 Okay, good morning, everybody. Hello, everyone, and welcome to the webinar on tackling your tenancy questions. My name is Lynn Smith. I'm a senior community education officer with the residential tennis authority. And I've been here for about 16 years into areas in the education and previously in our dispute resolution area. I have a 35 years experience dealing with all things, tenancy laws and the rental sector, including agents, landlords and tenants. Today I'll be assisted by my colleague, Valentina Demosca. She's also in our communication and education team. She's sitting in the background at the moment and will come on board to assist with our question and answer time. So thanks, Valentina. Before I do start, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners on the land on which we are holding today's webinar and where you are also joining us from and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. So today's topics, we're going to be looking at mold, who cleans mold and also who does maintenance. I'll cover off on a few key sections of the legislation. We'll also address routine inspections, why these occur, how often they can occur and also remind you a little bit about storm season. It's just around the corner. And then we'll have some time for your questions. Also, just a small disclaimer there, the RTA cannot provide you with legal advice and you are encouraged to seek your own independent advice to make informed decisions. Okay, for everyone who may have joined us previously, you'll know that we also want to hear from you today. So our webinar will also include some polls and I'll get that one. I've got one of them started shortly. So we'll have a question and answer session before the webinar does finish. We'd love to receive your questions. So what we ask is that you please use the little chat function or that little speech bubble that you see in your zoom bar rather than the Q&A box, you'll see the image on your screen. We want to also hear from you today on how today went and importantly what future topics you would like to know more about. Today's topics, besides being regular topics in our call center and our dispute area has also been put together because we have received your feedback in this forum on the topics that you want more. information on. So please stay on after the webinar finishes and complete the survey. It takes less than one minute. Okay, so let's get started. What we're going to do is actually find out who is in our audience today, which rental group you belong to and also where you're joining us from. So just bear with me. I'm just going to start a poll. Okay. If I can get you to complete the poll for us, what we're looking at is what area are you joining us today from. And importantly as well. Which group do you identify within the rental sector so what we're looking at is whether you're a property manager or an agent, an owner or a tenant, or whether you're in the room in accommodation side things as a provider, or even a car and park manager. So a big special hello to our regional viewers and thanks for joining us today. I think great thing about webinars you can join from anywhere. So we'd also acknowledge to that some people joining us today is going to have various levels of experience. So from beginners to people who've probably been managers for quite some time. So we have that today you'll learn something or use it as a refresher. Okay, just leave that poll going for just a moment. Looks like everyone's just about finished. So it looks like the bulk of people in today's webinars. Today's webinar is around the Brisbane and Southeast Queensland. As I said, we've got people from North and Central Miss Queensland as well and we also have an interstate. So welcome as well. And the majority of people joining us today are property managers or agents and landlords, although we do have some community housing providers, as well as tenants joining today's session. So thank you everybody. I'll just end that poll. So let's kick on with our first topic, which is mould. So let's assess the situation first before determining who's going to be responsible to clean it. So let's just take that step back and look at some facts first. We need to be asking the what, where, when, why, and how the mould appeared in the first place to determine who's going to clean it. And every situation can be different and should be treated on a case-by-case basis. So let's have a look at some scenarios for the rental property first. So what area has been affected? Also, how severe is it? Is it early days? It's only a small area. If it's really early, you can probably get in early, help control it. The treatment might be small and simple. Has it been caused by water leak or moisture? As an example, if it's a roof leak, then this would fall to the owner to repair the roof and also then look to treat and clean and deal with the mould. Has the mould appeared because of a recent natural disaster or from storm flooding? Again, this would fall back to the owner from recent floods or storms. What we do know is that people do want to work together to get the job done. So we welcome both owners and tenants to do this together, particularly in stressful times just after a natural disaster. People need to come together to try and be able to get things done. Now from an internal or different type of flooding. So let's say we're looking at the tenants' washing machine. Say the hose is burst or that there's a leak in the washing machine. Assuming, again, that that's caused water damage to the property and it's resulted in some mould, say, on the laundry wall. Well, that would then be for the tenant to rectify. If there's ventilation issues, so for bathrooms, let's face it, bathrooms are ideal areas for moulds to thrive and grow. It's moist conditions. This is an area that requires regular attention. So if the tenant is not opening the window or using the exhaust fan, then this would fall to the tenant then to rectify, particularly if there's