The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 covers all residential tenancies, rooming house residencies and caravan park residencies in Victoria. The Act has introduced some important changes to tenancy law, some of which are outlined below.

This leaflet summarises the major changes to tenancy law. It is not comprehensive. If you require more information on a particular topic, please refer to the relevant leaflet or contact the Tenants Union.
Residential Tenancies Bond Authority

All bonds held for residential tenancies in Victoria must now be lodged with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority. The Authority was created to collect, pay out and invest tenants' bonds.

Your landlord or agent must fill out and sign a Bond Lodgment Form when you pay your bond. The landlord or agent must then lodge your bond with the Authority within 5 business days. The Authority will send you a letter confirming receipt of your bond. If you do not receive this letter within 14 days of paying your bond, you should notify the Authority.

The Authority will not pay out a bond to either you or your landlord unless there is an order from the Tribunal, or you and your landlord agree as to how the bond is to be paid out. If you and your landlord agree, you must apply to the Authority on a Bond Claim Form, specifying the amounts that are to be paid to either or both of you.

The Authority will not pay out a bond that was paid by the Office of Housing, unless the full amount of the bond is going back to the Office of Housing, or there is a Tribunal order. If your landlord wants to make a claim against your bond at the end of your tenancy, they must either get your agreement, or apply to the Tribunal within 14 days of the end of your tenancy.

If you abandon the property owing rent to the landlord, and the landlord is unable to find you, they may apply to the Principal Registrar of the Tribunal for an order that the Authority pay the amount of rent owed out of your bond.

The interest earned on the investment of bond money will go to the Residential Tenancies Fund and the administration of the Authority. In the future, some may also be paid out as interest with the bond money when it is returned.

Rent increases
The period of notice the landlord must give for a rent increase is now 90 days. There is no longer a provision preventing landlords from increasing the rent more than every six months. Landlords can now increase the rent at whatever intervals they like, as long as they give 90 days written notice.

The only exception to this is if you have a fixed-term tenancy agreement. The rent cannot be increased during the fixed term, unless there is a clause in the agreement allowing the landlord to do so. If there is a clause allowing rent increases during the term of the tenancy agreement, your landlord can increase the rent in accordance with that clause, with 90 days written notice.

For this reason, it is strongly recommended that tenants do not sign any fixed-term tenancy agreement which allows for unrestricted rent increases during the fixed term. A landlord can now legally increase the rent from the day after you move in, and continue to increase the rent during the course of the tenancy. If the increases are in line with the market rental for similar properties, you cannot successfully challenge the increases and could be stuck with a tenancy agreement on a property where you cannot afford to pay the rent, forcing you into breaking your tenancy agreement or being evicted for arrears.

Alternative eviction procedures
There are now alternative procedures available to landlords who are applying for a Possession Order because the tenant is in arrears or where the fixed-term tenancy agreement is about to expire. While the new procedure is referred to in the Residential Tenancies Act as the 'alternative' procedure, it is likely to be the most commonly used by landlords and agents, since it allows them to evict tenants without necessarily having to go to a Tribunal hearing.

The procedure differs according to whether the landlord has sent a Notice to Vacate for rent arrears, or a Notice to Vacate for no reason when a fixed-term tenancy agreement is about to expire.
Alternative procedure for rent arrears

To use the alternative procedure when you are in arrears, the landlord must send you the following documents

• a 14-day Notice to Vacate
• a copy of their application to the Tribunal for a Possession Order
• two copies of a Notice of Objection
• a statement setting out your rights in relation to the Possession Order

If you want to object to the landlord's application, you must fill out the Notice of Objection and send one copy to the landlord and the other to the Tribunal. The Notice of Objection must be returned by 4pm on the day the Notice to Vacate expires.

If you do not return the Notice of Objection, the landlord will be automatically granted a Possession Order. There will be no further notices and no opportunity for you to put your side of the story to the Tribunal. If you do return the Notice of Objection, the Tribunal will set a date for hearing and the application will go ahead in the same way as a normal application.

You should deliver your Notice of Objection to the Tribunal and the landlord by registered or certified mail (allow 2 days for delivery), or deliver it personally. Keep a copy of your mail receipts.

Alternative procedures where fixed-term tenancy is ending
If your landlord gives you a Notice to Vacate for no reason where your fixed-term tenancy is about to expire, and that notice expires on the same day that the fixed term expires, they may also use the alternative procedures to obtain a Possession Order.

