 Hello everybody and welcome to the RTA's webinar on the deep dive into Queensland's new housing legislation amendments. My name is Lynne Smith. I'm with the communication and education team at the RTA. I've been here for over 16 years in two areas of education and also a dispute resolution area. So overall I have over 35 years experience dealing with all things tenancy laws and also landlords, agents and tenants. We also have Lynne from our outreach team helping us with any technical issues or support in the background and also behind the scenes with our polls and questions. So thanks for joining in today as well Lauren. 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 joining us from as well and pay my respects to elders past present and emerging. We do have a lot to cover in today. So today's presentation I want to just quickly go over the overview and also the DFB protections that was introduced in October. I want to focus on what we know so far, what's to start and what has started, what is to start and provide you with an update from the RTA. Please note we do not have a proclamation date as yet for some of the key legislation changes. However the content we provide you today will give you a better understanding of what is around the corner. When the dates are announced there will be a lot to take in and you'll be ready ahead of everybody and better informed. So we know that we cannot provide you with legal advice and as always you are encouraged to seek your own independent advice and making informed decisions. So our webinar is interactive and we want to hear from you. I'll also be doing a few polls during the session. We will have a question session before the webinar ends and we'd love to receive your questions so please use the chat function that's the speech bubble in your zoom toolbar and what you see on your the image that you see on your screen. I'd also like to advise that we do have quite a large number of attendees in our audience today and that the question time may go over our allocated time or that we may not get to all questions but we will certainly try. We also want to hear from you on how today went and importantly what future topics you would like to know more about so please look out for the survey at the end of the webinar and we'll take about a minute to complete. So Lauren I think we'll launch our first poll. This is just a find out which area of Queensland you are joining us today from and which rental group do you identify with. Keep in note to that the webinar we did last November when the new rules first was introduced did a focus on domestic and family violence but rest assured we will continue to do more education as more information does come to hand. Okay Lauren you've got the poll going there for me thank you. So what we are seeing is that we do have the bulk of our audience today our property managers or agents and also landlords and followed by community housing and support workers. So Lauren I might just get you to share that poll right and also to the second part in relation to where you are joining us today from and we have 77 percent joining us from southeast Queensland but big shout out to our central northern west Queensland people as well. Thanks Lauren. So let's kick on with our first topic and it was just to summarize briefly the process of the new amendments. So this commenced with renting reform consultation back in 2018 and the image on your right hand side of your screen shows the various steps up until where we are now with which is the housing legislation amendments Act 2021 and that was passed in parliament in October and became law. This amends the existing residential tenses and roomy accommodation act and regulations and also repeals the COVID emergency response laws. Four key areas domestic and family violence framework for negotiating renting with pets approved reasons to end a tendency and minimum housing standards. So more information on the process or copy the amendments can be found on the links on your screen and I'll also get Lauren to send that copy the links into the chat function as well so that you can copy them over into your notes if you want to for more information. This is only stage one there will be a stage two rental law reform and also two if you want more information on the housing legislation amendment bill there is also explanatory notes so that you can actually also search for them. So the previous webinar on the changes in November last year we went into more detail on the DfE provisions however let's make sure that we're all on the same page and I'm just going to quickly summarize the DfE provisions over the next few slides it does apply to general tenses as well as roomy accommodation. So the DfE provisions are effective as of 20 October 2021 tents experiencing DfE can end their interest in the tendency request their bond contribution be refunded if they paid bond money they're not liable for relating costs or any damage caused by the domestic and family violence if they decide to stay in that rental property they can look to change locks or any access codes without the owner's consent to ensure their safety yes they will need to provide a copy of the keys when it's practical to do so. So the practical side of this process noting that we have new forms that you may need to be finding yourself familiar with and I'll step through them shortly the tenant impacted by domestic and family violence the vacating tenant will need to provide the property manager owner with a notice ending tenancy interest I'll also need to provide a copy or show relevant evidence and that's such as things like a protection order or a police notice or a completed domestic and family violence report the DfE report can be completed by various health practitioners support professionals a refugee or crisis worker a solicitor or even a social worker but what happens if you as a property manager or owner don't agree then you need to apply