QLD Queensland COVID-19 residential tenancy legislation

{Note from mods - this thread split from here: Prime Minister's announcement re: evictions}

New legislation currently being announced for renters in QLD right now..

 

Reads like open season on Landlords.
No need to pay rent or draw down on assets or super. And also landlords have to offer non paying tenants an extra 6 months.

Is this really Australia?

Well that would leave me broke. I can't afford $25k in mortgage payments out of my pocket should that tenant ask for an extra 6 months of free tenancy.

 

whats new? landlords always seem to get the raw end of the deal, im used to it

 

Time to sell out and go Bitcoin then let the Govt deal with the mess it's made, I'm wondering if we're any different from a socialist country ?

 

trust me, ive thought of that!!

ive even thought about going to the casino and putting it on black

but even the casino is closed

 

Imagine you're a landlord who has lost their job and also has a $500p/w tenant with say $50k in the bank and $200k in Super.

This tenant who has their hours reduced and is entitled to job seeker and the Covid supplement but is now entitled to not pay rent.

You have 2 home loans and other expenses to pay with no job. Your tenant comes out of this ahead. You can lose your homes.

The real kick in the guts here is that even the councils aren't doing their bit by waiving quarterly council tax.

After this is all over, who would possibly want to own an investment property in socialist Australia.

 

there are a few members on here who insist on tenant rights and how "entitled" landlords are

most landlords wouldnt be complaining if the rules/laws were fair,
as per your example, the % of australians that have 2 IPs is tiny, even at 1 IP, if you have a zero paying tenant, that stays for 6 months without paying rent, its very possible to be forced into severe hardship,
if the government, even offered, top ups for rent (like jobkeep), or assistance in the case of a non paying tenant, that would put many landlords mind at ease

 

Doesn't read like that at all. Mandatory conciliation with the RTA (which will require an assessment of financial status of the tenant) if you can't come to an agreement is quite reasonable. The special terms for COVID-19 distress form also appears to have an end date on it - so you aren't locking yourself into a variation that lasts until the end of the tenancy - this is good, because it means you can go back and review it on a regular basis if you want to (and this I think is where your PM is going to earn their commission, just saying...)

The government is also quite clear that if your tenant is in arrears for any other reason but financial distress due to COVID-19, the existing breach process still applies. Including possession orders. The only notices to leave which are not valid are those for rent arrears due to financial distress caused by COVID-19, or end of fixed term tenancy. Otherwise, well, your PM should be doing their job.

As to raiding super, just no. Selling securities at the bottom of a market, taking a massive investment loss, just so another person avoids taking a slight investment loss is silly, especially when the point of super is to reduce the burden on future taxpayers of paying pensions.

No, not really. I think you're being unreasonable expecting that property investors should be the only business not shouldering any of the burden during the crisis.

If your tenants can pay rent, they should be, and your PM should make sure of it. If they can't, you need to work out your options within the framework provided. At least Queensland rather sanely requires the RTA to mediate rather than just making it your problem like Tasmania does if the tenant decides to be recalcitrant.

Unfortunately not the case. JobSeeker is a taxable payment, which is going to hurt a lot of people who aren't used to Centrelink as they don't automatically deduct tax. As the new payments exceed the tax-free threshold, tax should be declared and withheld.

JobKeeper is the same. The eligibility criteria requires the employer to pay the employee $1500 per fortnight before tax and super. The amount landing in bank accounts will be... less.

The key thing throughout this whole mess is going to be communication and co-operation. I'm sure there are going to be some twits that will abuse it and try take you for a ride (good news, there are safeguards in there to protect you at least somewhat - use them).

 

What I heard from the video just posted on facebook was the tenant can't accumulate any rental arrears during the period? It was unclear and I would have to watch it over again.

It sounds like forced rent reductions via tribunal based on tenant income if the tenant can show they can't pay but whether the rent can actually go back to normal after the 6 months or not is unclear. I guess it is basically making us to provide public housing based on % of tenants income.

 

This

 

A LL or PM has no way to tell if they've been taken for a ride ( can't ask to check proof of finances ), only the RTA can ask the tenant to prove that they're really in distress from the actions of Covid-19.

 

I'm pretty sure in QLD they actually charge us extra on council rates because investment property and I am sure they will not even be waiving that bit?

 

BCC certainly does, but don't expect any changes there.

 

Yes and whilst the video said they can't be asked to use super are they required to use any savings or liquid assets they have?

 

If people get spooked in the housing market the outcome will be bad and like who wants to be the last person caught holding the bag of money. Australians are going to lean on people with savings and those will never get a thanks from anyone, the rest will fold and exit stage left.

 

Do you have a link to this video

 

Or landlords just refuse to sell and claim losses. Remember that nearly all tenants want to own a house so they can do with it how they please, so the demand is there at the right price.

The Queensland government have effectivity killed the investment property market even beyond Covid. This won't be forgotten.

Eventually this will play into a housing shortage and higher rents. I'm planning on recouping any losses over the longer term when asset price inflation kicks in.

 

Yeah and many tenants don't even pay for water usage unless it goes over quite a high amount anyway, and the landlord is the one that has to pay that water usage bill anyway and try to recover it from the tenant which I am sure they will also be unable to evict the tenant for not paying...

just lol

 

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=501911930504936

 

Yes I can't see this all being rolled back entirely, at least not for a very long time