Domestic violence
One of the most widely reported recommendations is on the tenancies of victims of domestic violence.
The proposed change will allow victims to end their tenancy immediately by providing evidence of domestic violence through a provisional, interim or final apprehended violence order (AVO), or court order.
A landlord or tenant would be able to apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to resolve a dispute over whether a termination notice with the appropriate evidence was provided.
Further amends around this issue include:
- removing the automatic liability of a tenant who is the victim of domestic violence for the damage caused by others who are on the premises
- prohibiting landlords and agents from listing a tenant on a tenancy database where they are aware the tenant is a victim of domestic violence.
REINSW President John Cunningham said: “Anything that supports victims of domestic violence has to be supported because we need to ensure the safety of tenants.
“The issues will be about the time is takes to re-let the property and who pays for any damage. We also need to look at the implications and impact it could have on insurance claims.
“However if we have provisions to avoid these issues adversely impacting landlords, then I don’t think there will be any issues from the industry at all.
“Ultimately the devil will be in the detail, but we expect to go into further consultation with the NSW Government to make sure that landlords won’t lose out.”
The new laws are expected to be introduced to Parliament in the first half of 2017 based on the recommendations of the review. The NSW Government says that stakeholders will be consulted, where appropriate, over the drafting of the amendments.