New tenancy database laws create real tenant blacklist

After years and years of the battle, finally we see consumer affairs and the tenant’s union get their own way.

On September 1, 2011, new legislation commenced that has changed the way tenancy databases in Victoria will operate forever. For years now we have seen on media portals such as A Current Affair and Today Tonight all the terrible stories of real estate agents and how they “blacklist” tenants from obtaining another rental property in the future.  When in fact before September 1, 2011, the databases were not “blacklists” – they were actual databases. They contained records of millions of people who have rented over the last 20 years, and the databases allowed a property manager to record one of the following;

• Current tenants
• Previous tenants
• Recommended tenants
• Judgment / court order
• Left owing in excess of the bond
• Irregular payments
• Broke conditions of lease
• Abandonment
• Unclaimed monies

But now things have changed.

The databases now only allow us to place a listing against a tenant for the following reason:

• The tenancy has ended AND
• A possession order has been granted OR
• An order of a breach that includes the words “rent arrears” OR
• The person owes the landlord an amount that is more than the bond OR
• An order of a breach that includes the words “damage to premises” or “malicious damage”

Furthermore, the listing is only valid for a maximum period of three years.  Previously the listing would remain for seven years.

Like with all new legislation it will be monitored over the next six to 12 months and perhaps reviewed, and in the world of property management we will learn to work with the changes to the legislation accordingly.

I suppose the most disappointing part is for years the media and public have pushed for the removal or banning of these so-called “blacklists”. As property managers we no longer have the opportunity to create a positive listing on a wonderful tenant, or make a listing on someone who made irregular payments throughout their tenancy, or someone broke their lease conditions yet received a full bond refund. This was the whole point of having a tenancy database, yet what has now been created is a database of people who owners and property managers probably won’t want to rent to.