 Welcome everybody and thank you for joining today's RTA webinar which is a recap of the Rental Law reforms for Queensland from 2021 up until now in 2023. Our team members today have a wealth of experience with tenancy laws and processes and we're here to help you be informed. I'd like to introduce our team today. We have Sam Gaila. He's our principal project officer who's been part of the Rental Law implementation project team and been with the RTA for over 10 years in various customer service roles and leadership teams. So welcome today Sam. Thanks Lynn. Morning everyone. We also have Mark Fiddler from our communication and education team. Mark's been with the RTA for 18 years and in our customer experience team our support and now in education. So Mark will be assisting behind the scenes today and also helping with facilitating our Q&A session. So thanks Mark. Thanks Lynn. Welcome along everyone. And my name is Lynn Smith and I'm a senior community education officer and I've been with the RTA for over 18 years in various roles. Our dispute resolution service education and recently with Sam in the Rental Law implementation project team. Now if you have any questions today along the way please submit them with the chat function that you'll find on your zoom toolbar. It's a little speech bubble. We want to hear from you and do appreciate your time in joining us today. Before we start I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners on the land on which we are hosting today's webinar and where you are joining us as well and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. So for today's session it's recapping those Rental Law reforms that have come in since 2021 and where you can find in-depth resources to help you gain a better understanding of these changes and what is now part of Queensland tenancy laws. We also want to talk to you about what is consulted on and what's on the horizon for stage two reforms as well. We will do a Q&A at the end but if you have specific questions relating to topics as we progress please do pop them in that chat, that little speech bubble and Mark will keep an eye on that. And if we have time throughout the session we'll look at answering those as we go. Our aim is to give you an overview of these changes and address some of the more topical questions that we've received. You may have actually submitted some questions as part of your registration so we want to make sure that we look at addressing those as well and making sure too that you know where to find information to get more in-depth information on our website. Sam, Mark and I are not here to give you legal advice and as always we refer you to the Act or to get independent advice. So just a quick slide to advise you of our role. The RTA's core function is to administer Queensland's tenancy laws. The Residential Tenancies and Rumi Accommodation Act 2008. We don't make the rules but we know and understand the rules and our role is to help you and everybody involved in a tenancy. So it's landlords, it's agents, it's managers, providers, tenants and residents to understand their rights and obligations and how these rules apply. And a big shout out we've got everyone involved in that tenancy sector in our webinar today and we also have people not just in South East Queensland but right across the whole of Queensland in our webinar. We are an independent statutory authority and our services we have our call centre that's available Monday to Friday predominantly provides guidance on bonds and your tenancy queries. Our education, our outreach events including presentations and information sessions as well as the webinars and podcasts and also a variety of other resources that you'll find on our website. These channels do help us increase community awareness of tenancy rights and responsibilities. We also do offer a free dispute resolution service to help parties try and help resolve those tensile bond issues that might occur and either party can lodge a dispute request with the RTA. We do drive compliance of the Act through education and enforcement activities from our investigations team and as you would be aware the RTA holds the bonds for residential tenses across Queensland. So just a quick history here for the rental reforms and how we actually got here. So it did kick off back in 2018-19 which was the Queensland government's open doors to renting reform consultation. The Housing Legislation Amendment Act 2021 was passed in October 21 and was implemented in a staged approach. So the first of the stages was the domestic and family violence provisions. Then we had last year in October the framework for negotiating renting with a pet changes to the reasons for ending a tenancy repair orders and other amendments that were introduced and the final part of stage one and that's one September this year in 2023. The minimum housing standards for new tenancies and for all tenancies will be the following year in 2024. So what's next is stage two and we'll talk about that at the end of the session. So we'll start with the overview of the domestic and family violence provisions and just to summarise what these provisions are and they have been in place now since October 21. So a tenant experiencing domestic and family violence can end their interest in the tenancy whether they're the sole tenant or they could be a co-tenant. They can request their bond contribution to be refunded if they did pay a rental bond. They are not liable for rental costs or sorry relating costs whether they're ending a periodic or fixed term tenancy or any damage that's caused by the act of DFE against them. So if someone does submit a notice to end their interest they do need to provide or show evidence whether that's the DFE report which can be completed by an authorised professional or it could be a police protection order. So there is information on what is supporting evidence options that's on our website. They can choose to stay in the rental property and change those locks to ensure their safety. Now if the locks are changed then a copy still does need to be given to the managers or the owner and as soon as it's practical to do so. There is a strict process to follow with the remaining tenants and the RTA has a fantastic flow chart that's available to help you understand the timings and also that process. What I might do Mark I might get you to put a link in the chat function for everyone if that's okay for our DFE resources. There are it is a confidential provision there is confidential provisions and legislations regarding the domestic and family violence provisions and also too with the person leaving the property. So this does come with penalty provisions so that if a penalty point sorry that if you do breach that so it is quite serious. As said all the forms flowcharts and back sheets there's also a helpline information that you'll find on our website as well and Mark thanks for putting