By Megan Gorrey
Landlords would have to provide tenants with a free electronic method to pay their rent, under new laws the NSW government is proposing that could save some renters hundreds of dollars in fees.
Tenants squeezed by rising rents and cost-of-living pressures have expressed growing frustration with real estate agents’ use of third-party apps that charge fees to make rental payments.
Frustrated tenants are being slugged to pay their rent. Credit: Peter Rae
Premier Chris Minns said the government would introduce a bill to parliament in October that, if passed, would require property owners and real estate agents to offer fee-free methods for tenants to pay their rent, such as bank transfer and the federal government’s Centrepay bill paying service.
“You don’t pay additional fees every time the mortgage comes out, and you shouldn’t have to pay, to pay the rent,” Minns said.
“We believe this bill makes things a bit less stressful for renters, while getting the balance right.”
The government is forging ahead with its ambition to introduce a tranche of new rental laws aimed at striking the right balance between the interests of landlords and the state’s 2.2 million renters.
Under legislative changes introduced in 2011, NSW tenants must be offered at least one fee-free method of paying their rent.
But provisions in the legislation have been loosely interpreted by landlords and real estate agents.
Some will only offer free payment methods that are inconvenient, such as cash payments at the agent’s office or a post office. This effectively forces tenants to use the more convenient electronic option, which is often the agent’s preferred third-party platform.
The Tenants’ Union of NSW last year said it was receiving weekly complaints about third-party payment apps, as it expressed concerns that tenants were signing up for monthly fees on top of rent.
Minns said the government had heard too many stories of renters being given limited options to pay their rent, without incurring additional fees and charges. Some renters are slugged with fees up to 1.5 per cent of their weekly rental payment. The amounts being charged vary. A tenant being charged a 1.5 per cent fee on top of the median weekly rent for a unit in NSW – $720 – would pay an extra $10.80 per payment.
In its consultation paper on NSW’s rental laws last year, the Department of Customer Service raised concerns that the current rules requiring at least one form of fee-free payment did not guarantee tenants a “genuine free and easy way to pay rent”.
The government’s bill includes previously announced measures to end no-grounds evictions by requiring property owners to give a reason to end a tenancy for both periodic and fixed-term leases, and to scrap fees renters are charged for background checks when they apply for a rental property.
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