to QCAT within seven days to have the notice set aside but you will also need to advise the vacating tenant that this is your option this is a process that you must follow you can't can I just confirm here you can't just say no I'm not going to accept it and force a tent to state they wanting to follow this process so again if you don't agree then it's the QCAT pathway if the domestic and family violence tenant that is leaving has claimed their portion of the bond you can also respond to the notice of claim and dispute the refund if you do not agree there is a strict process to follow for remaining tenants including issuing a continuing interest notice and that's not issued until it's between days seven to day 14 after the person experiencing the violence interest in the tenancy has ended so you can also ask them to top up the rental bond balance remember for managers and their employees and for the owner there is compliance for confidentiality in this situation and must you must not disclose the domestic and family violence information there are penalties attached to this new section if you breach them and it has been taken quite seriously so can I just clarify here too it's probably seen as best practice to document or keep a record of your process and ensure that the vacating tenant has left and your timeframes for notification to the remaining tenant complies with the required time frame and you have also informed the vacating tenant the date that you are issuing that notice so again remember that confidentiality and safety is a priority in these situations so please be familiar with the new four forms that we have relating to domestic and family violence provisions all of them are available on our website if there's a person claiming a bond that is the person that's experiencing dfv and claiming their portion a new form for a just a reminder that can be submitted by paper to the rta or by email and not by the rta's web services the other notices that you have a is the notice ending tenants interest the form 20 the dfv report and that's what I talked about before as that further evidence for that notice and also the continuing interest notice also to keep in mind the rta we are in the process of releasing a new domestic and family violence flowchart available for managers and owners one for tenants also for providers and residents as well and it'll cover both the rooming and the general tenancies it's going to help you navigate this process so do watch out for that that should be released on our website shortly so just want to clarify some of the processes so firstly about the remaining tenants being issued a notice of claim so in a domestic and family violence situation any bond co-contributors are not issued a notice of claim hence there is a new form for that we are asking you to use that we can identify that situation and only the property manager owner is issued the notice of claim one of the questions we have been receiving is can the vacating tent be held live for other breaches and I know that there's some also some comments coming through and some questions about that so yes there can be so if there is rent or water bill then yes they can actually be held liable for that it's very clear they're not liable for damages caused by the domestic and family violence a tent leaving in a dfv situation cannot be charged a break lease relating fee and costs if the situation is a marriage breakdown one party is leaving depending on the situation you can have like a mutual agreement to end that tenancy or the tenant could apply to QCAP on the grounds of hardship to end the tenancy so if it's not a domestic and family violence situation with the supporting evidence then they don't follow that dfv process can a property manager refuse the domestic and family violence notice I did mention it before and there is a process that you do need to follow if you don't accept the notice or and that is you can't just say no I don't accept it if you disagree you as an agent or landlord need to apply to that QCAP and follow that process you need to inform the vacating tenant that that's the pathway that you're taking um with regards to QCAP and a bond process you can have two processes um running at the same time so if you've applied to QCAP to have the notice set aside you can also dispute the bond refund if there was a claim and they're two separate processes a notice is an urgent um application directly to QCAP whereas the bond dispute it's through the RTA's free dispute resolution process first and is a non-urgent matter um and keep in mind if the RTA does receive an order from QCAP saying that the interest in the tenancy is not too is to continue and it's not eligible for the claim on the bond then we will act accordingly on that order um what happens if the dfv situation is not with the co-tenant and with someone else who lives somewhere else so the dfv tenant may still meet a situation requiring them to leave the property they can still follow the process to end their tenancy interest again would need to provide that supporting documentation to you remember as a property manager or an owner you are assessing the information provided um to see if it meets the requirements are set out under the act you're not judging whether the dfv has occurred or not if there is an evidence gap in the documentation you may be looking for more information as what is outlined under the act nothing more so i just want to be clear agents landlords you know you don't have a right in relation to the judging of the dfv whether it's occurred or not it's assessing the information provided to make sure it meets the requirements as what is set out in the act there are organizations that can provide assistance to anyone fleeing dfv and you can find more that information on our website as well okay what i might do is just go to our next session which is about the minimum housing standards and we might come back to some of the