that information in the chat. What I want to do Sam if I can get you to come in we did get a few questions leading up to our webinar when people were registered about domestic and family violence and a couple of them actually do link into the impacts for landlords as such. So Sam it wasn't quite clear whether it's like the damage or potential rent arrears or about the ending of the tenancy. So what options do landlords have? Can they chase the person who's caused damage or who pays for those rent arrears? You're muted. I'm still muted. There you go. Yeah look it is it is a challenging situation obviously the priority and the you know the intent of the legislation is very much around the person suffering domestic and family violence being protected and given every opportunity to be able to leave the property or stay if it's safe to do so. You mentioned about confidentiality when it comes to costs that the the owner needs to try and recover at the end. You're not able to pursue the tenant who's experienced domestic and family violence. So for any damage that has been caused to the property for instance as a result of DFB that can be that can be really hard to determine but ultimately there's always the ability to pursue if the perpetrator was also a tenant. They are someone that you could that you could still issue the the bill to or or try and recover those costs. Otherwise we'd probably be looking at you know maybe a a civil matter and we'd encourage you to seek independent legal advice in those situations. Sure Navarroca has just asked a quick question in relation to body corporate master key systems and changing of locks and you know this does fall with body corporate legislation not necessarily the RTA's legislation in that regard and you know and it comes down to obviously whether we're talking about the actual lock to a door or whether there's still like another level of security to a building or to a complex and things like that. So it really comes down to probably having a conversation too with the individual body corporate about whether or not that particular lock can be changed because if there is a master system yeah they can just change the barrel inside someone's door. So again talking to your individual body corporate might also help in that regard. Thanks Veronica for that question too. Okay so the next slide or the next part is the 2022 changes that started off with pets. So the RTA doesn't regulate the rules for the prospective tenant application or the selection process. So the laws in place apply for existing tenancies. So this framework provides guidance and structure around those conversations and negotiations associated with the request for a tenant to have a pet at the rental property. So the owner or provider will still need to give permission to have a pet. So but there are also provisions around the refusal process and approval may actually have like reasonable conditions attached. So it could be that the pet has to stay outside or if it's in room accommodation it could be that the pet needs to be staying within the room or it could be that you know there's pest control to be done at the end of the tenancy. So legislation has stated that any change any damage caused by the pet is not considered fair wear and tear and that's an important part to remember that and the tenant is also responsible for any nuisance that it may cause that the pet may actually cause. So there's two steps involved. The first step is the tenant and resident needing to seek permission and the RTA has a form to be completed to assist in that regard. Always recommend to have the details of the pet. So the size, the type, the weight, the colour, consider a photo or other information and some people say well what would I want to do and we've started these people do like pet resumes and references and you know documentation from a vet and things like that. We are not always talking about dogs and cats and we do know that pets do come in other types of animals fish and birds and reptiles and also too that sometimes it's not a pet and that could fall into like an agricultural side of things or something like that. The second step is more about the manager or the owner needing to respond within 14 days and could only refuse the pet on identified reasonable grounds. So the RTA has a template led to help respond to the request. If there's no response within 14 days then the pet is deemed to be approved. So it's really important for managers and owners to look at these requests within that timeframe and make sure that they do respond accordingly. And again we can talk about a little bit on the body corporate side of things. There's usually bylaws that have that whether you can have permission needs to be sought from the body corporate or the committee. This is a separate process. So the two legislations sometimes do run parallel and just as a side issue for that there currently is a bill for parliament regarding the changes to body corporate laws and that will include changes around approving pets for apartments and units as well. So just a side issue for that. The owners and managers just cannot just say no I don't want a pet. Okay you do have to explain the reasons for the refusal. Now under the section 184e does actually outline the reasonable grounds to refuse a pet. So it could be that it exceeds a reasonable number of animals to be kept at the property. The premises are unsuitable. It could be that the pets likely to cause damage. That could not be repaired for the cost less than what the rental bond amount is. It could also contravene a bylaw or another law risk to health and safety or another person. As well you can see that you know pets do as I said before come in all shapes and sizes and types. So again it's not always the normal pets that we're talking about with the cats and dogs. If a tenant does not agree to the reasonable conditions that's been proposed as part of the condition of having the pet or again if the animal is not a pet. So again we talk about like a farm animal or that's not a domestic animal. So keep in mind that a manager or owner cannot ask the tenant to pay for a pet bond nor can they increase the rent to allow for that pet. And just also to a reminder for working dogs they don't require a manager's or owner's approval. So since the changes we've been asked a lot of questions around companion pets. So unless they are listed under the working dogs in the legislation which is your guide, hearing and assistance dogs, your corrective services or your police powers. If they're not in under those legislation then they still actually do require permission as such. So again Mark I might just get you to put a link in our chat for everyone today. There's a flow chart for the pet approval process fact sheets and the form to request the pet and also the response template that you can find on our website. And again other resources that we do have there