QLD Review of property law in Queensland

Review of property law in Queensland

I lost track of how long this has been going on, but I dont think the Labor Government here is in a hurry to finalise this. Queensland used to be the leader in Body Corporate mattes mainly started from all the highrise in Gold Coast, and where are they now? Hope someone in the know can tell us where the held-up is.

Review of property law in Queensland

 

The Palaszczuk Government Opening the Doors to Renting Reform

 

Wow, just in time, fresh from the oven. Thanks @Coffee

 

Released on Grand Final day - interesting

 

For discussions sake, here are my thoughts, and I have been/am a Tenant, Landlord and Property Manager.


All the above points are definitely important however no one is holding a gun to a Tenant’s head when they choose to apply to rent a property. Tenants need to take due care when inspecting properties prior to applying as we are starting to see a rise in “renters’ remorse”, a phenomenon where tenants move in and then decide they’re not happy with the place or simply don’t like it and think they can make unreasonable requests of the Landlord to improve the property or let them out of their lease without compensation or reduce the rent, as if the contract they entered into meant nothing.

Also, largely Tenants are uneducated on the Residential Tenancies Act and find themselves in breach of their agreement, but play the victim card, and the tribunal is often favourable to them (at the Lessors' expense) because of social justice pressures. The Act is there for everyone, it’s not some big secret, nothing is stopping them typing it into Google and reading or calling the RTA for advice.

Tenants need to remember they are renting someone else’s property, it is not theirs to do with what they like. They are renting the amenity of the dwelling they viewed in the condition at inspection. The number of Tenants who spend their own money making changes to the Lessors property and then find themselves in breach or financially unable to return it to the entry state and cry foul is moronic and must stop.

The wait times for QCAT hearings are absurd and the cost to the Lessor is great. This has given rise to “Professional Tenants”, ones who know it takes 3+ months to be evicted. For black and white issues such as rental arrears giving rise to Form 11 and Form 12 and non-vacate, there should be a fast track lane in QCAT to handle these matters as no compensation is being considered, simply were the Form 11 & 12's issued correctly, if yes, some consideration about the Tenants situation (such as impact to dependants), which dictates the pace of the warrant being issued to evict.

Tenants aren’t owed anything from Lessors – they are paying for a service, rental accommodation, and the rental accommodation sector is one of a few where scumbags can get away with stealing (not paying for a service) and essentially get away with little recourse if the Lessor is not prepared to walk the hard yards. If a Lessor is not fulfilling their obligations, the Tenant is still obligated to pay their rent and must follow the Act to seek remedy/compensation, namely issuing the Lessor a Form 11 and if not remedied lodging a QCAT minor civil dispute where the Adjudicator can award rent abatements and other compensations to the Tenant. Tenants have follow the same rules, unfortunately most don't and simply stop paying rent which lands them in trouble, even though their reasons may be sound, the law is the law and the Act must be followed.

In cases where the Lessor does not have landlord’s insurance, often the process of dragging a deadbeat Tenant through the Magistrates court to get blood out of a stone is costly and too complex for most Lessors. That is to say, the orders from QCAT re: orders to pay money are largely unenforceable and the Lessor is required to then go through the Magistrates court to enforce the order, a process that can take 6-12 months start to finish from the time the first notice is served and cost them money.

Regarding pets, most landlord insurers either do not cover pet damage or only cover a small amount, such as $500 is an example from leading landlord insurer Terri Scheer. Also, I have yet to see a landlord insurance policy that covers gardens and grounds, so when a Tenants dog for example completely destroys the grass(turf) and the plants and garden, the landlord is stuffed because their insurance doesn’t pay and QCAT are far too soft in ordering monetary compensation, for example quotes may come in at $2,000-$5,000 and the tribunal might order the tenant to pay only $500, and if the Tenant doesn’t pay then what, it’s not even worth the effort going through the Magistrates court to enforce the order, and only recover maybe 40% of any legal costs required to achieve that result. This is why a lot of Landlords simply don’t allow pets or will not approve an application that has a pet.

 

I very much agree with the sentiment here.

If we had faster and more effective enforcement options, we would be able to be more flexible in our tenant choices and permissions.