like mould on the walls or the ceilings. Or if there's mould as part of using the shower, mould on the grout. So that requires regular cleaning to keep that at bay. And that would fall to the tenants general obligations under the act in keeping the place clean. Is it just environmental factors? So as an example, again, we've got some North Queensland people joining us. So it could be that it's a wet season. In these situations, it may fall to the occupant or some negotiations may be required and given type between both parties depending on the area of what's been impacted. So wherever you're residing Queensland, you may or may not have that wet season. And what we do know is that occupants usually are familiar with their area and they know how to address the mould every season and every year. So the Queensland Tenancy Laws are the residential tenancies and roomy accommodation act. And both owners, agents and tenants have responsibilities. Both parties have also signed and agreed to the terms of their tenancy or rooming agreement, which is made up of standard and special terms. The owner needs to ensure the premises are in good condition and also carry out repairs and maintenance during the tenancy. And also too, the tenant is to keep the premises clean having regard to the condition at the start of the tenancy. And what I'm going to do is talk about some key sections of the legislation shortly for both owners and tenants. Remember, mould is a health and safety issue and it needs to be addressed. And seriously, this is something that does need to be addressed as soon as practical. When it's not clear how the mould's got there, this is a time that you need to then turn to external professionals to get them to inspect and advise you of what their opinion is. As I said before, getting on top of the mould early can help stop it from spreading. We live in a world of websites and Google and other search engines, or you can connect to a professional company to find out what's the best way to treat the mould. And whether that's like clove oil or a bleach or another product, and again, checking with the professionals on what the best product is to suit your individual situation. Once identified, both parties do need to work together for a solution. And again, the best way to deal with this is within a reasonable timeframe before any further damage may be caused because the mould has decided to spread. As I mentioned before, you've got plenty of information available on websites. But what you've also got to is the Queensland Government also has a fact sheet on mould after a natural disaster. And also what might be helpful, particularly for those maybe in the community housing section, is Department of Housing is also a fact sheet on mould as well for tenants. Before I head on to our next topic, which is going to be about maintenance, I'm going to turn it back over to you guys for your turn. What I'd like to know is what is the main issue you are experiencing in relation to mould? So I'll just launch that poll there with me. So the main issue is it trades people availability or getting them to respond? Is it gaining access to the property? Is it getting owners instructions? Or is there delays or no response for repair requests that's coming through? So I'd like to just hear from you for a moment in relation to the maintenance topic. Interesting fact that the maintenance and repairs are one of our most popular topics in our call centre and our dispute resolution service for conciliation. So we're just keen to hear from you. What do you feel are the main issue that you are seeing with this particular topic? Okay, just to give you an idea of the responses for this, what we have is the highest to actually no response or delays to repair requests at 41%, 44% sorry, and now also to getting owners instructions to approve the repairs sitting at 28%. So they're the most common issues that people are experiencing. I'll just end that poll note now. So thanks everybody. Okay, let's get on to maintenance. So let's look at some of the key sections of the legislation. Again, this is going to probably help you a little bit too with the mould issue that we just went through. So the lessons general obligations are under section 185 and they are to ensure the premises are fit and clean to live in and in good repair and the owners not in breach of any health or safety laws. And while the tenancy continues to ensure the repairs or maintenance issues are carried out. The tennis general obligations fall under section 188 and they include keeping the premises and inclusions clean. Obviously having regard to the property condition at the start of their tenancy and also to at the end of the tenancy to return the premises in the same condition it was in at the start, less fair wear and tear. Tenants also do have an obligation to notify the owner or the agent about any repairs that require attention and also to report any damage to the property that you can find under section 217. So when we talk about maintenance versus damage any damage caused by the tenant is for the tenant to rectify it. Even if it's a guest of the tenant that's done the damage they need to still carry out that repair or rectify the issue. These fall into the category of return the premises in the same condition it was at the start, less fair wear and tear. Whereas with your maintenance this can be because of an item or the property just being worn over time through the normal use or maybe through age. So let's have a look now at how a tenant can report maintenance or repair issue. So every agent and landlord will have their own preferred method and that may be by way of sending an email completing a maintenance request form whether that is paper based or through a website portal or they could be just phoning up to report the issue. It's really important that tenants have that information up front at the start of their tenancy and keep in mind someone who may not necessarily be digitally savvy may not be able to use a