14 rental law reforms announced this week

Throwing landlords and the wider Real Estate industry into a tail spin was the announcement of some proposed very substantial changes to the legislation which governs tenants and landlords. If they come into effect they will drastically reduce Landlords rights when it comes to owning and holding investment properties…

The following announcement was published by REIV last Sunday:

The Andrews’ Government has announced significant reform of the Residential Tenancies Act. The REIV has been vocal in their objection to many of these reforms and will be working with both the Opposition and cross benchers going forward.

Changes include:

• Removal of the Notice to Vacate for ‘No Specified Reason’
• Limiting the use of ‘end of fixed term’ notices to vacate
• Bond capped at one months’ rent for all tenancies less than $760 per week
• Landlords unable to unreasonably refuse consent for pets
• Allowing tenants to make minor property modifications
• Landlord and estate agent blacklist
• Requiring pre-contractual disclosure by landlords regarding asbestos and intention to sell
• A new Commissioner for Residential Tenancies
• Early release of bonds by agreement before the end of a tenancy
• Faster tenant reimbursement for urgent repairs
• Automatic bond repayment within 14 days when a claim hasn’t been lodged
• Ban on rental bidding and rent bidding apps
• Rent increases restricted to once per year
• Prohibiting false, misleading or deceptive representations by landlords or agents prior to a tenancy
We will be kept updated on the REIV’s progress as they continue to fight many of these reforms. Agents and landlords can provide feedback on the impact of the changes through the Government’s Rent Fair Victoria website. We encourage all our landlords to have your say by following the below link to provide feedback by heading to: http://www.vic.gov.au/rentfair/tell-us-what-you-think.html

source: REIV