International student accommodation tenants in financial difficulty

Thanks, Michael. We are looking at a number of options. Also, perhaps speaking to each student individually to try and work it out.

 

I think that VCAT would determine whether hardship actually existed or whether they were rorting the system.
As it stands and according to adprom, the landlord has no right to query the tenants non ability to pay nor to ask any financial questions. We have to accept their hardship claim and allow them to stay 6 months .
I personally would like to ask our students, why they cant come up with $175 per week, when they are supposed to demonstrate to our government an income of $62,000 , but apparently I cannot bring that up ??? Doesnt seem fair.

 

Absolutely owner of property/ll is billed for water and has to try recover anything they can from tenant as per lease agreement. In Victoria alone tenant is billed direct for water usage from water company, ll is billed for supply. Unpaid water bills charged to owner/ll if not paid are held against the property and payable if the property is sold so cannot be easily escaped by owner/ll. Electricity/gas as long as owner/ll has closed account, and is not actually residing at the property and a tenant is in place, never heard of a landlord being able to be held responsible for bills from gas/electricity companies not paid by tenant and the charge for gas/electricity is not held against the property so the utility company would have to use costly legal action to recover and would have a time limit to recover the debt. This is to the best of my knowledge in most states.

 

Yes, sure that may be the case according to the lease here that the landlord is supposed to pay electricity. And most residential properties the tenant opens their own account. And maybe in this case the property has multiple tenants with one meter which complicates things. But does the electricity provider have the right to continue to bill the landlord for whatever amounts indefinitely if the landlord informs them they want to close the account, because of an arrangement the landlord may or may not have with another party for the landlord to pay for the electricity?

 

So OK, perhaps they would be in very big trouble with someone if they tried that.

Could the electricity provider actually continue to bill them though.

Landlord might be in very big trouble with tribunal... perhaps even criminal say. But could electricity provider actually continue to legally be able to bill landlord.

 

I wouldn't believe any of the stuff that person was saying btw.

So what exactly do you want to do? Its not clear whether you want to evict them, or do something else?

 

I have already contacted the University accommodation centres and they refuse to discuss if this is happening to them or make any comment about our situation.

According to below, the University can and will evict them??

Accommodation Fee Regulations: Clayton Residential Village, Peninsula Residential

6 Debts to Monash Residential Services
MRS will issue monthly invoices to all residents via their Monash student email account in or about the 1st week of each month.

MRS will not issue invoices to a third party. The invoice is for the current month’s rental period and must be paid by the last day of that month. Invoices not paid by the last day of the month will automatically incur a $50.00 surcharge and residents’ access to services within the university may be blocked. This charge of $50.00 will apply on all outstanding debts. The surcharge reflects the costs and loss caused to MRS by defaulting residents and is required to protect MRS’ legitimate interests.

Example: Invoices for accommodation in July will be issued to residents at the beginning of July and must be paid by the end of July. Invoices for July not paid by the end of July will incur the $50.00 outstanding debt surcharge.

7 Non payment of accounts
Any resident who has outstanding accounts will NOT be allowed to continue their residency without the full payment of overdue accounts. If a resident is required to vacate their room as a result of overdue accounts misconduct, etc., the resident will remain responsible for the rental payment for the room allocated to them for the whole period of their Residency Agreement or until such time that a suitable replacement is found (whichever comes first).

 

I would not cancel the electricity and gas connection, but would just not pay the bill. However, there is no escaping my paying the bill as I would eventually be required to pay it.

 

Good idea, I will contact the Student Welfare Officers to discuss without giving any names. Perhaps, the University will be able to offer some financial assistance. I believe they are required to pay their fees upfront. Perhaps, a portion of these fees can be used to help them out with their rent?? I recall Melbourne University offering a $7,000 grant to entice students to still keep on coming here.

 

I think that is a great idea. I can write to each of the students letting them know that I will be formally contacting the Universities, Visa Officers, Australian Government and their own Government / Consulate. ( they all come from the same country). I will ask for their permission if I can include their names in the submission. Does anyone see any problem with doing this?

 

By evicting, at least the tenant can be replaced with a local who qualifies for our government assistance.

 

I dont think that it can include Aussie income as these students did not have a job when they came. For eligibility, you must submit previous tax assessments. They would not have been able to do this. So their annual income would be coming from overseas.

 

Yes, this is a disaster and will escalate further economically, if people are taking advantage of the situation by not paying their rent.

 

My age and health condition puts me at a higher risk for complications if I were to get Corona Virus. So going on a weekly basis to clean and garden and be in contact with young students would be putting my life at risk, even if I were to do it to a substandard.

 

They sent the email recently. I am looking at communicating with each tenant individually to understand what they are wanting rentwise.

I am not comfortable with eviction but I am concerned about going into more debt to continue providing the services and accruing interest mortgage repayements.

If they were local students, then there would be government assistance.

I am not sure how to approach this and just trying to understand what I can do legally and ethically and what I cant, without pushing myself further into hardship.

I dont believe that all of them are in hardship and would like to be able to sort out the genuine ones from the non genuine ones. A form requesting further information would be useful.

We are in the difficult position that most of these students will be returning home in July or November and there will be no ability to recoup any unpaid rent. I would like to know when they are intending to go back home.

I think that their Consulate should be involved. In the event, that they return home leaving a trail of debts, their government should be acting as guarantors.

Is our Government going to come out and help them. Apparently, they have jobs and lost them, so have been paying taxes. Wouldnt their employers qualify for the job keeper allowance ?

Just throwing out my thoughts and trying to make sense of all of this.

Thank you to everyone for your help.