portal for that particular way of reporting a repair or if English is not their first language just making sure it's clear up front on how they can actually report an item if it needs to be repaired. The Act outlines what an emergency repair is under section 214. Everything else is considered to be a routine repair. Emergency repairs particularly any health or safety risks should be addressed straight away for any repair notification even if that's a phone call it's probably best to just follow that up in writing by way of email or message so that there's evidence of that notification. In some cases a tenant may inform the owner or agent by the way of that formal notification and that's using the notice to remedy breach and that's okay or it may be because there's been no response to carrying out a repair request previously the tenant then can start that breach process and issue the notice to remedy breach. For general tenancies the owner or the agent will have seven days to rectify the breach and for roomy accommodation it's five days for the general breach. You might need to be looking at referring it to industry professionals. For example license electricians to do electrical work that may exclude changing a standard light bulb and for plumbing there's a difference whether you're replacing a bathroom tap washer or doing something more than that or something major requiring a qualified plumber. In some instances an owner or a handyman will have some small and simple repairs that don't require license trades like fixing a kitchen like a kitchen cupboard hinge or a door handle or nailing a pailing on a fence or could be replacing a tap whereas in other situations a licensed or qualified professional may be required so it's not our area to say which trade can call on for what job and that's a case by case basis but we need to be looking at the safety first for the person doing the repair and also to the person who's living in the rental property as well. So all rental properties should be fitted with the safety requirements under Queensland's legislation such as your smoke alarm laws and also your electrical safety switches. The RTA has past webinars available on our website. They were done in collaboration with the RTA's resources and also the electrical safety office. So if you need more information please jump on our website for those and watch those. It's really good information. If repairs or the breach notice has not been rectified and you've tried to attempt self resolution trying to sort the problem out without success you can apply to the RTA's free dispute resolution service where an impartial conciliator can assist you and keep in mind too that sometimes it's just times required for getting parts or an owner may need to have time to budget to cover some costs. Consider a rate reduction or level of compensation until that item is repaired and please make sure any of those arrangements you've got that in writing. Okay routine inspections they're carried out by owners or their managing agents and most importantly the tenant needs to be informed before that inspection occurs and notify it of the date and the time. The Act also states how many inspections can occur within a 12 month period so for your general tendencies it's no more than 4 and cannot be less than 3 months unless the tenant agrees and for your roomy accommodation for your residents no more than once a month inspections and again unless the resident agrees. When an inspection occurs the key items that the agents or the owners are looking for is that is the tenant complying with the obligations of their agreement in keeping the premises clean and tidy and not doing damage. They could also be looking to view any past repairs or current repairs or looking at any health and safety concerns and also to looking at future maintenance what might need to be replaced or done down the track and this gives the owner the opportunity to budget or organise the trades people if that's required. So as I mentioned last slide the tenant needs to be informed before the managing agent or the owner can conduct that routine inspection so for general tendencies that's 7 days notice and for roomy accommodation it's 48 hours. On the entry notice an agent owner may choose a specific time and I just want to spend a moment on this particular topic so you could say I'm coming at 11 o'clock or they can provide it to our window meaning that they wish to inspect say between 11 and 1. The entry must occur during this time now the act doesn't state or restrict how long you can be inside for the inspection it just talks about when the actual entry occurs. So if I look at the scenario of a 2 hour window of 11 to 1 I could say enter at 11 o'clock 11 30 or I could even still enter at 5 minutes to 1 and that would be still okay. Can I enter before 11 o'clock? No. Can I enter if it's after 1 o'clock? No. So just to be clear you cannot send out notifications saying that the inspection is going to be between 9 and 5 it needs to be either a specified time or that 2 hour window. So some of the other questions that we are often asked are what happens if the tenant's not at home? So if the entry notice has been issued in accordance to the act and it's correct then you can still enter and as always ensure the premises are secured when you leave and what happens if the tenant refuses access? If you've followed the rules as a manager or a landlord you are entitled to enter however there may be reasons that the tenant is stopping that inspection and it could be someone sick inside like recovering from an illness or other health issues or they shift worker and they sleep during the day or they may be concerned for an approved pet not being secured and escaping. So tenants and owners, managers need to all work together be open and honest and renegotiate another date and time for the entry to occur if you have to and if you're unable to negotiate another entry then again the RTA's free dispute resolution service may be able to assist