A contract holder is in rent arrears if they have not paid their rent on time. The Act sets out specific rules based on a contract holder’s rental period (ie how often they pay rent) for determining when an arrears is considered ‘serious’ for the purposes of eviction.
A contract holder is considered in serious rent arrears:
if rent is paid weekly, fortnightly, or four-weekly - when at least 8 weeks’ rent is unpaid
if rent is paid monthly - when at least 2 months’ rent is unpaid
if rent is paid quarterly - when at least one quarter’s rent is more than 3 months in arrears
if rent is paid annually - when at least 25% of the rent is more than 3 months in arrears