Page 548 - Week 02 - Thursday, 17 February 2005
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the tenant, and if the tenant has been given information about alternative accommodation. This amendment will reduce the need for crisis accommodation providers to seek endorsement of each tenancy agreement before the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. The bill does not affect short-term crisis accommodation where there is no residential tenancy agreement in place.
The bill also includes important provisions relating to tenancy databases. Tenancy databases collect information on the tenancy history of tenants. This information is used by property managers to screen prospective tenants and, during a tenancy, to minimise the risk of a tenant defaulting. The majority of tenancy databases are operated for the real estate industry, with private lessors unable to access information directly. However, there are at least two major national databases for the use of private lessors.
Significant privacy issues remain in the current operation of tenancy databases, including consumers not being aware they have been listed, and limited opportunities for tenants to access, correct or update information concerning their rental history. Tenancy databases can have potential adverse impacts on disadvantaged tenants’ ability to access housing in the private rental market. The bill removes these concerns by providing restrictions on public tenancy databases that list personal information about previous tenants. The bill also allows an individual to apply to the Residential Tenancies Tribunal to have their personal information on a database omitted or corrected. The provisions in the bill are based on the provisions in Queensland.
The bill includes a range of other important amendments. The bill provides for a clause to be included by agreement in residential tenancy agreements for posting. The clause would allow for termination of a tenancy on either a lessor being posted back to Canberra or a tenant being posted from Canberra. The tenancy would be terminated following four weeks notice. Such clauses have been a feature of the Canberra market for some time because of the relatively high proportion of defence and diplomatic personnel. Currently, posting clauses can only be included if endorsed by the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.
The bill also permits Housing ACT to rent premises at a rate that initially reflects the additional cost of a past debt, reducing to the ordinary rate when the debt has been repaid. To avoid inappropriate charging, and to permit review in the event that the payment cannot be made in reasonable circumstances, the bill provides that the Residential Tenancies Tribunal must endorse such arrangements.
The bill includes a number of amendments to provisions dealing with evictions. The bill provides that the Residential Tenancies Tribunal may evict a tenant who is seriously or continuously interfering with a neighbour’s quiet enjoyment of their property. This amendment is consistent with an existing standard clause in residential tenancy agreements which states that a “tenant shall not interfere, or permit interference, with the quiet enjoyment of the occupiers of nearby premises”. The bill clarifies when an eviction may occur. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, an eviction shall only occur between the hours of 8.00 am and 6.00 pm from Monday to Thursday, except for public holidays.
The bill includes new provisions governing the transfer of a public housing tenancy under a will. The bill provides that new residential tenancy agreements may provide that
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