you to get the matter resolved. And I know that Valentine's just sent a chat before but Kate don't forget guys if you do have any questions please use that little chat function and submit your questions because we'd love to actually hear from you. Okay let's get to photos and this is sort of like probably one of the other topics that's coming up recently as well we often get questions about like taking photos so I'm not going to talk today about taking the photos for advertising purposes so remember there's rules for that along with penalty units for non-compliance so what we want to talk about now is more about your photos that might be taken as part of your routine inspection so that you need to keep in mind the purpose of the photos versus the tenant's privacy so in some instances it is a bit of a gray area noting that the act doesn't state whether you can or cannot take photos during a routine inspection if photos are being taken I would see that it's been a courtesy to actually inform the tenant we know that agents and managing parties do take photos as part of their reporting process in your routine inspections however I guess the questions that we need to be asking when photos are taken is why is it being taken and more importantly what is in that photo you do want to make sure that any identifying items such as like your family photos or personal documents vehicle registration numbers even making sure that that's not in the photos remember while it's the owner's property it is still the tenant's home and you may not be aware of any other personal situations that might be happening and that could include maybe a DFE situation so please if there's any concerns we're encouraging tenants and their managing agents to have those conversations so other questions to ask yourself is who is going to be seeing that photo importantly how would the photo be stored so let's look at some practical terms on this photos of every furniture item of the tenant, personal items, bedrooms and every room in the property being taken would that be deemed to be okay versus a few photos taken demonstrating the property condition maybe it includes repair item or future maintenance items where on the carpet or that there's a future replacement that needs to be addressed or an external photo so note that the act doesn't state photos can't be taken in the situation however this is why we are asking you to look at the who, what, why and how of the photos and for going both sides the tenant and the managing party to communicate with each other so if I go on to the next topic I just want to quickly touch base on the rules of entry as it applies to both your routine inspections and also to your maintenance so just making sure that you give correct notice on your entry notice and take the appropriate reason for your entry the legislation outlines time frames so if you are in an emergency situation and say the property is at risk you can enter without notice otherwise your managers and owners please make sure that you do know the time frames and the rules on entry keep a copy of your notice and if you have any if you have mutual agreement make sure you keep a note or record of an email of what's been agreed just in case again there's a loss of memory down the track and always review any Queensland health updates on any restrictions and follow the health directives and that may be including wearing masks social distancing number of people allowed remember the health and safety should always be a priority and everyone owners, managers and tenants you need to follow the Queensland health directives as we know this can change and depending on the situation across Queensland and where you live it can always change in a heartbeat so always keep yourself up to date okay at the time of our webinar today we know that storm season is just around the corner or for some of us if you're on the east coast or in the south east Queensland or southern part of Queensland we know that it probably has hit in the last week so this is just a reminder to get ready for when the storm season or the natural disasters may occur so it's a reminder for both owners of rental properties and tenants to be prepared so for owners that means like you're clearing up your gutters cutting back tree branches or checking any window leaks any leaks and stuff like that so for tenants gearing that up to be expecting those summer storms in the afternoon making sure that the outdoor furniture or your play equipment is secured and also to making sure that the owner or manager is informed of any repairs early making sure that you check your insurance policies and this is not just for the owners for their property but obviously too for tenants making sure that you have a current contents of policy and also to where to get that information if you need it in a hurry make sure you have handy any emergency contact details and who contacts should something happen so last year the RTA in collaboration with QRA did a webinar with Get Ready Queensland you can find that on the RTA's website fantastic useful tips on what you need to do and what you need to have in case of a natural disaster and as I said I know we've mentioned storm season but we all know that depending on where you live in Queensland it could be being prepared for bushfire flooding or cyclones we all know to be prepared they tell us that but how many of us really are actually prepared so take the time to view the Get Ready Queensland website link is available there on your screen okay just some upcoming education so in just under two weeks we'll be in Cairns for our face to face session so this is an event that was postponed from March due to the COVID-19 lockdown at the time so if you are in that region please grab some information of our website and register make sure you have signed up for eNews so we can keep informed not just on key topics changes and if you know of other people who would benefit in signing up please let them know and go to our website to