questions asked on dfv after this session so section 185 is for the lessons general obligations that continues the owner must ensure the premises are cleaned fit to live in not in breach of any health or safety laws and while the chance to continues they've got to carry out repairs and maintenance so if you have a landlord client not willing to carry out repairs then this is a section that you must be quoting them for roomy accommodation it's section 247 outlining the provider's general obligations so the minimum housing standards are not currently in effect so time has been given for property owners to be compliant so they do they're due to come um due to commence sorry from 1 September 2023 for all new tenancies so when you have a new tenancy signed or a renewal and then for all other tenancies for everybody else it'll be 1 September 2024 so what it means is that there is time to ensure property owners are up to speed with the requirements so the minimum housing standards was first passed back in 2017 as part of the government previous election commitment so this allowed for the introduction of the standards as part of the housing legislation amendment 2021 with more details and what you see on your screen so the rental property needs to fall into two categories of safety and security and the other one is the reasonable functionality so some items listed look to be fairly standard such as a functioning kitchen and a laundry adequate plumbing and drainage and weather proof and structurally sound but it's also put a clarification around locks on windows and doors to help secure the property now the section says a functioning lock or latch fitted to all external windows or doors to secure the premises against unauthorized entry the property needs to be free of vermin damp and mould and also the requirement of privacy coverings so this is meaning your blinds and your curtains installed in rooms which tends to be reasonably likely to expect privacy however keep in mind it also states that it does not apply to a window if it's in line of a site from outside inside if it's obstructed by a fence a hedge or a tree so again I might just stop there before we keep going Lauren and just come back to some of the questions that we've got coming in because a lot of them are in relation to the domestic and family violence part so are they responsible for cleaning the home when they're leaving so I suppose at the end day when the tenant is leaving the property again they're responsible for any if there's any other breaches however there still is a section of the legislation that talks about if that the tenant returns the property in the same condition it was at the start of tenancy less fair wear and tear so just always keep that in mind that actually might actually also fills in a few other gaps or some other the questions it's coming through as well just wanting to confirm the continuing tenant cannot be told until seven days after the vacating tenant has left correct so we're looking at once the time frame is up so the vacating tenant needs to give seven days notice of their intention to leave they can leave earlier that's fine but you would also want to clarify that they have left so their notice is at the end of that time so between days seven and fourteen after that expiry of days seven you would actually issuing the continuing interest notice to the remaining tenants in relation to the evidence I think I've actually clarified that in the previous slides but we're talking about there is a domestic and family violence report that is available on the RTA's website and it can be completed by various practitioners and support workers and things like that so again that sort of information is available also if they happen to have like a police report or another type of evidence that supports the situation it does say they can either provide you with a copy or show you so some people may have a particular notice they don't actually give you an actual copy but they will actually show you what that copy is also too in relation to a share house situation if the remaining tenants are responsible again it comes back to you know the cleaning or the any damages the tenant that is actually at the end of their tendency to turn the property in the same condition it was less fair wear and tear I might just keep going on to the next slide line and we'll come back to the next sort of questions okay so let's have a look at there's a lot of other amendments that's in amongst the new amendments and they have yet to have a start date so I just want to quickly go through all of these it's not an exhausted list but things that I felt that were really quite important for you to be aware of so changes to the entry condition report timeframe currently tenants have three days to return assigned and completed copy of the entry condition report to you as a property manager or an owner this allows them the opportunity to note down any damages or if items are not clean or working the new amendments will see the timeframe change to seven days giving tenants more time to return that report so when it does come in um property managers you don't need to look at your business practices whether you send out reminders to have the tenants return the report or not so we are also aware that some managers still do the report together with the incoming tenant and that's fine so this will also be applicable for room accommodation and what's also been clarified here is unless a new condition report is prepared for a renewal agreement the entry condition report for the regional agreement is taken to be the report for that tenancy so for that one it's business as usual for most that um for that particular section um let's focus now a bit on the repair changes for general tenancies so an increase from two weeks to four weeks for cost of emergency repairs additional sections have been added in um section 221a to 221c regarding repair orders with the tribunal