Meriton dumps controversial $1100 ‘pet licence’ fee apartment tenants
Apartment behemoth Meriton has been forced to scrap a controversial $1100 ‘pet licence’ fee it was charging tenants after it was threatened with legal action by NSW Fair Trading.
NSW
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A “un-Australian” rip-off that saw hundreds of people charged a hefty fee for the right to have a pet in their rental apartment has come to end.
Sydney’s biggest apartment owner and landlord, Meriton, has agreed to stop charging tenants a non-refundable $1100 “pet licence” fee after NSW Fair Trading threatened to take the company to court.
Meriton has been charging the fee, which the state government and the NSW Tenants’ Union describe as unlawful, since at least 2011.
The Sunday Telegraph reevealed the problem in 2018 in an interview with Sydney woman Anita Milford-Chilvers, who lives with her rescue cats Serena and Pascal.
The finance worker filed a complaint with the NSW Tenants’ Union in 2017 after Meriton tried to charge her $2200 to allow the cats in Meriton’s Mulberry On Miller apartment complex in North Sydney.
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The 46-year-old found a pet-friendly apartment in Breakfast Point instead, describing the fee as “un-Australian”.
Fair Trading initially said there was nothing wrong with the fee before launching an investigation a year later.
“I know it took a long time for this issue to be resolved but I am really pleased that Meriton have discontinued charging the pet licence fee,” Ms Milford-Chilvers said this week.
“It’s a win for anyone renting with pets.”
In Sydney Meriton directly leases more than 3100 apartments on top of the 7500 units they either manage for investors or own as serviced apartments.
Meriton said in a statement it stopped charging pet licence fees as of February 25 — one day before NSW Fair Trading was due to file proceedings in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“Meriton is currently in dialogue with Fair Trading NSW regarding this matter,” the company said.
Strata law changes in 2017 made it easier for pets to live in strata schemes.
A 2019 NCAT case, in which a woman successfully overturned a blanket pet ban in Darlinghurst’s luxurious Horizon apartment tower, has set a major precedent.
Many blanket bans remain, however, whether they be apartment owners or tenants.
Landlords can take money out of a bond for damage caused by pets and have the right to refuse pets — but charging a non-refundable fee is a no-no.
“Anyone who believes they have been charged a fee in exchange for permission to keep a pet, should contact their landlord to request a refund,” a NSW Fair Trading spokeswoman said.
“If a refund is not forthcoming, tenants are encouraged to contact Fair Trading.”
NSW Tenants’ Union spokesman Leo Patterson-Ross estimated hundreds of people have been charged the fee.
He said many people paid it because they feared being booted from their rental property.
He called on Meriton to refund everyone who has paid the fee.
“This is clearly the right decision and a good example of a positive outcome when Fair Trading stands up as a regulator in the rental market,” he said.
“We need to see more of it.”
Originally published as Meriton dumps controversial $1100 ‘pet licence’ fee apartment tenants