29 April 2019

Hot tip to avoid costly bond lodgement failures

Did you know? Approximately 30-40% of bond lodgement failures are the result of invalid direct debit account types provided on lodgement forms. Online bank accounts, popular with both lessors and tenants, are commonly used. However, banks prohibit Consumer Protection from direct debiting online bank accounts as well as:

• bonus saver bank accounts;
• mortgage accounts;
• mortgage offset accounts;
• superannuation accounts; and
• investment accounts.

The bond lodgement payment process doesn’t allow us to differentiate between online or transaction accounts. That means we can’t catch the error before the bank issues us a payment dishonour notice. Often the account owner ends up with a payment dishonour fee as well.

In Issue #27 we informed you of the legal requirement to lodge bonds with the Bond Administrator within 14 days of receiving the funds. “Landlords can face criminal convictions and fines of up to $20,000 if they violate these important aspects of tenancy law,” warns Commissioner for Consumer Protection David Hillyard.

On 21 March 2019 landlord Mark Alasdair Adam was convicted in Perth Magistrates Court and fined $10,000 after failing to lodge tenant bonds from two separate tenants.

Avoid unnecessary prosecution and fines - visit our website to learn about lodging a bond and your legal obligations as a private lessor.

National safety alert reminder – gas heaters

In case you missed it, a national safety alert was issued last month for four open-flued gas heaters that, under certain circumstances, may produce too much carbon monoxide – potentially causing serious health risks to users.

If your rental property has one of the following gas heaters, stop using it immediately and contact the supplier for follow up:

• Regency i31 (purchased after 1 January 2010) supplied by Fireplace Products Australia Pty Ltd
• Regency F38 and FG38 supplied by Fireplace Products Australia Pty Ltd - natural gas models only. The F38/FG38 was branded and supplied by Masport prior to 2006.
• Nectre 2000 (manufactured from 2007) supplied by Glen Dimplex Australia Pty Ltd
• Real Flame Pyrotech (manufactured from 2012) also supplied by Glen Dimplex Australia Pty Ltd

RCDs reminder – stay current with requirements

Residual current devices (RCDs) save lives! Check your residential rental property to ensure that at least two RCDs are fitted to protect all power and lighting before offering the property for lease. At least one RCD is to be fitted to power and lighting circuits in common areas of strata properties. Any faulty or missing RCDs must be replaced/fitted immediately in order to comply with the law.

Building a new rental property? All electrical installations in new home builds after 1 January 2019 have to comply with new wiring rules.

Building and Energy recommends testing RCDs every three months, which could easily become part of your routine inspections of your rental property. For more information, the RCD fact sheet is a great resource.

Keeping tenants in the know

Did you know that we publish a bulletin just like this but for tenants? Imagine the benefits of working with tenants that stay informed about their responsibilities—encourage yours to subscribe to the Tenants’ bulletin today!

Coming soon: DMIRS Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey

As a user of the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) services (licensee, tenant, registered organisation, business or consumer), you may be contacted through an email from DMIRS and invited to take part in the 2019 DMIRS Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey. The survey is being run by Ipsos to help DMIRS measure its performance.