state templates and chooses the right one automatically.
Where to find it: sidebar → Legal notices. Pick the tenancy; the state, form, and minimum notice period come pre-selected.
Two notice types live today
Rent arrears ladder
When a tenant falls behind on rent, the ladder follows the property's state. It covers when you may act, which form to use, and whether a notice to remedy comes first:
| State | First step | Then | Forms |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | at 14 days: termination notice (14 days) | the tenant can stop it by paying or keeping a repayment plan | no numbered form |
| VIC | at 14 days: notice to vacate (14 days) | paying by the date cancels it, except the fifth time | Form 6 |
| QLD | at 7 days: notice to remedy (7 days) | at 14 days: notice to leave (7 days) | Form 11, then Form 12 |
| WA | at 7 days: breach notice (14 days) | at 21 days: termination notice (7 days) | Form 21, then Form 1A |
| SA | at 14 days: termination notice with 7 days to pay | Form 5 | |
| TAS | at 7 days: notice to vacate (14 days to pay) | no numbered form | |
| ACT | at 7 days: notice to remedy (7 days) | at 14 days: notice to vacate (2 weeks) | no numbered form |
| NT | at 14 days: notice to remedy (more than 7 days) | then an application to NTCAT; the NT has no termination notice | no numbered form |
Before the first step you get a friendly reminder. PMFriend warns you where the law needs something it doesn't know. Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT have rules that depend on how many notices the tenancy has already had, and PMFriend does not keep that history. Western Australia and Tasmania set no arrears threshold, so the 7 days is PMFriend's practice.
Rent paid to. On a property's current lease you can record the date rent is paid up to, copied
from your PMS. PMFriend doesn't see payments; this is your figure. You can also bring it in with a
paid_to column in the leases import. From 7 days behind the lease appears on the Attention inbox,
and it turns urgent at 14. Draft arrears notice opens this page already filled in: state, days,
tenants, address, and an estimated amount you check against your PMS.
Entry notice
When you (or a contractor) need to enter a property:
Notice periods depend on your state, and PMFriend uses your property's state:
| Routine inspection | Repairs / maintenance | |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 7 days | 48 hours |
| VIC | 7 days | 24 hours |
| QLD | 7 days, with a 2-hour window | 48 hours, with a 2-hour window |
| WA | 7 to 14 days, AM or PM stated | 72 hours, AM or PM stated |
| SA | 7 to 28 days, with a 2-hour window | 48 hours, with a 2-hour window |
| TAS | 24 hours | 24 hours |
| ACT | 1 week | 1 week |
| NT | a time arranged with the tenant 7 days ahead | 24 hours (can be oral) |
Emergencies need no notice. For sale viewings, valuations and other visits PMFriend uses a conservative period (14, 7 and 7 days) and tells you it has not checked it for your state.
The notice gives the time in your property's own time zone, with the window or AM/PM your state asks for. Before you copy it, PMFriend warns you if the time is too close, outside your state's entry hours, or (in WA and SA) too far ahead for an inspection. It never blocks you: you may have the tenant's agreement.
Real-life examples
Arrears ladder
Alex Nguyen at 12 Merthyr Rd, New Farm QLD is 10 days behind; the paid-to date on the lease says so.
The Attention inbox shows Rent behind. Sarah clicks it and the arrears page opens filled in: Queensland, 10 days, Alex's name, the address, and an estimate of the amount, which she checks against the PMS.
PMFriend produces Form 11, Notice to remedy breach, giving Alex at least 7 days to pay, with formal phrasing and her sign-off.
Sarah reviews, makes one small edit, copies the subject + body into her email tool, sends. End-to-end: ~3 minutes.
Entry notice
Sarah needs to enter Mei Chen's property at 56 Oxford St NSW for a routine quarterly inspection in 8 days.
She goes to Notices → Entry notice, picks NSW + Routine Inspection
- the proposed datetime. Hits Draft notice.
PMFriend produces an entry notice under section 55 of the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (NSW), with the 8-day notice period (above the 7-day NSW minimum), proposed time, expected duration.
End-to-end: ~2 minutes.
How the AI helps
The AI does three jobs:
- Picks the right rung / minimum-notice-period based on the inputs
- Names the right statutory form for the state
- Writes warmer, more nuanced language than a static template would — adjusting tone for the relationship
If the AI is unavailable, PMFriend falls back to a deterministic template that produces the same form references with slightly less polished prose. The notice still goes out, the form reference is still correct.