including an extension of time requests to comply with the repair order and also an offence to contravene a repair order so there's penalty units attached to this section 50 penalty units and also a weekly offence if it continues of five penalty units for each week that the offence does continues um new section is 219a the lessors agent may arrange for emergency repairs to be made meaning that the managers will be able to authorize emergency repairs on behalf of an owner client up to the equivalent of four weeks rent and make deductions from rent payments up to the cost of the repair before disbursement of funds now we know in most practices that your management agreements for property managers may have up to two weeks rent for emergency repairs when this does come into play the amendments will allow up to four weeks so keep in mind um if you are a property manager whether you need to make any amendments with your agreement or agreements um directly with your landlord clients um that's not covered um between the rta that's more like an officer trading form and again these have yet to have a start date um other additional changes coming in there's new pools 357a where you can write a special term in the 10c agreement requiring the tent to pay reasonable costs uh reasonable relating costs um if the agreement is a fixed term and the tenant ends the agreement other than a way that's permitted under the act um the tent's liable under the term um for the reasonable costs incurred by the landlord in relating the premises so that's a lease break situation um this does not apply for tenants experiencing domestic and family violence whether the tenant ends the agreement or interests in the agreement uh there is also a new clause section 57a offer of a residential tenancy must disclose particular information what this information is has yet to be described in a regulation so once we know more we can also inform you of this clause 58 um is amended to require not just a document prepared for section 60 in 61 which is the lease agreement but also states any other information prescribed by a regulation so again once that regulation's been finalised we'll be able to let you know more information the providing of particular information will also apply to rooming accommodation so for people doing rooming section 76a and b so to give you an example currently we have it that there's a copy of the proposed tenancy agreement um what we are looking at there will be other information as well just also too for a side issue for rooming accommodation providers and residents new section 105a allows residents to apply to the tribunal if they believe rent increase is excessive the general tencies that's already in place but for rooming that has actually been added so some of the bond amendments um include clarification around if a resident is a border lodger and that if a bond's paid that needs to lodge with the rta section 136 has the sections been expanded and now included a separate a to e while most of this is the same as previously please note if seeking an extension of time to apply to the tribunal um that has also um been clarified about sufficient reasons and have also provide examples the extension period is up to three days so with this one this is in relation to the um nursing plan that's come through then the other party disputes it it goes through our dispute resolution and so what we're talking about here is that if it's unresolved a nurse of unresolved dispute is issued um and what we mean that if someone is unable to apply to the tribunal in that timeframe which as we know with bonds it's seven-day timeframe um if there's a sufficient reason such as a person was hospitalised during the claim period or there's been an impact by natural disaster they're the reasons that's also been put in there um then they can seek an extension for up to three days um and the last point is the rta not to pay a bond if the authority knows the tenant did not vacate the property so let's talk about pets shall we at the time of this webinar the current laws still apply meaning that the annual manager must give permission tenants and owners will need to comply with the body corporate bylaws what we do know and it's common practice for tenants to provide managers and owners with a pet resume details of the pet photo part of their application so the tenancy agreement will also state yes or no if a pet's approved and also best idea is to state the type of pet don't just say one dog but be a bit of a description about the dog say you know it's one medium-sized dog a bit of still it's one male spaniel called max you know as you can see in the slide dogs do come in different shapes and sizes so it's always best to be descriptive in case the dog passes and a new dog's bought um that may not necessarily be the same size or type so with renting with a pet and the new laws that again have yet to have a start date um it will apply for general tenses and rooming accommodation remember this is about a negotiation framework a tenant can seek permission and the manager can only refuse a request on identified reasonable grounds and will need to do so within 14 days we will have more information once we have a start date so the next slide i'm going to talk about is about the reasonable grounds for refusal um a manager's consent may be subject to reasonable conditions and that's fine such as the dog or cat needs to stay outside um but you need to be noting that it's also been very clear that any pet damage is not done to be fair wear and tear and you'll also be a hull to have the carpet cleaning clauses and also the pet's control clauses you cannot ask for a pet bond or increase the rent to allow for a pet so let's have a look at the reasonable grounds to refuse these are outlined to under section 184e these include what you see on your screen the premises are unsuitable or the pet is likely to cause damage that could not be practically be repaired