register we do produce various educational resources including webinars on tense legislation and key topics as well as our Talking Tendency podcast series so again accessing that through our website or for your podcast through your preferred app now Valentina I know that you've been sitting there quietly so let's go to your questions again if you still have a question please use the chat function in your toolbar and we will get to your question so over to you Valentina come online for me and let's look at some of these questions that's come through I can see one that's come from Tim that seems to be a very long question okay Tim has a question about mould and what he wants to know is what if the tenants taken as many precautions as possible to stop minor mould and professional contractors have completed mould tests and air tests and it's found that humidity is very low no leaks just minor mould on ceiling corners from general humidity regarding showers is the general cleaning of the mould the tenants responsibility for just general cleaning it's a good question Tim thanks for that if you've got the professional contractors in and they've said that it's just general as what would normally happen in a bathroom situation then it would then obviously fall to the tenant because so you've got to make sure that they're obviously keeping the windows open or the exhaust fans on it would fall to the tenants part of normal use however where there's probably some issues and this is where really good negotiations coming in in relation to the owners and the tenants if you're looking at really really high ceilings that you know really hard to get to or something like that that may require some assistance for the tenant to be fixed or if the professionals have come back in and said look there's some other issues that play here then the owner might come in there and just negotiate this and maybe look involved and being involved in actually doing the cleaning or getting someone else in to do that cleaning so I think it's really important to make sure that any mould is dealt with quickly and looked at straight away so again whether it's reporting if the tenants reported the issue or getting in as part of your routine inspection and getting on top of it first before it actually does spread so it's a little bit of a tricky question there as I said I would be guided by what your professional contractors are saying Tim whether if it's found to be you know there needs to be more ventilation or then that might come back to the owner or if it's deemed to be reasonable then again coming back to the tenant next one Valentina we have a few questions here Lynn about inspections but Diana's got one about well both inspection and the taking of photos so is the real state allowed to use photos taken during my routine inspection for property sale advertising without my consent quick answers that Diana is no so many photos it's taken whether it's been done through your routine inspection if the purpose of those photos is then to be shared for when the property is being promoted for sale then they need the tenants written consent before they can do that and just keeping in mind on that particular topic that actually does have penalty units attached to it and that's something that our investigations team would look at because the axe is very clear that if photos are being taken for the use of advertising then they do need the owner's other tenants permission for that okay how you going there there's quite a quite a few questions here about inspections so Sharon's asked in regards to inspections for exits do we give the tenant the opportunity to come back to rectify cleaning issue after they have handed the keys back okay Sharon probably a little bit outside our scope for today but in relation to the exit condition report this is where the tenant's responsibility is to return the property back in the same condition it was at the start of the tenancy less fair wear and tear and what we know is there's nothing actually in our act that talks about giving the tenant the opportunity to go back and rectify any cleaning or anything like that but what we do know is probably what the industry has seen over the years previously there was a code of conduct for real estate agents that allowed for that situation to occur we know that some magistrates look at whether a tenant has been given an opportunity or know that there's some issues so it's probably whether it's a really good communication again coming back at the end of the tenancy to go if you do wish to give the tenant an opportunity and look we've seen people yes give opportunities no give opportunities the opportunities could be that they give them you know 12 hours 24 hours to rectify whatever might need to be done that's actually up to probably your business practice as said our act doesn't actually state that you do have to do that however what we are seeing and hearing is some of the adjudicators may look to ask those questions were the tenant informed that there was issues did they get an opportunity to fix anything so again not black and white not in our legislation to say that specifically but something that you may do and you may find that quite a few people do talk to the tenants afterwards and which is what we do encourage and have those conversations about whether they can go back and rectify it or whether that you're going to get someone to fix up any issues thanks thanks Lynn we have another question from Susan to do with inspections what if the owner has not seen the property for some time due to living interstate and COVID restrictions can WhatsApp be useful or something similar be used for an inspection look we do find obviously we're in a different environment in the last few days this is where again comes down to who's viewing the photos and things like that and while we understand people are living interstate overseas we cannot inspect just making sure that it's a secure channel to be sharing those photos and I think was