on this particular process. Now Sam I'll get you to come back in because with the pet side of it we had some common questions that were actually asked through you know in relation to like the legislation you know whether it aligns with Queensland or federal laws and obviously this is a little bit beyond what we're doing here today. But someone has actually asked is a rat an assistant can a rat be an assistant animal. And I know like like we can talk about mice and guinea pigs that we know as pets but I suppose there's a question there is this borderline of being a pet or is this like more on the vermin side of it. So yeah it's interesting I suppose yeah there are many different definitions of pets essentially. I mean are you talking about a rat as an assistant animal or support animal or something like that. If it was being provided in that way as a support animal I would expect it to come with some significant documentation. We don't sort of we don't determine what is and isn't a pet there are definitions available as information on our website around that kind of information. But I think keep in mind that if you are saying no to keeping a pet as an owner or as an agent that you are explaining why that is and also be aware that there is dispute resolution available through the RTA. So if it's a situation that you're a little bit maybe uncertain of and maybe your relationship is not great consider dispute resolution through the RTA and then there's always the opportunity for QCAP to make a final ruling. And thanks Sam and there's also some questions there like about special terms you know if approving the pet you know can I say can I keep it outside can I put some restrictions in place as part of that approval. Yeah yeah so isn't that I think that the big thing that we actually found and we did a webinar several months ago now about the common questions that we've been seen around like the pets and things like that that you'll find the recording on our website. So and a lot of it did actually come around like what is a companion animal versus an assisted animal and things like that. And as you said it's really important to have that documentation to support that's when you are actually applying for approval that you do actually have some of that documentation as well. Yeah and we'll always encourage communication obviously between the parties so talking through what the actual issue might be and trying to to seek a way forward rather than just a flat no which is as you've said is is not acceptable under the legislation. Yeah have we seen a lot of disputes come through about pets Sam? We do get disputes around pets I wouldn't say that it's our largest dispute by any means but it's obviously an important issue for Queenslanders renting and so it can be there can be passion involved in that. We do find that a lot of our disputes come through dispute resolution and that's often enough to resolve the situation one way or another so it's why I really recommend talking it through with each other. Great thanks Sam. Okay so the other change was around ending a tenancy so this is where the without grounds provision was removed and additional grounds were actually added in to end a tenancy. So another section implemented was that if the owner or the manager ends the tenancy due to a change of use so change of use might be maybe changing it from a permanent rental into a short stay. It could be that there's also to the sale of the rental property or if the owner or their immediate family are moving back into the property so the premises cannot be re-lit for a six month period. So this came with penalty provisions and again it would be up to the owner or the manager to provide evidence as to why this didn't occur if there was an investigation. So the legislation also stated it was an offence to provide false and misleading information in a notice requiring the tenant to vacate and again penalty provisions also applying in that regard. So just to summarise some of these grounds that came in in 2022 so the additional grounds included the end of a fixed term tenancy undertaking significant repairs, renovation, change of use, owner moving back in, preparing to sell or sale of the property and also to the properties required for state government program. So that could be where there might be a new train line or a road extension going through. So for tenants the additional grounds included that the property is not in good repair or meeting minimum housing standards when they come through which is now in 2023. It was also the death of a co-tenant so we had previously had the death of a sole tenant and this is actually adding now that's in place for the co-tenant. No longer a student and I'll talk about student accommodation because I know we have some student providers in today's session. Owner does not comply with a repair order or misrepresentation by the owner and that would need to be applying within the first three months if that was the case with QCAP. Remember there are also still the other ways the tenancy can end so you know not rectifying a remedy breach, mutual agreement and again those would actually have to be in writing and agreed by both parties. Going to QCAP if it's an urgent application, non-liveability. So some of these other reasons that have been in for a while are still in place so the main change here with these ones was that without grounds provision was removed. There's also some additional sections applying due to terminate because of a significant breach and this was meaning that the premises was used for illegal activities or significantly damaging the property or endangering another person. Just keep in mind too for community housing providers their section 290A which is very similar actually still does apply. Also too if there was repeated breaches a repeated breach of like a bylaw or park rule was actually added into the repeated breach section as well and too there was also a section related about retaliation where a tenant can apply to QCAP if they believe that the action from the owner or the manager is due to the tenant upholding their rights. So just want to touch on student accommodation or if so if you are owning or managing student accommodation and this is where the premises are primarily used for student accommodation and if the tenant or the resident stops being a student then either the provider or the manager or the tenant or the resident can give notice to end the tenancy and it's one month's notice is required. So the legislation does outline what a student is and remember in these situations this is not a lease break situation here. So some of the questions we've been asked around this particular topic is well can I ask for evidence if the student comes to me and says well you know I'm no longer a student. Well the answer is yes you can ask for like supporting documentation demonstrating that they're no longer a student. So they