for a cost less than the rental bond amount it could be contravening another law or bylaw risk to health and safety of another person as you can see pets do come in many shapes and sizes we're not just talking about cats dogs and birds or if the tenant does not agree with the reasonable conditions that have been proposed by the landlord as part of the condition of having a pet the new laws also include some clarification around a working dog um does not require a landlord's approval a working dog is covered under three legislations as you see on your screen so you go dog corrective service dog or police dog so section 171 the supply goods and services now has that exemption regarding a special term that allows the manager of the owner to request that pet's control and carpet cleaning if that pet is allowed for roomy accommodation attendees today all the pet rules are under section 25680g um in the new amendments so Laura I'm just going to come back to you now in relation to another poll because I'd like to hear your thoughts um in relation to the new pet laws so Lauren if I can get true to please launch the um poll thank you so what is your perspective on legislation regarding the pets so are you comfortable and understand where the new laws are coming from um the difficulties in responding to the pet requests potential for any damages or if you're on the outside getting approval from the landlord may be challenging so what we're looking for is some information from you about what you see is um your concerns in this field so just leave that going for a moment just confirming okay so just a couple questions on the minimum housing standard side thing just confirm your latch rather than a lock acceptable on windows and whether it's a requirement for a key lock legislation hasn't actually been gone right into specifics but I think what you need to be looking at it does very clearly say a lock or a latch but it's all about the safety and security of the premises um so obviously when we're talking doors absolutely key locks and things like that um we also do um asking a question do we need security screens on windows um there's nothing in the legislation that talks about that um again it's that probably that reasonable test as well but there's nothing that says about putting on security screens long we might just close that poll and I might just get you to launch um what the result or share the results for me if that's okay um and it looks like um a bit of a mixed challenge there in relation to there are quite a few people 30 percent are saying that they're comfortable with understanding the new laws um but there might be some issues in relation to the approval side of it and also the potential damages so thanks everybody online you can stop showing that for me thanks okay let's get on to the next um part of today's presentation which is the ending of a tenancy so with the other major changes this is probably um the last major um more main topics but without grounds provision has been removed and new reasons to end the tenancy has been added so these new grounds will apply for general tencies and roomy accommodation however the timeframe is going to differ as usual between the two types of tenancies so the new grounds include ending of a fixed term agreement the owner undertaking significant repair or renovations a change of use of the property um preparing a property to sell or the sale of the rental property um and these new point in these new sections are probably more from the owners or the manager's point of view as well but i will get into a little bit more some of the other new grounds that's being also added from the tenants point um a new section 297b application to terminate because of a serious breach under general tenancy so this one is going to include illegal activities intentional or reckless destroyed or damaged the premises or endangered another person or significantly um interfered with the recent peace company privacy of another tenant with this section it also states that the owner may form a reasonable belief that the property has been used for an illegal activity whether or not anyone has been convicted or found guilty of an offense so for our community um housing providers in um today's session keep in mind section 290a still applies for when the lesser is the state for its community housing also too i just want to flame if i go to the next um slide um section 299 is all about repeated breaches in ending a tenancy there has been an additional section added so it's 2994g and that includes repeated breaches for when a tenant breaches a body called the bylaw or for caravan park managers are very um repeated breaches of park rules okay additional grounds have also been added for tenants so tenants will have the ability to end a tenancy due to the property not in good repair or complying with minimum housing standards uh the tenant needs to give notice in the first seven days when the tenant occupies the property um if a co-tenant passes away and it would be impractical for the remaining tenant to continue or would cause them hardship they can also end the tenancy so again clarification on this one that is not a lease break they can end the tenancy if the premises are primarily used to provide student accommodation and the tenant stops being a student as outlined in the act they can give notice of their intention to leave so this is called ending of entitlement student accommodation also to the student accommodation provider can also give a notice to a resident if they are no longer a student providing that accommodation is for the purpose of student accommodation also to a tenant may be applying to a tribunal to term out the tenancy due to misrepresentation by the lessor or the lessor's agent so for this section 312a it must be within three months of the tenant occupying the property and also the new section 246a regarding the tenant taking action or applying to the tribunal if