Tenancy Tip Thursday - Tenant Databases

Hi

This week there's been a couple questions about tenant databases so wanted to ensure you all understood the legislation behind their use.

First, what is it? There's 2 main ones in Australia being NTD (National Tenant Database, which is owned by Veda) and TICA (Tenancy Information Centre Australia) which are databases a PM should use when doing background checks on a tenant.

There's different subscription models available for each but which one you use depends on which one is more popular in your state - ie if 1 uses one and 99 the other, then they're not going to find each others matches.

There's once off search fee options available to private landlords too.

There's some in the industry using neither, arguing that the legislation is so restrictive that they won't find much. They rely more on background and reference checks. I like using both, gives me peace of mind.

The legislation around database is fairly universal around Australia.

It says:

• Have to advise applicants that you use it
• Have to advise applicants if they were found on a database and what steps they can take to remove
• When listing a tenant, can only do so when
  • the tenancy must have ended;
  • the tenant breached the agreement; and
  • either the tenant owes the landlord more than the bond, or the Tribunal has made an order terminating the residential tenancy agreement.
• There's timeframes involved, being
  • Give 14 days notice of intent to list including the content of the listing for them to review
  • Informing TICA / NTD of any changes / removals within 7 days of info coming to light. They then have 14 days to action these.
  • All listings disappear after 3 years.
  • If a tenant requests info about their listing, LL / PM has 14 days to retrieve and provide it. They're allowed to pass on the cost of doing so.
• State tribunals can make orders to LL / PM / TICA / NTD to amend or remove listings.
• There's also fines for non compliance

So there you have it. Would be keen to hear of any additions, questions, experiences and funny stories

Cheers
Dave

 

Thanks for the post - it was really helpful. Which database is more commonly used in NSW?

 

In Australia there is also two other tenant database, DataKatch who offers a complete profiling system and TRA.