Snapshot of Changes to Residential Tenancy Laws Part 1- Mandatory Disclosures

Snapshot of Changes to Residential Tenancy Laws Part 1- Mandatory Disclosures

With the changes in residential tenancy laws currently in place, property management departments are busily making changes to their internal processes to ensure that they are compliant.

Apex HR will be providing snapshots of the changes to help your estate agency office ensure that you are ready and well informed of the changes.

Mandatory Disclosures

From 29 March 2021, before entering into a rental agreement, the renter must be informed of whether the:

• property is on the market for sale, or in the process of being sold
• property is to be repossessed under a mortgage
• rental provider is not the owner of the property, and what rights they have in letting the property
• electricity is supplied to the property from an embedded electricity network, and the details of this network
• if the rented premises or common property is known to have been the location of a homicide in the last 5 years
• if the rented premises comply with the rental minimum standards
• from 31 December 2021, if the rental provider has received a repair notice, in the last 3 years, relating to mould or damp in the premises caused by or related to the building structure
• date of the most recent gas safety check, electrical safety check, and pool barrier compliance check
• any outstanding recommendations for work to be completed from a gas safety check and electrical safety check
• if the rented premises is Heritage listed
• if the rented premises is known by the residential rental provider to be:
• contaminated because of prior use of the rented premises for the trafficking or cultivation of a drug of dependence in the last 5 years
• to have friable or non-friable asbestos based on an inspection by a suitably qualified person
• to be affected by a building or planning application that has been lodged
• any notice, order, declaration, report or recommendation issued by a relevant building surveyor, public authority or government department relating to any building defects or safety concerns associated with the rented premises such as the presence of combustible cladding, water leaks or structural issues affecting the rented premises or common property
• if there is a current domestic building work dispute
• if there is a current dispute of the Owners Corporations Act
• a copy of any owners’ corporation rules applicable to the rented premises.

To comply with this requirements property management departments are required to:

1. collect any information regarding any mandatory disclosures from their rental providers and
2. disclose this to the renter prior to them signing the rental agreement.

If the disclosure requirements are not complied with, the renter may make a general application to VCAT who may make a compensation order or another order as it sees fit.