obviously could be that their courses ended or that they've had they've had to leave for whatever reason and no longer continuing with their studies. So again the legislation does outline what is a student as such and if they no longer are a student they they can actually give notice and end their tenancy if it is primarily used for student accommodation. So the full list of reasons to end a tenancy fact sheets the forms that to end a tenancy all that information is on our website. The resources are there to help you navigate how a tenancy can end. So it's not just the notices but also some helpful checklists as well. Mark I might get you to throw that into the chat if that's okay and Sam I might get you to come back on. The questions we received that were submitted through when we got registrations were all around the ending of the tenancy but we also had things that were actually addressed with not just end the tenancy but the tenant damage and how to address this. So we know that we've just covered off on how a tenancy ends but also to keep in mind like that mutual agreement is still also available but as for damage Sam I know it's not really part of today's topic but there's obviously opportunities to claim damage for repairs on the bond and there's also probably landlords insurance. What's your thoughts? Yeah absolutely you know if there's damage to the property the tenant leaving the property has a responsibility to return it in as close to the original condition as when they first moved in as possible fair wear and tear are accepted. Now we always get the question on what constitutes fair wear and tear. Ultimately it's the normal sort of a use of the property without doing anything I suppose outside of the ordinary which would cause damage. It is it is a broad definition ultimately you'll find that a lot of tenant feels that they might say that what they've done is fair wear and tear and a lot of agents or owners will say that no we consider that to be damage it's why our dispute resolution service exists so there's the ability to claim money from the bond have it as a dispute if you can't reach an agreement and again ultimately with QCAD as the final decision maker if needed. Right now just take a couple questions here from the chat and and that was like how much notice if an owner wants to move back into the property. Yeah so there is there is a reason an available reason to end a tendency for that purpose for the for the owner or immediate family to move back into the property however as you know as the questions that have come through there it can't be used to end an agreement early. So if you've got a fixed term agreement you can't just decide that you know in a month's time you want to move back in when there's six months left on the tendency agreement those kinds of situations if you really did need to to move into the property straight away there's the ability to go through to QCAD so you go straight to QCAD and you're essentially asking them to end the agreement on the grounds of excessive hardship so you need to demonstrate that you would be suffering excessive hardship if the agreement were not ended. And that also goes Elaine's just asking as well sorry about ending the properties being sold or being only put on the market it's a fixed term it's the same thing again just because you trying to look at ending the tendency if it's a fixed term it's a fixed term isn't it. So you can see you can see up on the screen currently there are notice periods there if you need to have a closer look that information is on our website I think Mark sent through a link in the chat. So it's a two month time frame but that's two months before the fixed term agreement ends as I said if you needed to to end a fixed term agreement earlier QCAD is your primary option unless you can negotiate directly with the tenant so as Lynn said there's always the ability to end an agreement through mutual agreement but outside of that you would need to to get QCAD to make that ruling. Yeah great all right we'll keep moving along we don't talk about repair orders now repair orders were added as an additional pathway for tents to have repairs carried out now one of the topics that we know in the RTA in our dispute resolution area and our call centre that's a popular topic is always about repairs a tenant can apply to the tribunal for an order on an urgent or non-urgent repair and a copy is then sent to the RTA. So it's really important to note that repair order is also attached to the rental property and should there be a change of owners say that the the property is being sold or that there's a change of property managers going from one agency to another then the repair order actually still does continue until it's complied with. Now if an owner does require more time to complete a repair order so say they might be like something significant there's a shortage of tradespeople again this is where they would actually need to stick an extension of time however they do need to apply to QCAD prior to the expiry date of that order so there are family provisions under the tents law to contravene a repair order and any outstanding repair orders must be disclosed to a prospective tenant and also to note it on the proposed tenancy agreement so again it's an additional pathway to actually get repairs done but we'd always recommend talking to each other if you need more time to get something fixed or consider even like a compensation or a rate reduction until an item actually is fixed if it is a significant item that's impacting that tenancy as well. Now the legislation says in granting an order that the tribunal must consider the conduct or of the owner or the agent the risk of injury the loss of amenity and any other matter that the tribunal may consider relevant and when they do make their directions about the repairs if they could say if the premises are vacant they could make an order that the premises can't be occupied until the repairs are completed it could be that the repair order may include what is or what's not going to be repaired and by when and on what date it could also be a reduction in rent or compensation as I said before or that the tribunal could order that the agreement ends if the repairs are not done by a certain date so repair orders are just one channel that also supports minimum housing standards and we'll talk about minimum housing standards shortly. So again the Act outlines emergency repairs and also what's a routine repair so for emergency repairs it's really important for tenants to know who to contact should there be a burst pipe storm flooding situations or an item or problem where that there's security or safety issues for them and the rental property so not all emergency repairs will happen during business hours so again really important that there's contact details on your tenancy agreement for those after hours emergency repairs so the less all provider