By Frances Howe
On Monday, NSW Premier Chris Minns announced that, from mid-May, landlords would not be able to reject a prospective tenant for having a pet without providing a valid reason. But, on Tuesday, his description of when landlords can and can’t reject tenants with pets left some confused.
“If the landlord deems the property is not suitable for a pet, that’s a valid reason to reject the application, it’s just that you can’t put on the advertisement that no pets are allowed,” Minns told 2GB.
Rental reforms will come into effect from May.Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald
Host Ben Fordham asked him to clarify: “So, hang on, but the landlord can reject it if they don’t want the pet?”
“Correct, that’s right,” Minns replied.
“So you can still ban pets?” Fordham asked again.
“Yes, you can, but you can’t do it automatically,” Minns responded.
When Minns said pets cannot be banned “automatically”, he was referring to the list of grounds available to landlords to allow them to lawfully reject the application of a tenant with a pet. These grounds were all included in the legislation passed in October and effective from May 19.
What are the new grounds on which landlords can reject pets?
Minns is correct to say one of the grounds is that the property is unsuitable for pets, although the landlord has to say this is due to one of three specific reasons: there isn’t appropriate fencing, there is insufficient open space, or it would be inhumane to keep a pet at the property.
If a landlord doesn’t provide one of these reasons when rejecting a tenant’s application, the tenant can take them to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
The tenant can also apply to the tribunal if they believe their landlord has approved their application but imposed an unreasonable condition for them to keep the pet.
The legislation doesn’t give examples of these conditions, but it is possible they could be rules such as needing to keep a dog tethered in a backyard. What amounts to “unreasonable” is ultimately at the discretion of the tribunal.
The government has said a standardised form will be available for applications and, regardless of whatever issues a landlord may have with a prospective pet, approval will automatically be granted to the tenant if the landlord fails to respond to the form within 21 days.
Minns was also correct in saying landlords will no longer be allowed to advertise that a property does not accept tenants with pets.
How will the new laws be enforced?
Taking a landlord to the tribunal is the primary way to enforce the new act and force a landlord to accept a tenant’s application.
However, the tenant’s application to the tribunal will be dismissed if it finds the landlord has refused the pet on any of the applicable grounds listed in the legislation, or if the specific conditions to keep the pet are reasonable.
If the tenant has more than one pet, the tribunal can make different decisions for each pet.
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