The REIQ has outlined some of the main matters of change regarding repairs with the new Tenancy Laws coming into effect 1 October 2022.
What are the changes to the RTRA Act in relation to repairs?
Some of the changes to the tenancy laws on 1 October 2022 relate to the process and authorisation for repairs, including:
– increasing the maximum spending amount allowed for a tenant or property manager for emergency repairs from two weeks to four weeks’ rent;
– the Form 18a General Tenancy Agreement must now identify the nominated repairer that is the tenant’s first point of call for emergency repairs;
– new provisions replacing the process for obtaining and dealing with an order of QCAT for carrying out emergency & routine repairs – now referred to as “Repair Orders”;
– an outstanding Repair Order made by QCAT applying to a property must be disclosed in the Form 18a General Tenancy Agreement to the tenant prior to the tenant entering into the tenancy; and
– any repairs for damage to the property which are caused by domestic violence experienced by the tenant is the responsibility of the lessor and costs cannot be recovered from the tenant.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE CHANGES
The REIQ recommends following steps in the REIQ Checklist for New Tenancy Laws in Realworks which sets out a best practice procedure to follow and advice about the new forms and factsheets in Realworks to use to facilitate the process of amending existing forms and entering into new forms in a compliant way.
Some of the forms introduced to assist with these changes can help with:
– seeking instructions about increasing spend limits, nominating repairers and disclosing repair orders; and
– varying Form 18a General Tenancy Agreements.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN EMERGENCY REPAIR AND A ROUTINE REPAIR
‘Emergency’ repairs include:
– a burst water service or serious water service leak;
– a blocked or broken lavatory system;
– a serious roof leak;
– a gas leak;
– a dangerous electrical fault;
– flooding or serious flood damage;
– serious storm, fire or impact damage;
– a failure or breakdown of the gas, electricity or water supply to the property;
– a failure or breakdown of an essential service or appliance on the property for hot water, cooking
or heating;
– a fault or damage that makes the property unsafe or insecure;
– a fault or damage likely to injure a person, damage property or unduly inconvenience a resident of the property; or
– a serious fault in a staircase, lift or other common area of the property that unduly inconveniences a resident in gaining access to, or using, the property.
All other repairs are considered to be ‘routine’ repairs and maintenance.
Find out more about how the new tenancy laws affect repairs by downloading our free Tenancy Laws Toolkit and purchasing our training video here.
REIQ members can contact the Property Management Support Service for further advice on this topic or others by calling 1300 MYREIQ or emailing pmsupport@reiq.com.au.
This article was contributed by REIQ.
You can find more information at: https://www.reiq.com/
Bloody ridiculous, what idiot decided that an owner of a rental property is responsible for damages cause by the tenant regardless if it’s domestic violence or not.
“Oh yes about those holes in the walls, my husband was mad at me and punched into the wall instead of me, so I don’t have to pay for the repair.” GREAT!!!!
That ruling about tenant not been responsible for repairs is ridiculous. Why bother to have an agreement at all – Tenants can basically do what they want and the owner has hardly any say. Just now there will be a rule to say if the tenant has an agreement with you and is not able to pay rent then you as the owner have to accept it. What is this world coming too. No wonder there is a rental crisis as investors are going to sell up.
To say that as long term industry managers that we are absolutely mortified would be a grave understatement-the comment above is quite right as it should be completely obvious now why their is more of a shortage of rental properties than there ever has been-owners are getting out of being property investors because as above-it is just to bloody hard and why do you want to as a property investor go out on a limb to invest in a property and find out next minute that you really have little or no rights !!
The industry we are talking about here is a monumental however the speed that owners are selling their investment properties is indicative of a major problem that is going to get worse before it gets better if this form of adverse challenges are thrown in the face of managers and owners.
But this is what we voted for, Labor, so don’t complain