Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2012

Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2012

No. 47 of 2012

table of provisions

SectionPage

Part 1—Preliminary

1Purposes

2Commencement

Part 2—Amendments Relating to Successive Breaches

3Successive breaches by landlord

4Successive breaches by tenant

5Successive breaches by resident of rooming house

6Successive breaches by resident of caravan park

7Successive breaches by site owner

8Successive breaches by site tenant

Part 3—Amendments Relating to Bonds

9Definitions

10Bond lodgment form

11Duty to pay bond to Authority

12Receipt for bond

13Bond held on trust

14What if the landlord is late in lodging the bond?

15Payment of bond by cheque, Director of Housing voucher ormoney order

16New section 410B inserted

410BPayment of substitute bond

17Payment out of bonds

18Payment out of certain Director of Housing bonds held on 30June 2003

19New section 411B inserted

411BPayment out of Director of Housing bonds generally

20New section 411C inserted

411CRefund of amount of substitute bond

21Payment out by agreement

22Payment to Director of Housing

23Authority to notify Director of Housing on receipt of new
bond

24Bond paid by Director of Housing

25Prohibition of claims

26Notice of assignment or transfer by landlord

27Notice of assignment or transfer by tenant

28Authority to record names

29Functions of Authority

Part 4—Other Amendments and Repeal

30Statute law revision

31Date of repeal of Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2010

32Repeal of amending Act

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Endnotes

SectionPage

Victoria

SectionPage

Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2012[†]

No. 47 of 2012

[Assented to 21 August 2012]

Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2012
No. 47 of 2012

The Parliament of Victoriaenacts:

Part 4—Other Amendments and Repeal

Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2012
No. 47 of 2012

Part 1—Preliminary

1Purposes

The main purposes of this Act are—

(a)to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

(i) to clarify the consequences of a third successive breach of a duty provision; and

(ii) to make further provision for matters relating to bonds; and

(iii)to make other miscellaneous amendments; and

(b) to amend the Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 to amend the date of the repeal of that Act.

2Commencement

s. 2

(1)Part 1 and section 31 come into operation on the day after the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.

(2)Subject to subsection (3), the remaining provisions of this Act come into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.

(3) If a provision referred to in subsection (2) does not come into operation before 1 June 2013, it comes into operation on that day.

______

Part 2—Amendments Relating to Successive Breaches

3Successive breaches by landlord

s. 3

See:
Act No.
109/1997.
Reprint No. 6
as at
5 September 2011
and amending
Act Nos
49/2010, 63/2010, 67/2010, 17/2012 and 21/2012.
LawToday:
www.
legislation.
vic.gov.au

(1)In section 240(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

(a)after "premises" insert "without first serving a breach of duty notice under section 208";

(b)in paragraph (c), after "occasion" insert"referred to in paragraph (b)".

(2)After section 240(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"(1A) If the tenant gives a breach of duty notice to the landlord under section 208 in respect of the breach referred to in subsection (1)(a), the tenant must not give the landlord a notice of intention to vacate under this sectionunless the landlord has not complied with the breach of duty notice within the required time.".

4Successive breaches by tenant

(1)In section 249(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)after "premises" insert "without first serving a breach of duty notice under section 208";

(b)in paragraph (c), after "occasion" insert"referred to in paragraph (b)".

(2)After section 249(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"(1A) If the landlord gives a breach of duty notice to the tenant under section 208 in respect of the breach referred to in subsection (1)(a), the landlord must not give the tenant a notice to vacate under this sectionunless the tenant has not complied with the breach of duty notice within the required time.".

5Successive breaches by resident of rooming house

s. 5

(1)In section 283(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)after "by the resident"insert "without first serving a breach of duty notice under section208";

(b)in paragraph (c), after "occasion" insert"referred to in paragraph (b)".

(2)After section 283(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"(1A) If the rooming house owner gives a breach of duty notice to the resident under section 208 in respect of the breach referred to in subsection (1)(a), the rooming house owner must not give the resident a notice to vacate under this sectionunless the resident has not complied with the breach of duty notice within the required time.".

6Successive breaches by resident of caravan park

(1)In section 308(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)after "a site or caravan" insert "without first serving a breach of duty notice under section208";

(b)in paragraph (c), after "occasion" insert"referred to in paragraph (b)".