the tenant reasonably believes the action by the lessor in giving a breach notice increasing the rent or ending the tenancy or refusing to enter into another fixed agreement is due to the tenant requesting repairs or requesting reimbursement or for emergency repairs or applying to the tribunal for an order this also does apply for rooming accommodation under section 276a so I just want to have a look at just a few examples this is an exhausted list but I want to just have a look at the practical side and share with you in relation to ending a tenancy so what we look at fixed term agreements can end during the fixed period if there's been a breach not rectified requiring that form 12 notes to leave issued a fixed term can also end with the new reason because it's the end of the fixed term date and of course you do have mutual agreement as well periodic agreements or if it's come to the end of the fixed term and you're giving the correct timeframe and that is not before the end of the tenancy term you have also the significant repairs or renovations being done owner or their immediate family moving in sale requiring vacant possession and also mutual agreement so the act still sets out how a tenancy can end so nothing has changed from that regard as well so they're still in place with also ending due to domestic family violence if they are also a sole tenant so I'll put this slide in here in relation to a bit of a caution so there is penalty provisions apply in relation to and it's up to 50 penalty units for providing falsely misleading information in a notice that is requiring the tenant to leave this is again for rooming providers and agents and property owners so if you as an owner needs to you or an agent you need to ensure that when you are ending a tenancy due to a sale contract or putting property on the market significant repairs redevelopment or demolition there's a change of use or the owners moving back in that it is true and correct and not used as a way to end a tenancy if you have ended the agreement because of this you cannot offer a residential tenancy or a rooming agreement for the premises for six months after the handover date of the tent vacating tenant so key sections here um 365 for falsely misleading information and 365 b and d not relaying the premises for six months after ending the tenancy um so section 371 a to e is for the rooming accommodation so within your amendments added there will be around 140 sections of the legislation that will have penalty sections attached so currently under the um current residential tenancy room accommodation now the 568 there's 120 sections well there's about another 20 that's been added for the new housing legislation amendments so before I go to the next slide Lauren can I just get you to pull up another poll for me please just in relation to the ending of the tenancy what we'd like to do is actually hear from you do you have a better understanding of the ending tenancy reasons um or you just need more time to review some timeframes um or not sure in relation to ending a fixed or a periodic um or other so we've actually got are you allowed to charge a pet application fee the answer is no just in relation to some of the questions that's been asked um so you can't do that so the legislation is very clear about what you can ask for and a application fee whether it's a pet or not um a standard cash fee is not allowed under the legislation at all um another question obviously for my an onsite manager who's coming in asking for managing large unit complexes what may be reasonable amount of pets um it's not so much in relation to that in our legislation it's more in relation to obviously when you're in a complex um of apartments you're going to have what do you call the bylaws you're going to have to obviously have committee approval for pets so that's a little bit outside the guidelines but again also to the legislation that is coming into place says that obviously the committee or the by other what do you call the committee needs to obviously provide um permission as well um in relation to just another question coming back through uh about privacy coverings um they are in relation to the things such as your blinds and your curtains or some other type of screening um that might be put through so that's again just make sure that there's privacy for the tenant for particular rooms um how we go with that poll there Lauren um okay so it looks like um majority of people do actually have a fair understanding of what the new reasons are or just needing a little bit more time i'll just get you to share those results if you wouldn't mind Lauren thanks um and we just got a few people just for other if there is something else that um you feel is is an issue or concern please put a little comment in the um chat function um okay so we do actually have some questions in relation to a lot of people asking about what happens if the properties um sells to an investor do they have to wait six months before they can relet the answer to that is no because obviously it's going it's the purpose this particular clause is more about um if you are ending the tenancy and asking the tent to leave because the property has been um sold or you're looking to have the property prepared to sell what we're looking at is um if it's been falsely misleading in relation to the intent of ending that tenancy so if the property has been sold to an investor then obviously if they're happy to end the part of the contract is that the tenancy continues keep in mind if a tenant is on a fixed term agreement then you can't end the tenancy on that reason if the property's been sold uh not before the end of that fixed term tenancy period so if an investor has purchased then they then obviously become the new owner as such um in relation to body corporate sometimes do charge for pet application again that's not in our laws our laws state that um we don't have um an application fee that can be