have general obligations under the legislation and that is to ensure the premises are fit for the tent to live in clean and not any breach of any health and safety laws and while the tenancy continues they must maintain the premises and doing those repairs so to carry out repairs the owner or manager must give notice for entry so a form 9 is available from the RTA's website and give a minimum of 24 hours notice now it can be that you can have mutual agreement to enter and I know that one of the questions that's come through is about that timeframe and that process and yes you can do that if the tenant says no problems come in this afternoon I'll be at home or won't be at home but use the key you just need to probably as a best practice probably just documenting that as well so on our website and I'll get Mark to put a link in if he hasn't already done so is the fact sheets and videos on repairs as well as the repair orders and and what that actually means so our fact sheets are there for tenants as well as for our property managers and owners as well and you might find that that's quite helpful information and also to the process in relation to if a repair is not done okay just some other amendments quickly here is that there was an increase from the two weeks to four weeks for the cost for an emergency repair where a tenant can carry out that emergency repair and it's now equivalent to four weeks rent and seek reimbursement so remember emergency repairs are outlined under the legislation but there's still a process where a tenant should be able to attempt to contact the owner or the manager or the nominated tradesperson that's on their agreement now if there's no response this is when obviously this part of the section comes in and they can organize those repairs to be done there was also two that the lessors agent can may arrange for emergency repairs to be made now the meaning that is that the managers will be able to authorize those emergency repairs on behalf of an owner client up to equivalent of those four weeks and make deductions from the rent payments before they actually disperse the funds so for property managers who are attending today you should also make sure that you are compliant obviously with the OFT the Office of Fair Trading Rules with regards to your managing agreements with your landlord clients we're not here to give you legal advice in that regard but just making sure that they also understand the rules that obviously are in place as well and keep in mind too that your tense agreement must state a nominated repair for emergency repairs questions that we were asked last year was well can we actually have our agency details down well that's fine providing you're still available at two in the morning when there's a burst pipe and that you can actually provide assistance and organizing that repair to occur if that be the case the other part that also was changed was some bond management tweaks that were made but also two changes for section 136d now the tribunal may make an order about a rental bond payment having regard to the efforts made by the tent to comply with the tense obligations under section 1884 now for 1884 this is the tenants obligation is to return the property in the same condition it was at the start of the tenancy less fair wear and tear so nothing's changed in that regard that obligation is still in place the tribunal can also look at the lesser on tenants compliance with the act and evidence supporting any claim so this is really important we know that the RTA like about half of our disputes that we receive are bond related disputes so it's so important to have the documentation and the evidence at the start of the tense in the end of the tenancy so the entry condition report your exit reports are completed taking photos as further evidence supporting what the property condition was like at the start and also what it's like at the end tenants now have seven days to return the entry condition report at the start of the tenancy not the three days and nothing's changed in relation to the exiting side of it meaning that the tent needs to complete the exit condition report when they hand back the keys and the manager then has three business days to return a copy to their forwarding address so I cannot again stress enough the importance of that really good documentation and communication as well just so that you can actually avoid those bond disputes now mark I'm going to get you to come in and actually hopefully you've been able to summarise I've seen the chat function go up and down with everyone's putting questions in so I'll get you to have a look at those if that's okay yeah thanks Lynn so just having a look through there was a couple of questions from Jenny around pets so what happens when the owner says no to a pet and the pet is still kept at the premises and can we ask for documentation in relation to assisted dogs and then a follow-up to that was obviously what can they do if they fail to supply documentation they am all right so I'll kick off on those up to the first part around the request for a pet the request it comes through and the owner says no so the pet's not not been approved sounds like they're just keeping the keeping the animal anyway even though they haven't got permission rather than going through dispute resolution or going through to QCAT for instance if they've received a no and they haven't questioned it through dispute resolution or anything like that then it's a breach it's the same as if they haven't asked for permission essentially they've got a pet in the property that's not been approved you can issue a breach notice and follow that that normal process with regards to the requesting information around an assistance animal those kinds of things I would think that that's perfectly normal I don't think it's necessarily covered in the legislation explicitly but you can as Lynn had said earlier you can put in certain requirements around pets in the property and if it is an assistance animal I would expect that there would be supporting documentation with that thanks for that Sam one other question from Nikita with emergency repairs who is the invoice sent to and how could we recover costs from tenant in the event the repairs were not deemed an emergency so ultimately it sounds like you if you're not agreeing that the repair was an emergency repair it can come through dispute resolution and it's probably the appropriate place it can go through to QCAT if needed as for who gets the invoice or where that gets sent to I mean ultimately if the tenant is carrying out the repairs they can send the invoice to whoever they're renting through essentially if there's an agent they can send it to the agent if there's an owner that they rent from directly they can send it to them and then come through dispute resolution if you don't agree excellent and one other question that we've seen from Rachel if tenants