(2)After section 308(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"(1A) If the caravan park owner or caravan owner gives a breach of duty notice to the resident under section208 in respect of the breach referred to in subsection (1)(a), the caravan park owner or caravan owner must not give the resident a notice to vacate under this sectionunless the resident has not complied with the breach of duty notice within the required time.".

7Successive breaches by site owner

s. 7

(1)In section 317V(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)after "Part 4A site" insert "without first serving a breach of duty notice under section208";

(b)in paragraph (c), after "occasion" insert"referred to in paragraph (b)".

(2)After section 317V(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"(1A) If the site tenant gives a breach of duty notice to the site owner under section 208 in respect of the breach referred to in subsection (1)(a), the site tenant must not give the site owner a notice of intention to vacate under this sectionunless the site owner has not complied with the breach of duty notice within the required time.".

8Successive breaches by site tenant

(1)In section 317ZB(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)after "Part 4A site" insert "without first serving a breach of duty notice under section208";

(b)in paragraph (c), after "occasion" insert"referred to in paragraph (b)".

(2)After section 317ZB(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"(1A) If the site owner gives a breach of duty notice to the site tenant under section 208 in respect of the breach referred to in subsection (1)(a), the site owner must not give the site tenant a notice to vacate under this sectionunless the site tenant has not complied with the breach of duty notice within the required time.".

s. 8

______

Part 3—Amendments Relating to Bonds

9Definitions

s. 9

In section 404 of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a) insertthe following definitions—

"amount of bond includes a partial or full amount of a bond;

bondlodgmentform means a form completed and signed by a landlord and tenant in accordance with section 405 for the purposes of lodgment of an amount of bond;

bond substitution form means a form completed and signed by a tenant in accordance with section 410B for the purposes of lodgment of a substitute bond under that section;";

(b) in paragraph (d) of the definition of landlord, after "former landlord" insert
",former rooming house owner, former caravan park owner, former caravan owner and former site owner".

10Bond lodgment form

(1)Insert the following heading to section 405 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

"Bond lodgment form".

(2)In section 405(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)for "a bond" substitute "an amount of bond";

(b)for "the bond" substitute "the amount of bond".

(3) In section 405(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, for "the bond" substitute "the amount of bond".

11Duty to pay bond to Authority

s. 11

In section 406 of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)for "a bond" substitute "an amount of bond";

(b)for "the bond" (where first occurring) substitute "the amount of bond";

12Receipt for bond

In section 407(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

(a)for "the bond" (where first occurring) substitute "bond";

(b)in paragraph (b), for "the bond" substitute "the amount of bond".

13Bond held on trust

In section 408 of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)for "a bond" substitute "an amount of bond";

(b)for "the bond" (where twice occurring) substitute "the amount of bond".

14What if the landlord is late in lodging the bond?

s. 14

In section 409(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, for "that bond" substitute "that amount of bond".

15Payment of bond by cheque, Director of Housing voucher or money order

In section 410A of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

(a)for "a bond" (wherever occurring) substitute "an amount of bond";

(b)for "the bond" substitute "bond".

16New section 410B inserted

After section 410A of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"410B Payment of substitute bond

(1)A tenant under a tenancy agreement may substitute an amount of bond paid by the tenant and held by the Authority in relation to that tenancy agreement with an equivalentamount of bond paid on behalf of the tenant by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing (whether in the form of a Director of Housing voucher or otherwise).

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a tenant must—

(a)complete and sign a bond substitution form containing the prescribed information; and

(b)give the substitute bond to the Authority together with the completed bond substitution form.

(3) The Authority, within 7 days after receiving a substitute bond, must give a receipt to—

(a) the landlord under the tenancy agreement; and

(b)the tenant; and

(c)theDirector of Housing.

(4) A receipt under subsection (3) must—

(a) confirm that a bond substitution has been effected; and

(b)specify the amount of bond substituted; and

(c)contain the prescribed information.

(5) The receipt may be given in the manner determined by the Authority.".

17Payment out of bonds

s. 17

In section 411 of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)after paragraph (a) insert—

"(ab) in accordance with section 411C; or";

(b) in paragraph (d)(ii), after "411A" insert"or411B";

18Payment out of certain Director of Housing bonds held on 30June 2003

After section 411A(3) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997 insert—

"(4)This section does not apply on or after the commencement of section 411B.".

