Greens stand up for tenants’ rights

The Greens in Parliament will act to strengthen tenant’s rights during this week’s debate on the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2011 (RTA Bill) by moving to scrap the Government’s controversial proposed eviction powers, abolish option fees and place new time limits on keeping details about minors on tenant databases.

Hon Lynn MacLaren MLC, the Greens spokesperson for housing said the Government’s plan to have the courts rule on ‘objectionable behaviour’ is “heavy-handed, untested, and may lead to higher rates of homelessness in an extremely tight rental housing market.”

“Nearly 90 percent of Perth’s real estate is now out of reach for key and essential workers including police officers, teachers and nurses. More and more people rely on rental accommodation, making it all the more important that tenants’ rights are properly protected,” said Ms MacLaren.

“On the whole, the RTA Bill makes an important step forward in protecting the rights of tenants by prescribing the form of tenancy agreements, regulating residential tenancy databases, and a raft of other measures. However, new laws to enable lessors to evict tenants for ‘objectionable behaviour’ were introduced into the Bill without consultation with the community service sector, which is united in its opposition to this provision.” she added.

In August this year a range of stakeholders including the Western Australian Council of Social Service, the Tenants Advice Service, the Community Housing Coalition of WA and Shelter WA wrote to all MPs urging them to oppose the clause. Ms MacLaren will move to delete the clause from the Bill.

“While the Bill places restrictions on the information recorded in tenancy databases, I believe young people should be given more opportunities to improve their chances of maintaining a tenancy. I have moved to amend the Bill so records of people who are under 18 years of age should be cleared after one year.”

 “I will also ask Parliament to remove the ability of lessors to charge an option fee, which is prohibited in the ACT and the NT. There is currently no time limit on how long a lessor can take to exercise an option or return the fee to unsuccessful applicants. If I can’t have the fees discontinued, then I will move to set a limit of 7 days to make a decision, and 7 days to return the fee.”