Residential tenancy stakeholder forum - PowerPoint Presentation

Residential tenancy stakeholder forum Wednesday, 21 August 2019 from 4:30pm to 6:30pm

Agenda ACAT’s role Notices to remedy and vacate Cases involving Embassies Telephone attendance Adjournments New website New residential tenancy laws Questions

ACAT’s role ACAT is an independent body that resolves and determines a range of cases and disputes. ACAT Members are allocated by the ACAT President to hear and decide cases. Each case depends on its individual facts and circumstances.The ACAT registry staff can give procedural advice. Registry staff cannot give legal advice.Where can I go to get information? See ACAT’s website. We have information about your representation and advice options.

Notice to remedy and vacate You need to check the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 and the Residential Tenancies Regulation 1998 for notice requirements.We have template notices to remedy and vacate on our website (see rental property disputes).Pay attention to timeframes and your obligation to set out the grounds and circumstances of the notice.A termination notice must be served in accordance with regulation 5 of the Residential Tenancies Regulation 1998.

Cases involving Embassies If you are bringing proceedings against an embassy, you will be required to serve the application. ACAT will send you a letter that sets out what you need to do. You need to follow the requirements set out in Chapter 3 of the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 (Cth).You will need a section 40 certificate, which is issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.After service has occurred, let ACAT know and we will schedule the case for a conference.Recent ACAT case is Rosa and Anor v the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela [2019] ACAT 33.

Telephone attendance How do I make a request to attend by phone? What does ACAT consider? What are my obligations when I attend by telephone? See our telephone attendance information on our website.Remember - ACAT is only obliged to call you if you make a request and it is approved.

Adjournments What do I need to do before requesting an adjournment? How do I make an adjournment request?What does ACAT consider?What if my adjournment request is late?See our adjournments information on our website.

Our new website Find out about rental property disputes here . We now have: Updated information about different types of rental property disputes. A summary of the outcomes in previous rental property disputes at ACAT.Template notices to remedy and vacate.Information sheets about -protection order terminations payment orderswarrants of eviction. ACAT videos about what to expect at a conference or hearing. A survey you can complete to give feedback about the new website. The link is available here .

Amendments to residential tenancy lawInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Amendments passed in February 2019 but have not yet come into force. Expect that they will come into force before the end of this year. Date to be set by Attorney-General. Key amendments: Consent model for keeping animals.Consent model for modifications.Additional protections against excessive rent increases.Rebalancing the ‘break fee’ under the break lease clause.

Pets in summaryInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Existing law: can include ‘no pets’ as an additional clause to the Standard Terms. If the clause is missing from the tenancy agreement, a tenant doesn’t need to seek permission at all. Changes: new consent modelLandlord cannot include ‘no pets’ clause. Landlord can require tenant to seek consent to keep an animal. Must include this in the agreement.Landlord can impose reasonable conditions.Need Tribunal approval for an outright ban.

Pets: processInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Landlord advertises property for lease Must declare if they will include consent requirement for animals. Tenant and landlord sign tenancy agreement Tenant writes to landlord to seek consent for pet Landlord assumed to have consented if no response within 14 daysLandlord may consent and impose reasonable conditions:About number of pets or about cleaning/maintenanceIf landlord wants to refuse consent, must apply to Tribunal

Modifications in summaryInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Existing law: tenant must not make any modifications without landlord’s consent. Landlord must not unreasonably withhold consent. Changes: new consent model: Landlord’s consent is still required. For ‘special modifications’, including minor modifications, landlord cannot refuse consent without Tribunal approval.For any other modification, landlord must not unreasonably withhold consent.

Modifications: processInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Tenant writes to landlord to seek consent for a modification. Landlord assumed to have consented if no response within 14 days. If the modification is a ‘special modification’: Can be removed or undone easily (‘minor modification’) Is for safety, to assist a tenant’s disability, to improve energy efficiency, to allow access to telecommunications services, or for security,the landlord must apply to Tribunal to refuse consent. For any other type of modification, landlord must not unreasonably refuse consent.

Excessive rent increase summary Information from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Existing law: tenant may apply to Tribunal to review rental increase. Generally , if it is more than 20% higher than increase in inflation, the rent increase is excessive. Changes: Landlord must apply to Tribunal if increase is more than 10% higher than increase in inflation and tenant does not agree.Requirements for the notice to the tenant about proposed rent increase:amount of the proposed increasethat the increase is more than the prescribed amountthat if the tenant does not agree to the increase, Tribunal approval is required. Must still give tenant 8 weeks notice of proposed increase.

Excessive rent: processInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Prescribed amount is based on the rents component of the Consumer Price Index for Canberra. The Consumer Price Index figures are published every quarter on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website. The prescribed amount is 110% of the percentage increase in CPI for rents. That is, a landlord can increase the rent on a property by ten percent more than the increase in the Consumer Price Index. Landlord calculates ‘prescribed amount’. Go to the ABS website to look up quarterly CPI Report for rent in the ACTCalculate the percentage increase in the “index number” over the period since the last rental rate increase (‘PI’) Add PI divided by 10 (PI + (PI/10) to give the prescribed amount.

Excessive rent: exampleInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Last date of rental increase: June 2018. CPI report for rents component for Canberra for June 2018: 104.0 CPI report for rents component for Canberra for June 2019: 107.3 107.3 – 104.0 = 3.3. 3.3 / 104.0 = 3.17%3.17 + (3.17/10) = 3.49%.Therefore, the prescribed amount is an increase of 3.49%.

Break fee: summaryInformation from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Existing law: tenancy agreement can include a ‘break lease clause’ If a tenant terminates a fixed term agreement, they pay a ‘break fee’. Changes: the ‘break fee’ is reduced if a new tenancy commences within a ‘defined period’ following the termination. If the landlord gets a new tenant within this defined period, the break fee is limited to the combined total of: the usual amount of the break fee minus the amount of rent payable by the new tenant for the defined period; andthe landlord’s reasonable costs of advertising and reletting the property (up to a capped amount).

Break fee: process (tenancies < 3 years)Information from the Justice and Community Safety Directorate Tenant notifies landlord that they will terminate and vacate. Has more than half of the fixed-term been completed? Yes: Defined period equal to six weeks. No: Defined period equal to four weeks. Has landlord entered new tenancy within defined period?Yes: Break fee equal to rent for defined period minus new rent paid, plus reasonable costs of advertising and reletting (up to a capped amount).No: Break fee equal to rent for defined period.

What to expect at ACAT?New Residential Tenancy Laws For cases involving a rent increase, keeping an animal or a modification, use ACAT’s application for resolution of a tenancy dispute form. These types of cases will usually go to a directions hearing within 10 -14 days. You need to tell us if the case is urgent. Fill in and lodge an application for interim or other orders form.At the directions hearing, directions will be made to prepare the case for hearing.You may also be referred to a conference (sometimes on the same day as the directions hearing). There are no new fees. The existing fees apply.

Questions? We can give you information about ACAT’s procedures. Remember, ACAT cannot discuss current cases or give legal advice.