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New Changes Benefit Tenants and Rooming House Residents

Tenants and rooming house residents will be better protected by changes to legislation due to take effect this month.

"This is the first time the amount has been revised since the Act took effect in 1997, bringing it more inline with the costs for emergency repairs a tenant could face," Minister for Consumer Affairs, Michael O'Brien said.

Amendments to the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 include:

• Increasing the maximum amount a landlord or property owner will have to reimburse a tenant or resident who pays for urgent repairs, from $1,000 to $1,800 (including GST).
• Setting guidelines and obligations for property agents for reporting suspected unregistered rooming houses to local councils.
• Expanding the powers of the Director of Consumer Affairs Victoria in relation to rooming houses.
• Regulating residential tenancy database checks where a landlord must inform the tenant in writing within seven days if they access the database.
  • If a tenant signed a rental agreement and then breached it by not paying their rent, or has used the property for illegal purposes, they maybe listed on the database.
  • However, the tenant cannot be listed for exercising their rights, for example, by asking for repairs to be made.

For more information call Consumer Affairs Victoria on 1300 55 81 81 or visit the Renting section on the website.