charged in relation to body corporate laws that might be something um very different and i would actually refer you to the body corporate commissioners office for that particular answer just another one before i just keep going to what happens if the property doesn't sell and that's a very good point um too obviously if someone does try to look at selling the property and after three months they have not been able to sell it um i really don't can't give you legal advice on that but again um obviously it would be showing and providing all that evidence in relation to the the tent was there to actually sell the property but the legislation is very clear about not being able to relit under the six month period okay i'll just keep going on to the next part of the slides and then we'll come back and do some more questions but we do have a lot of questions coming in so i'm so sorry if i haven't been able to get to everybody's question but we will try um and also too will actually give us an opportunity to make sure that we can provide more resources and more information on our website based on the themes and the topics that you're actually raising today so most of the COVID-19 regulations that were implemented during 2020 and also amended in 21 have been removed um and particularly for the domestic and family violence provisions they were repealed um so but what we do have is some of the amendments are continuing up until the 30th of April 2022 and they are as what you see on your screen the protections for tenants against being on the tense database because of rent arrears caused by COVID-19 impacts uh limits on relating costs for people who are eligible um from that regard ending their fixed tenancies early and also to short tenancy statements extensions so where to from here and i am conscious that we are getting a little bit closer to the um time that we can get to questions um at this stage um keep in mind this is a staged approach so not everything's starting straight away and we are committed to making sure that we provide education and support to the rental sector once we're aware of more information and we're going to be sharing that with our key stakeholders and also to our customers so just have a quick look at what's new so just in relation to taking photos either for rent a property that's been sold or just during a tenancy for like retail inspection the RTA has recently released two new fact sheets for property managers owners and also for tenants these fact sheets have been produced in consultation with representatives for all parts of the rental sector as part of our outreach team we regularly meet with our stakeholder working group so these fact sheets are now available on our website and more importantly too if you happen to have a salesperson who may not understand the requirements for tenancy laws in relation to having the tenants permission to take photos um that's required if they've been required for advertising they need to have the tenants written consent and also to remember open houses need to also have the tenants written consent for that just quickly you may also be aware the RTA's web services for bond relay transactions we released in December last year the ability for managing agents to launch bulk bond launchments through our RTA web services and not just a single launch event so you can launch up to 50 bonds in one transaction and up to a payment value of $50,000 the process can be used to do top-up bonds or lodging new bonds we have frequently asked questions a video demonstration and quick guides to help you with that particular process so just a reminder that this is also available and finally just for the real estate agents or property managers that's in our audience today um we have joined forces with the office of fair trading and signed a memorandum of understanding so we'll be working much more closely with the office fair trading and it's in relation to investigations that have an impact so as a licensed agent a leading agent or a property manager so they can office fair training can only investigate offences that are committed by literally those three groups they're not looking at private landlords or tenants there are two occasions during the 10c where an incident can occur that is an offence against our legislation and also office fair trading legislation so one is when a rent-a-bond is not paid to the RTA within the 10-day time frame and also too when a rent payment is used for any other purpose so we're talking about like a water bill or using it towards cleaning so for licensed agents please beware for the difference in the penalty units so office fair trading have significantly more penalty units than the RTRA Act so as an example non lodging a bond under the RTRA is a maximum 40 penalty units whereas under the property occupation act which is your wrong conversion and false accounts meaning that they've received money belonging to someone else or falsely accounting for the money it's a thousand penalty units or five years imprisonment so it's just a bit of a flag there just to remind people that if we do get a complaint that it falls into these two categories it may be redirected to the office of fair trading so we've gone through a lot of information today but we know that over the coming months there's going to be a lot more information that we need to disperse to the rental sector so make sure that you have signed up for our e-news so that we can keep you informed of any of the changes and also any key topics and remember you can also connect with us and follow us on LinkedIn as well we do have our previous very educational resources including our webinars on tenancy legislation and also key topics as well as our talking tenancy podcast series which a lot of that is actually aimed for tenants so you can access both of these through the RTRA's website or the podcast through your preferred app. Okay so I'm just going to go back through to the questions