do not provide a 14 a is there an obligation on the agent to complete one so entry condition report um so ultimately exit execution report sorry yeah so the entry condition report is um is mandatory the exit condition report is not um it's it's a really good piece of evidence to demonstrate how the property was and comparing it to the entry condition report at the start it's not an obligation to fill out the exit condition report but it is a really good practice and I think too if you did have a claim and you went to QCAT and there are some issues I think it's probably best to actually probably have one wouldn't it I think it's absolutely best practice um but yeah it's not it's not an offense not to not to complete one or anything like that all right thanks Mark we'll um keep going along I'm just conscious of um some time here we've still got from slides to go on some topics so we'll be as speedy as we possibly can so that we can make sure that we get to everyone's um questions as well so minimum housing standards started on 1 September for new tenses and this is where new agreements roomie agreements or tenancy agreements are signed and for all tenses will commence from 1 September next June 2024 bread of properties need to be safe secure and reasonable functionality so let's have a look through what does safe and secure means weatherproof and structurally sound so your roof and windows need to prevent water entering and that your floors and your walls and your roofs and decks and stairs are not likely to collapse due to a rot or a defect um you also have like supporting structures you know shouldn't be have significant dampness or not likely to cause damage to um occupants personal properties now fixtures and fittings need to be in good repair including any electrical items and not cause any injury the property needs to be free of vermin damp and mould however it doesn't apply if the um this is actually caused by the tenant now I'm going to talk about mould is being one of the most popular topics that we've actually had in relation to minimum housing stands so I'll talk about that in a sec um the other part is the functioning lock or latch is fitted to all external windows and doors to secure the premises against an unauthorized entry so it applies to doors and windows um it does apply sorry it doesn't apply um if you require a ladder to access again the purpose on this one is to ensure that the premises are secure and I know we're going to get a lot of questions about order I have to put a lock on every single window no it just talks about a functioning lock or functioning latch so keep that in mind privacy coverings this is for windows um in all rooms where the tenant would expect privacy so this is like your bedrooms and bathrooms this could be a curtain a blind or frosting it doesn't apply if that window is obstructed by a fence or a hedge or a tree now let's talk about mould it's one of those as I said before a popular topic so we are always asked when it comes to mould who who cleans it who deals with it so you have to ask the question of what when why and how these quest these are the questions you have to answer so if mould is a health and safety concern it does need to be addressed but whether that is actually by the owner of the manager or whether it's by the tenant and that's by asking those questions on how it got there in the first place so if it's not clear excuse me if it's not clear on how the mould got there in the first place then potentially you're looking at an inspection by an external professional or maybe someone with experience that may be able to assist you so again if we're talking like a leaking ceiling a leaking shower yeah their structural items are there they clearly fall to the owner if we are talking about mould in the bathroom because someone didn't put the exhaust fan on clearly that's going to be falling through to the tenant to rectify and we know that some of the gray areas are around sometimes the environment and that's sometimes is a negotiation but look there's many products available out there to remove mould and yes you can search on the internet we're not the mould experts but over time we've learned a lot of lessons about mould and know that some products will discolor the mould versus removing the mould spores and hence why if you don't remove the spores the mould comes back so please do yourself please do research and ensure that the product or service that you have is right and and does fit your individual situation with the rental property so besides safe and secure the premises needs to have reasonable functionality so the premises must have adequate plumbing and drainage for the number of people occupying the premises and be connected to a water supply or infrastructure supplying hot and cold water suitable for drinking your bathroom and toilet facilities must provide privacy and function as designed and they must be connected to a sewer septic or other waste disposal system now if included kitchen must have a functioning cooktop and your laundry must include fixtures required to provide a functional laundry now one of the questions we're getting asked to is what happens if the tent believes that the rental property does not meet minimum housing standards and then there are several options is what you can see on your slide there so in the first instance the RTA is always going to recommend self-resolution you know so both the tenant the owner and the managers talking with each other and trying to resolve the matter and work out a solution so again communications are key to resolving a lot of the tenancy disputes that we see and we know that it can work so however if we look at the slide we've got the option of if the tenants just moved in and the property doesn't meet minimum housing standards they could give notice and move out in the first seven days of occupancy they still do need to give notice by the way for that one if applicable the tenant can apply for termination order at QCAT on the grounds of misrepresentation that has to be done within the first three months option three is the tenant requests emergency repairs to the premises option four is the tenant applies for free dispute resolution service through the RTA about getting repairs done to the property and option five is the tenant makes an urgent application to QCAT for repair order and just touching again on the body corporate side things for pets repairs and minimum housing standards you've got your complexes that will have bylaws about window coverings you could have also too about repairs working out whether it's the owner's responsibility or whether it might actually fall to the body corporate so a roof and external walls and even some in some of the internal piping may fall to the body corporate rather than the actual owner so you need to look at the time frames body corporates need to take that action and or committees they whether it