19New section 411B inserted

s. 19

After section 411A of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"411B Payment out of Director of Housing bonds generally

(1)This section applies if—

(a)the Authority holds an amount of bond paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant; and

(b)the Authority receives a new amount of bond in relation to a tenancy agreement—

(i) for the same premises to which the amount of bond referred to in paragraph (a) relates; and

(ii)from or on behalf of a tenant other than the tenant referred to in paragraph (a); and

(c)no application for a refund of the amount of bond referred to in paragraph(a) is made in accordance with section413(1) within 12 months of the date on which the Authority receives the new bond referred to in paragraph(b).

(2)The Authority may pay to the Director of Housing the amount of bond referred to in subsection(1)(a).

(3)After the Authority pays an amount under subsection (2), if the Authority holds a remaining amount of bond in relation to the tenancy agreement for which the amount of bond referred to in subsection(1)(a) was paid, the Authority may pay to the tenant the remaining amount of bond.".

20New section 411C inserted

s. 20

Before section 412 of the Residential Tenancies Act1997insert—

"411C Refund of amount of substitute bond

If the Authority receives a substitute bond under section 410B, the Authority must pay to the tenant under the tenancy agreement to which the substitute bond relates the amount of bond held by the Authority that the substitute bond replaces.".

21Payment out by agreement

(1)In section 412(5) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997for "the bond or part of the bond" substitute "an amount of bond".

(2)After section 412(5) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 insert—

"(5A) A landlord must not request or obtain a tenant's signature to an application under this section if the application does not specify—

(a)the amount of bond to be refunded; and

(b)the apportionment (if any) of that amount.

Penalty:20 penalty units.".

22Payment to Director of Housing

(1)Insert the following heading to section 413 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

"Payment to Director of Housing".

(2)In section 413(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)omit "and tenant";

(b)for "the bond" substitute "the amount of bond";

(c)for "apply jointly" substitute "applies".

(3) In section 413of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)subsection (1A) is repealed; and

(b)subsection (3) is repealed.

23Authority to notify Director of Housing on receipt of new bond

s. 23

(1)In the heading to section 413A of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, after "new" insert
"amount of".

(2)In section 413A of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, after "new" (where twice occurring) insert "amount of".

24Bond paid by Director of Housing

In section 421(3)(a) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, after "bond lodgment form" insert
"or bond substitution form".

25Prohibition of claims

In section 423(2) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

(a)for "the bond" (where first occurring) substitute "bond";

(b)for "the bond" (where secondly occurring) substitute "the amount of bond".

26Notice of assignment or transfer by landlord

s. 26

In section 424(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, for "a bond" substitute "an amount of bond".

27Notice of assignment or transfer by tenant

In section 425(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, for "a bond" substitute "an amount of bond".

28Authority to record names

In section 427(1) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997—

(a)in paragraph (a), for "a bond" substitute
"an amount of bond";

(b)for paragraph (aa) substitute—

"(ab) in the case of a bond lodgment form or bond substitution form that states that the amount of bond has been paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant—

(i) the fact that the amount of bond has been so paid; and

(ii)the amount of bond that has been so paid; and

(iii)if applicable, the amount of bond that has been refunded to the tenant under section 411C; and".

29Functions of Authority

s. 29

In section 431(ca) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1997—

(a)after "forms" insert "and bond substitution forms";

(b)after "bonds" insert "(including substitute bonds under section 410B)".

______

Part 4—Other Amendments and Repeal

30Statute law revision

s. 30

In section 333(1)(iia) of the Residential Tenancies Act1997, for "building:" substitute "building;".

31Date of repeal of Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2010

See:
Act No.
63/2010
and amending
Act Nos
72/2010, 29/2011, 36/2011 and 21/2012.
Statute Book:
www.
legislation.
vic.gov.au

In section 82 of the Consumer Affairs Legislation Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 for "1 September 2012" substitute "1December 2013".

32Repeal of amending Act

This Act is repealed on 1 June 2014.

Note

The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).

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Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2012
No. 47 of 2012

Endnotes

[†] Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 23 May 2012

Legislative Council: 21 June 2012

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to make further provision for matters relating to bonds and duty provisions and for other purposes."