so just bear with me while I just need to expand my screens here. In relation to there's a question here about periodic tenancy just 60 days no still apply can I just be very clear we don't have a 60 day in our timeframe for legislation we actually have two months notice and in relation to a periodic tenancy the only way to end a periodic tenancy will be on the grounds that I have gone through so the without grounds provision is no longer so the two months notice without grounds is will no longer come into play once the we have a proclamation date so just want to be very clear on that so to end a fixed term agreement ending on a fixed date that's fine in relation to the sale the only moving in change of use demolition and those are things there's all new reasons it's been added in relation to how to end a periodic tenancy in relation to does the owner need to provide a reason I'm just not quite sure on that one sorry Lisa in relation to ending a tenancy it's very clear about how a tenancy can end if it's in relation to ending because it's the end of a fixed term no there's no reason in relation to that being listed in the legislation at all Stephanie is also raised about the concern in relation some owners are moving from holiday to permanent residential does that mean they cannot do this anymore it doesn't mean that they can't do it and what we are seeing over the shortage of accommodation and changes with COVID we are seeing some people change from holiday accommodation into the permanent sector anyone that is actually doing that or we ask is that you need to then comply within the residential tenancies removing accommodation act and the requirements under our legislation in relation to the paperwork that's required at the start of the tenancy taking a bonnet needs to be lodged all the normal requirements of our legislation if you are changing from holiday to permanent rentals okay so we just have Lauren thanks very much for putting in the link to for some of our past webinars that's great but want to see that what do you need to complete repairs if they don't want to be there you need repairs and they don't want to be there so I'm just going to assume on that one Karen in relation to that if there are repairs to be done in relation to whether it's significant repairs and I think that's the difference can someone still live in the property or is it such significant repairs that they do actually have to leave the property whether the same tenants coming back or whether you're looking at replacing it with a different tenant okay we've just got spoons on that I am conscious of time because we are coming through to the end of our time here will the new laws for any attempts to be retrospective no once we know the proclamation date the my understanding is that will be the date that the new reasons I think will be commencing from so at this point in time it's business as usual in relation to ending a tenancy so currently periodic tenancies two months notice without grounds is still fine as I said once we know more about a proclamation date with once we know when that actually commences then the new rules and the new reasons to end a tenancy will come into play um okay so if a tenant advises you they use an overpayment in rent for a bond clean can that occur I'm going to go back on that one bell thank you very much for your question at the end of the day what we're looking at is the use of the rent and the purpose of why that money was paid so the legislation is very clear you can't use rent for any other purposes so it'll be a case of potentially looking at doing a refund and obviously having the payment then to cover cleaning or any other costs but anything that you do in your business and I can't give you legal advice you would want to be making sure that you actually have evidence and documentation to prove what um you're actually doing in relation to your trust accounts um in relation to does the same apply for community housing providers being referred to officer fair trading so in relation to that what we're looking at is if you are a licensed real estate agent so the rules in relation to the property occupation act and the agents financial administration act if you are covered under those two legislation then the reference to going to office fair trading for the penalty provisions will apply um I'm not sure whether some of the community housing providers will actually fall into that category possibly not because particularly if you actually are owning your own properties um so that's where that one comes into play so but I'll just leave it there we actually have a lot of questions that did come through a lot of very similar sort of themes so thank you for that a copy of our webinar will be available next week if you do need to revisit some of the reasons to ending a tendency some of the processes too for the domestic and family violence provisions as well so I forgot to turn the screen on when I did that so our website does have a lot of information available forms education resources so rta.qld.gov.au and as the final reminder please make sure that you are always using the latest rta forms please make sure that you are not using something that might have been outdated a year or two ago make sure that you are using the current forms if you do need any further assistance please contact our friendly contact center staff they're available Monday to Friday 8 30 a.m to 5 p.m on 1300 363 11 so there's going to be a survey come up at the end when the webinar does close this is your opportunity to provide feedback and more importantly what topics you would like to know more about so if there's something more in relation to the Tennessee legislation or the amendments please let us know in that survey so that we can look at addressing that for you next time or in future resources or education on our website so again thanks everybody for joining me today and we look forward to seeing you next time