COVID-19 landlord assistance - land tax, income tax, bank repayments

They've asked landlords to waive rent. But have they asked banks to waive interest and Gladys and Daniel Andrews to waive land tax? Nope, and therein is the problem. Subsequent to this there'll be many tenants who simply walk, so we go empty without rent for 3-12 months, while racking up debt against land taxes, council rates and deferred interest. And we've probably lost our job (not that I ever had one but that's beside the point).

There's another guy on this forum who's lost his job, has $25k savings, $8k minimum repayments. In the meantime "Hawaii beer man during bushfires and his gang" has asked him to waive rent, and rack up some more debt against his deferred interest and land tax.

 

You mean they made some offhand comments during some press releases? That have literally meant nothing so far?

For the rest of it - how is it that this is the government's fault exactly?

I'm happy to pile onto the government when they deserve it, but this seems a real stretch so far.

 

Note to the posters who missed this same conversation in other threads last weekend: Chill.

Firstly, there is nothing officially announced at all yet, about renters and about landlords. It is all talk. History tells us that when the Govt wants to release some really unpopular legislation, they will drop some horrid idea rumour first, and let everyone likely to be affected to rant and rave and freak out. When they finally announce the lightened up version, we guys are much more accepting.

Secondly, did you take any notice during your high school history classes? At this stage in the social change happening around the world, no one is shooting the Middle Class or sending us off to a gulag.

 

I understand the eviction ban has passed in several states, but I am unable to find the legislation online.

I found the below but I cannot find anything specific about banning evictions.

Does anyone have a link or can find anything here about a ban?

View - Tasmanian Legislation Online

 

I think this is the one:

Changes to residential tenancies in Tasmania during emergency period (COVID-19)

 

I thought the eviction ban was as much about protecting tenants during tough economic times as it was about ensuring people can comply with lockdown procedures - if people are homeless, orders to quarantine aren't going to work. It is a matter of public health.

I do think the state governments should be waiving land taxes. And banks should properly freeze mortgages - not keep calculating interest/extending the term of the loan.

I just hate to think what this country is going to look like in 12 months time.

 

It's no good jumping to conclusions. We just have to wait & see what the Gov is going to do. Personally, I'm predicting it's not going to be pretty.

 

In NSW legislation has been passed to amend the residential tenancies act to allow for Regulations to be enacted to allow for various actions during the corona crisis. But so far there has been no changes to the regulations.

I have linked the legislation here somewhere in another post.
See the act
NSW legislation

 

It has meant enough for residential tenants to immediately request a rent reduction with absolutely no grounds other than Scomo's utterances.

There does now seem to be more realistic discussions about looking at the knock on affects.

I am still waiting but have my steel helmet on.

 

Thanks FireDragon.

So basically all notices to vacate are invalid in Tasmania not just for rent arrears and not just for rent arrears coronavirus related. So this means if tenant is running a meth lab or maliciously damages property... still can't evict tenant?

 

I believe you can report to police and evict tenant if they are running a meth lab, but not sure about maliciously damages property.

It also says "Government's strong advice to tenants is to continue to pay rent where they can afford", which means none of the tenants will pay rent as all the tenants will say they cannot afford...

 

Yes and they can claim rent assistance and then claim they can not even afford to pay that towards rent and spend it on something else.

The government could have provided for the tribunal to at least be able to order that rent assistance be paid directly to landlord by centrelink where the tenant fails to pay that, or for a % of overall centrelink benefits to be paid direct to landlord, or that there be some consequences to a tenant of claiming rent assistance and then not using it to pay rent (such as ending up with up a centrelink debt), but they just remove evictions without any alternative means of enforcing at least some payment of rent from tenants who are taking advantage. The only means we will have of "enforcing" some payment of rent is to withhold repairs that the tenant wants.

 

My thoughts are things won't be "right" in 6 months. This is a monumental world shift, so we need to be thinking longer term.

 

Heard the socialist liberals of Australia now want to enact death taxes to repair budget. Glad I hold a PR and passport elsewhere.

 

But all this money to virtually bail out the entire country has to to come from somewhere .
I wonder how many people that are in the top 5-10% of wage earners are now demanding that the government help bail them out because they got themselves in highly leveraged positions.
Then we also have everone else in between that have lost their jobs or their business has had to close their doors.

 

Deferrals don't really help, they just delay the inevitable. What's really needed is waiving of costs in these exceptional times.

I mean, when tenants ask and get rent reductions, is the reduction ever recouped? Some are getting away with not paying rent at all. Some who deserve to be evicted now can't be.

Why the special treatment for one class and not the other?

 

Citation needed.

Seriously, is everyone just imagining up what the laws are now?

 

I am no economist but heard they are just printing money for part of it.

 

They’re printing the money, which is a huge moral hazard problem.

Think about it.... the goods and services of this country has gone down significantly. Yet we are putting money in people’s pockets. So now for the limited goods we have, people will bid it up with more paper.

Another moral hazard is, unemployed people are going to get paid. Yet employed people are getting paid the same. So why would anyone go to work?

This is like Marxism all over again - do it long enough the AUD won’t be worth much either. What surprises me is a Liberal Govt is doing this. You’d think the Greens or Bernie Sanders are running the country

 

Now,about the "Universal Income" they have in some parts of Europe after the GFC.....