HOUSING, whether renting or paying a mortgage, is a consumers biggest weekly expense.
Reforms to rental laws came into effect this month.
People have told of their experiences as renters, saying it’s a ‘system skewed against them’.
“I want people to know what it’s like as someone who rents their home in Queensland today,” one woman said.
“As much as I’d love it to be loud and proud, I can’t have my name in the article because it could damage my chances of renewing my lease, I can’t risk it.”
CHANGES TO ACT
THE Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 has been amended to give people experiencing domestic and family violence options when leaving a tenancy.
When a tenant leaves under these circumstances the property owner or manager is not allowed to let the other tenants or residents on the lease know this until at least a minimum of seven days have passed.
They’re also not allowed to ask for forwarding addresses.
Realtors are not allow to ask the victim to pay for damages to the premises that occurred as the result of domestic and family violence.
Pursuing them for rent incurred by the offending party is also now unlawful.
NEW RENTAL LAWS
RENT bidding or accepting rent offers higher than the advertised price is now banned under new laws that came into effect June 6.
The property manager or owner of a dwelling cannot, at the start of a new tenancy, solicit, accept or invite a tenant to pay more than two weeks rent in advance.
Even if a prospective tenant offers to pay more, the property owner or agency cannot accept it.
Rent can only go up every 12 months and the increases are attached to the property, not the tenant.
This means if a tenant vacates the property before the 12 month term, rent must remain the same for the remainder of the12 month period.
Tenants must be given at least two ways of paying rent, one mustn’t incur more than usual bank costs and be reasonably available.
Utility bills must be received by the tenant within a four week time frame, if not, the tenant doesn’t need to pay.
There are also changes to how water charges are calculated and can be charged when a tenancy begins or ends during a billing period.
Entry notice periods have increased from 24 hours to 48 hours.
There are also new limits to the frequency of entry after a notice to end the tenancy has been issued.
YET TO COME
CHANGES in the pipeline include no more than four weeks rent as a bond and there will be provisions in certain circumstances for tenants to request a refund of bonds paid over the maximum amount prior to these coming into effect.
If an agency or landlord claims the bond, it must provide the tenant with supporting evidence within 14 days of lodgement.
Rental application processes are also about to change.
A new standardised rental application form will be made and must be used when a tenant is applying for a rental property.
There will also be new guidelines on what information managing parties can ask of prospective tenants during the application process.