falls within their spending limit or not we have done a couple webinars with the commissioner's office they're available on our website and a really great resource if you happen to manage or live in a body corporate situation then again please have a look at those resources and i might get you to put a couple of links in the chat if that's okay now the other changes that came through this year was the changes where we it's been limited to the rent increase frequency to be not every six months but to be changed to be once every 12 months so these amendments do bring Queensland into line with other Australian jurisdictions so it does not limit the rent increase amount but applies to existing and new tenancies and this came in as of one July so they're also retrospective meaning that if you had an existing lease in place and you had increases that said six months well no it actually have to be the 12 months the 12 month period is since the last increase or when the rent was payable and it applies where at least one tenants right to occupy the property continues and whether or not there's been a change of the owner or the change of a property manager so we do have videos and fact sheets and also to a list of frequently asked questions on our website covering this particular topic now if you fell into the exemption part which under legislation was like if the lesson was a state or if you fell into the other reasons for the exemption then you would still continue to get the exemption but if you didn't have the exemption previously then the new rules or the current rules now for the 12 months will actually apply to you again we do actually have some examples on our website for rent increases just to try and help you have a better understanding about when the increases can occur and when it cannot occur legislation still remains the same when it comes to a tenant wishing to dispute the proposed rent increase if they do feel that it's excessive they can actually make an application to QCAT they do come through the RTA's dispute resolution service first and must do so within 30 days of receiving the notification if it does go to QCAT the adjudicator is going to look at the range of market rents used to charge for compatible properties the increase compared to the current rent the stator repair the term of the tenancy and literally anything else that the tribunal might consider relevant so there is more information again on our website on this but also to we do publish median rent data across the whole of Queensland for various types of properties so you can actually search your postcode area and your type of property and actually check out what the median rent data is for that particular type of property in your location we publish this every quarter and it also then you can also look back throughout the year as well as past years and see how the market has been for your type of property now just on the rent increase back in July there was a further announcement made where the Queensland Government did a consultation on their frequency with the objective of the reform and to ensure that the annual rent increase limit operates effectively and to help stabilise the rent in the private market so the Queensland Government sought the feedback and it was about proposing the increase to be attached to the rental property rather than individual tenancies now there was a discussion paper that was released by the Government consultation closed back in August so we are waiting for further updates from the Department of Housing with regards to the outcome of that consultation so once we do know more we will also let you know so many of you would also be aware of the announcement of stage two of the rental reform so the Government produced an options paper sought feedback this closed back in May there's five key legislative reform priorities that was listed in the options paper so the installation of modifications and making personal personalisation changes sorry now you probably would have known that that was probably part of the stage one but just didn't quite make it into the amendments then so they've actually been looking at now for stage two the balancing privacy and access improving the rental bond process and fairer fees and charges now the link I have on the slide they'll get marked to also put that into the chat for you so please copy that out of the chat if you want to know more about what was proposed or what has been proposed and sought feedback on remember this is not law at this time of this webinar so the Department of Housing are reviewing all the feedback it's received and obviously they'll advise us in due course and we can let everybody know what will actually be coming forward for stage two so there's stage there's steps in relation to once the option paper is sorted that you know the developing of the reforms it's going to be introduced into parliament it's going to be passed in parliament and then the stage two needs to be implemented so there's other steps that needs to be involved here before it becomes legislation and as I said before once we know more we will certainly be letting you and everybody else know in the sector so I'm just conscious we have gone a little bit over time and we're going to get to your questions but again all our resources you can sign up for our e-news and get information to your inbox our podcasts and our webinars are also available and also very much a lot of information there about all the changes that's happened over the last year or two as well now Mark can we kind of get you to come back on is there there is a lot of questions there I know that can we kind of like summarize them into like some topics and things like that and see how we go thank you if you can hang on with us for a little bit longer we'll get through a little bit more in the way of the questions so just grouping up the question is there a cap on how much rent can be increased is the general okay so the legislation there's nothing in the legislation that says how much rent could be and the rta doesn't have a position on what constitutes an excessive rent increase so there's no limit essentially but as Lynn said if if a tenant feels that an increase is more than is reasonable there is a process for them to come through dispute resolution and go to QCAT if needed there's timeframes that can apply but there's no cap as such thanks Sam and one last one and this is probably a little bit specific but property owners for property managers for a building complex one owner nobody corporate at the moment house rules allow for smoking on the balcony are we able to amend the house rules and implement a rule that makes the whole complex and non-smoking building including no vaping so you are you are able i'm sorry we're not jumping just quickly you are able to make house rules about no smoking the challenge that you find is whenever you're trying to do something while