probably more the situation just making sure that it's not being unless the tenant obviously is okay with that but again just letting the tenant know that there will be an avenue that their photos will be shared to as part of the reporting but again nothing to stop that particular apps or other things being used but again we ask those questions as who, what, why and how questions and particularly who's viewing it and also to how it's being stored I have seen and I've heard of a case previously where someone's return inspections have ended up on YouTube I don't think that would be a smart move because that would obviously be breaching someone's privacy big time so just be very mindful of what channels you are using Thanks Lynn, Natasha would also like to know has the tenant the right to ask for change of time or date of entry if they can't be present and do not feel comfortable to have their home be entered into in their absence Look I suppose Natasha from that point of view it's not necessarily about a right, I mean our acts very clear that if the inspection note, if the entry notice has been served correctly then you do have a right to enter however if someone is coming back to you to say I don't feel comfortable or there's a specific reason why that the entry is not going to be able to occur then that's that negotiation and talking to them and maybe it's just asking them about why they may not feel comfortable and it may be that they've had a bad experience previously, it could be that someone they're not feeling trust that you will secure the place or that something else might be happening that they would like to be present I know it's that's why there's also that to our window that's been put in place to allow people that opportunity to be a bit flexible for the time if someone is running late as I said it's not really a black and white answer there for you Natasha but it's about negotiating and working through if someone does need to renegotiate another date or time Lynn, thank you for that Rachel has a question that sort of touches very similarly on the same topic and what she wanted to know was if they have tried to accommodate a tenant and what she's saying is they do have tenants which is that regularly will want to reschedule a routine inspection and they do try and accommodate them if after a few times it still is unsuitable can they insist on entry provided we have issued the correct notice she says and as I said that probably goes back to how Rachel of how I've actually answered Natasha's previous question look if you've tried and you've done two or three times to negotiate I think it's about having that conversation with the tenant and just really look the Act actually allows it and referred back to the sections of the Act 192-199 where it's very clear that you have a right to enter for these particular purpose or reasons and this is a notice that you're entitled to provide to the tenant. The other part what you can do is if you're not getting anywhere with the tenant come through our RTA's free dispute resolution service and see if we can try and assist you with making a set date and time and making it happen for you. Rosalie has said that she has done something similar to what you suggested Linda she sent RTA information about the Act and then the tenant understood. Yeah and look you know sometimes taking a copy of those few pages from the Act with the copy of your entry notice if you do have someone standing at the door saying no you shall not pass you can't come in just maybe showing those particular sections of the Act and going hey I am entitled to come in but again also to checking that there might be a specific reason why the entry is not occurring but being very firm in relation to the Act actually does allow you to gain entry. One more question. I'm just looking at the time Valentina say yes we better just do one more. And well we only have the one more there and I think we're just on time. Joanne would like to know what's the RTA stand if you want access to a property for maintenance inspection a routine inspection has already been completed but I know once further investigation what notice is required to give to the tenant. Okay so probably this really comes back Joanne in relation to the purpose of entry. So if it is to carry out a maintenance or repair issue then you're allowed to do that. If it's in relation to you've done a routine inspection but you want to be going back in and do a little bit more on that routine inspection the best probably way is to have a conversation with the tenant and gain entry by way of mutual agreement that's probably the quickest and easiest way to gain that entry after an inspection occurred. Okay I think we've we've done all the questions look thanks everybody for your time this morning I think we've we've covered everyone haven't we Valentina yes. We have covered everyone thank you everyone for your questions yeah and look again the RTA's website we've got a lot of information all our forms and resources available at rta.qld.gov.au but please remember too when you're using our forms just make sure you're using the latest versions of our forms and you're downloading that from our website. Our web services on all things bonds you can access 24 hours 7 days a week through our web service or if you've got any direct questions please contact our call centre on 1300 366 311 we're here Monday to Friday 8 30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Again remember that survey is about to come up when the webinar closes so please take this opportunity to provide us with some feedback and more importantly on the topics that you want to know more about the surveys look it doesn't even take a minute I'm sure of it so please let me know what topics are of interest for you. So thank you again for joining me today and I look forward to you joining me next time and a copy of the recording will be available on our website next week. So the webinar will now close everybody thanks everyone. Bye bye.