The landlord will not send you a Notice of Objection at the same time as the Notice to Vacate. Instead, they must send you a further notice informing you they intend to apply to the Tribunal for a Possession Order if you do not move out on the last day of your fixed term. If your fixed-term agreement is for less than 6 months, the further notice must be given to you between 7 and 14 days before the end of the fixed term. If your fixed-term agreement is for 6 months or more, the further notice must be given to you between 14 and 21 days before the end of the fixed term.

If you do not move out on the last day of your fixed term, the landlord or agent can apply to the Tribunal. They must send you a copy of their application, together with 2 copies of the Notice of Objection and a statement of your rights in relation to their application for a Possession Order. You must give one copy of the completed Notice of Objection to the landlord and one copy to the Tribunal before the end of 4 business days after you receive the copy of the application to the Tribunal.

If you do not return the Notice of Objection, the landlord can request that the Principal Registrar of the Tribunal grant a Possession Order and issue a Warrant of Possession. There will be no further notices and no opportunity for you to put your case to the Tribunal. If you do return the Notice of Objection, the Tribunal will set a date for hearing and the application will go ahead in the same way as a normal application.
You should deliver your Notice of Objection to the Tribunal and the landlord by registered or certified mail (allow 2 days for delivery), or deliver it personally. Keep a copy of your mail receipts.

Notices to Vacate for no reason
Where a fixed-term tenancy agreement is ending
If you have a fixed-term tenancy agreement for a period of less than 6 months which is coming to an end, the landlord only has to give you a 60-day Notice to Vacate for no reason. If you have a fixed-term tenancy agreement for 6 months or more which is coming to an end, the landlord can give you a 90-day Notice to Vacate for no reason. The date that the notice expires must be on or after the date that your fixed term ends.
If the landlord serves you with one of these notices, they may choose to use the alternative procedures in applying for a Possession Order from the Tribunal. See previous page.

Periodic tenancies
If you are on a periodic (month to month) tenancy, the landlord can now give you a 90-day Notice to Vacate for no reason, instead of the 6-month Notice to Vacate required under the previous legislation.
Continued …

14-day Notices of Intention to Vacate
Tenants can now, in some circumstances, give 14 days Notice of Intention to Vacate (instead of 28 days). This applies when

• the landlord has given you a 90-day Notice to Vacate for no reason
• the landlord has given you a 60-day Notice to Vacate (except a Notice to Vacate to end a fixed-term tenancy)
• you require special or personal care (eg in a nursing home) that you can't get at your rented property
• you have a written offer of public housing

However, the date that you say you are going to move out cannot be earlier than the last day of any fixed term on your tenancy agreement. This applies even when the landlord has given you a Notice to Vacate which expires on the last day of the fixed term.

Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal is a new 'super-Tribunal' which has replaced a number of Tribunals, including the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. Matters arising under the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 will be dealt with in the Residential Tenancies List of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Some of the practices and procedures of the Tribunal may be a little different from the Residential Tenancies Tribunal. However, for the most part, the operations of the new Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal should be much the same as those of the Residential Tenancies Tribunal.

Violence
The Residential Tenancies Act 1997 contains specific provisions relating to violence on 'managed premises'. If you live in

• a rooming house
• a caravan park
• a building which contains 2 or more rented premises and which has an on-site manager

the following provisions apply to you.

Notices to Leave, offences & suspensions
The manager of your premises can give you or your visitor an immediate Notice to Leave the premises if they reasonably believe you have committed a serious act of violence on the premises, or that the safety of any person on the premises is in danger from you.

The manager must give written notice to the Tribunal by the end of the next business day that you have been given a Notice to Leave.

Your tenancy agreement with the landlord is suspended when you are given notice, but you are still required to pay rent. You cannot remain on the premises after receiving the notice. The landlord has 2 business days to apply to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal for an order that your tenancy agreement be terminated (ie that you be evicted permanently). If the landlord has not made an application to the Tribunal within 2 business days, the notice lapses and you can return.

The manager or landlord is not entitled to relet or allow someone else to occupy your premises while you are suspended.

Applications to the Tribunal
If the landlord does make an application, the Tribunal must hear it within 2 business days. The Tribunal may order that the suspension cease, and that you be allowed to resume occupation of the premises, or order that the tenancy agreement be terminated. If the Tribunal decides that the manager was not entitled to give you the notice, it can order that you be paid compensation for the rent paid during the period of suspension.

For more information, contact the Tenants Union on % (03) 9416 2577.