On Saturday, Guardian Australia published an article about third-party payment of rent.
It quotes tenants from NSW, Victoria, and Queensland, who have been strongly encouraged to pay their rent not directly to their landlord or real estate agency, but through a third-party payment processor, such as Rental Rewards.
These third-party processing firms often charge tenants a fee in order to pay their rent.
While landlords and agents in these states are required to provide tenants with a method of paying rent that does not incur fees, this often entails personally delivering cash or a cheque to an out-of-the-way office – inconvenient at the best of times, and outright discouraged during a pandemic.
Thankfully, Tasmanian tenants have largely been able to avoid similar headaches.
The Residential Tenancy Act 1997, the legislation that governs tenancies in Tasmania, was amended in 2013 to include section 17(3A), which says:
A rent-collection agency must not require a person, who pays, or is to pay, to the agency rent in relation to residential premises, to pay a fee or charge in relation to the rent or receiving the rent.
Penalty: Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.
This section prevents third-party processing firms from charging Tasmanian tenants to pay their rent, and opens them up to being fined if they do.
After the law was changed the Residential Tenancy Commissioner, who is in charge of enforcing the Residential Tenancy Act 1997, sent correspondence to the real estate industry asking them to cease using third party processing firms that charge fees to tenants to pay rent.
As far as the Residential Tenancy Commissioner is aware, this advice has largely been complied with.
At the Tenants Union, to the best of our knowledge, it is not an issue we have been contacted about in some time.
While Tasmanian tenants are protected from being charged fees for paying rent, the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 otherwise does not specify how rent should be paid, nor require a landlord or agent to provide multiple ways to pay rent.
The Residential Tenancy Commissioner has encouraged the industry to be flexible, but currently a landlord or agent is free to mandate, for example, payment by cash only. Though if a landlord or agent requires such a specific form of payment, it must be clearly noted in the lease, and cannot be changed unilaterally during the term of the lease.
If you have any queries about your rental payment arrangements, please contact the Tenants’ Union advice.
The Tenants’ Union of Tasmania is a specialist Community Legal Centre for residential tenants. Their aim is to secure the rights of all tenants by providing free legal advice, representation and education, as well as advocating for the improvement of tenants’ rights.
