The Commissioner for Consumer Protection, Gary Newcombe has announced that a review currently dealing with the family and domestic violence tenancy laws (FDV) is considering whether the laws need to be fine-tuned.
“As part of this review, Consumer Protection has begun seeking feedback from the community on how effective the current laws have been, and to assess the impact they have had on affected tenants and landlords,” Mr Newcombe said.
He said the current tenancy laws relating to family and domestic violence came into effect in April 2019 and allowed tenants fearing for their own or their children’s safety to end a tenancy agreement early without the need to go to court.
“Instead, victim-survivors need only to fill out a form giving the landlord at least seven days’ notice they wish to end the tenancy early and provide a family violence report as evidence,” Mr Newcombe said.
“In co-tenancies, victim-survivors have the option to apply to the court to have the perpetrator’s name removed from the lease so that they can remain in their rental home.”
He said other reforms included the ability to change locks or upgrade security; prevent or remove tenancy database entries; and resolve any issues related to damage, unpaid rent or bonds.
“This community consultation may reveal problems that we may not yet know about and will take into consideration the impact of COVID-19 and the ability of victim-survivors to find alternative accommodation with the current extremely low rental vacancy rate,” Mr Newcombe said.
“The review will focus on whether the laws are working as intended to support affected renters and will also examine how landlords are impacted in areas such as recovering debts owed by tenants and making claims on insurance.”
The closing date for submissions is 16 December (tomorrow) and the consultation paper and short survey can be accessed at this PS News link and further information on the current laws at this link.
