The gist of the legislation
Owners and tenants need to negotiate to defer rent payments or a agree on a rent reduction due to COVID hardship.
The important parts, at a glance
We’ve picked out the key parts of the legislation and made them as easy as possible to read and understand.
1.
From September 2, 2021 temporary legislation was introduced to protect households that are impacted by COVID-19.
2.
If a tenant provides evidence that they have been impacted through employer letters, payslips and / or a stat dec, your property manager should facilitate rent deferment or reduction negotiations.
3.
Depending on the arrangement, if a tenant gets reduced or deferred rent during the 12 week period they will have 12 weeks to repay the debt.
4.
A tenant cannot be evicted for not paying their rent until after 12 weeks of non-payment. So it’s in the best interest for both you and the tenant to reach an agreement on a rent deferment or reduction.
5.
Impacted tenants can end a fixed term tenancy early, without penalty, by giving 3 weeks’ notice to vacate.
6.
Rent increases cannot occur for impacted tenants during this time.