there's current agreements in place but certainly if you know if everyone negotiates and that's okay that's fine but ultimately you're probably looking at after these agreements have finished or coming through dispute resolution yeah i was just going to add to that too for anyone who is actually in the body corporate world as well like managing units and apartments again i mentioned previously about the bill being introduced into parliament for some changes to the body corporate rules smoking actually is one of those that i believe might be looked at as well as i think it's pets and towing i think might be the other one just to keep an eye on that as well but same i might just come back to you there's a couple questions that were submitted in previously about can the rent be increased after a break lease okay yeah so as the legislation stands from from when it was changed with the 12 month time frame so not being able to increase the the rent any more frequently and then every 12 months if it's a break lease situation and everyone is out of the property and you've got brand new tenants coming in then there's nothing necessarily stopping you from from increasing the rent and again obviously it comes in because it's a new tendency but again if you do increase the rent you've got that mitigation of loss haven't you to make sure that you haven't jeopardised finding a replacement tenant absolutely so you need to you need to do everything you can to find a new tenant as quickly as possible you don't want to be putting anyone off because you might be impacting your own compensation claim correct so one of the other ones that we want to just touch on base here there's a couple if we can if everyone could just bear with us was in relation to rent reviews with community housing providers if the tense income changes whether it's increase or decrease can the rent review be done okay so you mentioned a bit about exemptions previously so I know when they're when they're sort of income based rent arrangements they're often sort of community housing providers I think so the exemptions weren't weren't touched when the new legislation came in so if you were previously having to only able to increase the rent every six months that would now be every 12 months ultimately you can do a rent review but you wouldn't be able to increase the rent unless it had been 12 months since that amount had been made payable yeah as you said really important to work out whether you've got that exemption or not the exemption just a couple more of that's okay Sam the rent increased during a fixed term and the two months notice requirement the process for that yeah so it's and you know really good information on our website but it's it's making sure that you're sticking to the fundamentals so you know you can increase the rent more than every 12 months you need to give two months notice to the tenant to let them know that the rent is going to change so ultimately you're looking at making sure that you're meeting those time frames so that you're clear with the tenant tenant knows what they've got to do and you're not increasing the rent earlier than the 12 month period and mark I might come back to you there's a couple of questions I know that's come into the chat I might just get you to have a quick look at those for us while we're talking about rent increases there's a question that's coming can rent be increased on a new tenancy after six months we need to be 12 months so the key there is if the tenants remaining or at least one of the tenants is remaining in that subsequent agreement it needs to be 12 months yeah all right and then just and I guess this is going back Lynn to the changing the laws around death of a co-tenant if there's a death in the family of a tenant for example a child is there an opportunity to break lease without penalty due to the emotional stress and trauma as their current situation has drastically changed and that's a really good question thanks Lindsay for asking and I suppose at the end day because it like it is obviously a very sensitive situation you would hope that both the tenant and the manager and the owner would actually be communicating and talking to each other and if it wasn't allowed that the tenant could actually break the lease then the tenant would be in a position to actually apply for hardship through QCAT would you agree Sam yeah absolutely yeah okay well look I know that we had some other questions in relation to just quickly Sam I'll fire off a few here what do tenants do in room accommodation if it's they don't want to clean it according to a cleaning roster you know what do they do if we've got like an applicable house rule around cleaning and cleaning can be a bit subjective but if they're clearly not doing it well they're not keeping the premises clean as per the agreement they'd be in breach of the agreement you can issue them with a breach notice yeah got quite a few questions that was cemented for about the rental reforms for stage two and all I can say for that is like once we know more absolutely we will do something very similar to what we've done for the last couple of years in relation to delivering education a variety of channels that we'll do it through webinars podcasts you know our face-to-face events that we've done around the state fact sheets you know it will actually be doing that so please everyone just be mindful that we will actually educate we will provide information about the changes when they and when they do actually come through so not to stress about it but once we know more we will be passing that information on periodic chances versus fixed term leases we know the difference obviously start date end date for a fixed period of time versus a start date no end date someone's asked what's best I don't think I'm allowed to have an opinion no ultimately it'll depend on the circumstances and and what your requirements are potentially what insurance requirements are we'd encourage you to to do your research ultimately and make sure that whatever agreement you're putting in place suits your particular needs yeah great and look if we haven't been able to quite get to your question that you submitted earlier we will actually go back through and actually have a look at those because we'll actually have your details our website has a lot of information and resources available to help you navigate those tenancy laws and processes our contact center the fantastic staff in our contact center is available Monday to Friday to help you out on the 1300 300 6301 number there'll be a quick survey that's going to come up at the end of the webinar we'd really appreciate you completing it takes either 10 seconds or one minute how whatever one you'd like to go for it's a very short question and we'd love to also hear what topics you'd like to know more about thank you Sam thank you Mark for your assistance today thank you for attending the webinar