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Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Bill
Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents
Circulation Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Clause Notes
Clause 1 sets out the purpose of the Bill.
Clause 2 is the commencement provision. It provides that the Bill comes
into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed and that if it
does not come into operation before 1 July 2004, it comes into
operation on that day.
Clause 3 states that in this Bill, the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is
called the Principal Act.
Clause 4 inserts a definition of "Director of Housing voucher" into section
404 of the Principal Act. A Director of Housing voucher is a
voucher issued by the Director of Housing or his or her agent for
the payment of an amount of bond on behalf of a tenant. This is
necessary as clause 7 of the Bill amends the Principal Act to
provide that a bond or amount of bond may be paid in the form of
a Director of Housing voucher.
Clause 5 amends section 405(2) of the Principal Act to clarify that this
section applies where the Director of Housing or his or her agent
has paid the bond on behalf of a tenant, whether in full or in part.
Clause 6 amends section 407(1)(c) of the Principal Act to clarify that this
section (which requires the Residential Tenancies Bond
Authority to issue receipts) also applies where the Director of
Housing or his or her agent has paid the bond on behalf of a
tenant, whether in full or in part.
Clause 7 makes a number of amendments to section 410A of the Principal
Act.
Clause 7(1) inserts the words "Director of Housing voucher" in
the heading to section 410A of the Principal Act to signify that
bonds may now be paid using Director of Housing vouchers.
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Clause 7(2) substitutes section 410A(1) of the Principal Act to
provide that a bond can be paid by a tenant to a landlord (without
limiting the manner in which a bond may be paid) in one of the
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following forms--
· a cheque made payable to the Residential Tenancies
Bond Authority; or
· a money order made payable to the Residential
Tenancies Bond Authority; or
· a Director of Housing voucher; or
· a combination of 2 or more of the above forms.
Clause 8 amends section 411 of the Principal Act to insert new paragraph
(d). This paragraph provides that in relation to an amount of
bond paid on behalf of a tenant by the Director of Housing or his
or her agent, the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority can only
pay out such an amount of bond in accordance with--
· a determination of the Victorian Civil and
Administrative Tribunal or an order of a court; or
· new section 411A which deals with certain bonds that
are paid on behalf of tenants by the Director of Housing
or his or her agent and are held by the Residential
Tenancies Bond Authority on 30 June 2003; or
· section 413(1) which deals with joint landlord and
tenant applications for refunds of bonds; or
· new section 413(1A) which deals with joint landlord
and Director of Housing applications for refunds of
bonds paid on behalf of tenants by the Director of
Housing or his or her agent.
Clause 9 inserts new section 411A to the Principal Act. This section
provides that if, on 30 June 2003, the Residential Tenancies Bond
Authority holds an amount of bond paid by the Director of
Housing on behalf of a tenant, and the Authority receives a new
bond in respect of the same premises and no application for the
refund of the bond paid by the Director of Housing is made
within 12 months of the date on which the new bond is received
for the same premises, then the Authority may pay to the Director
of Housing the amount of bond paid by the Director of Housing
on behalf of the tenant, and may pay to the tenant a remaining
amount of bond paid by the tenant in relation to the tenancy
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agreement for which the Director of Housing paid an amount of
bond.
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The purpose of this provision is to enable certain bonds paid by
the Director of Housing in respect of tenancy agreements that
have since terminated and which have not been claimed, to be
refunded to the Director of Housing.
Clause 10 amends section 412(6) of the Principal Act to make clear that the
section does not apply to a bond paid on behalf of a tenant by the
Director of Housing or his or her agent, irrespective of whether
the bond is so paid in full or in part.
Clause 11 makes a number of amendments to section 413 of the Principal
Act.
Clause 11(1) inserts new sub-section (1A). It relates to where an
amount of bond is paid on behalf of a tenant by the Director of
Housing or his or her agent, and a landlord is unable to obtain the
tenant's agreement to make an application in accordance with
section 413(1). In such circumstances, the new sub-section
enables a landlord and the Director of Housing to apply jointly to
the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority for a refund to the
Director of Housing of the amount of bond paid on behalf of the
tenant by the Director of Housing or his or her agent.
Clause 11(2) inserts a new section 413(3) to the Principal Act,
which provides that an application for any part of a bond to be
paid to the landlord must not be made 7 days or more before the
termination date of the tenancy agreement.
Clause 12 inserts a new section 413A to the Principal Act to require the
Residential Tenancies Bond Authority to notify the Director of
Housing when the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority
receives a new bond in relation to a tenancy agreement for the
same premises for which the Residential Tenancies Bond
Authority already holds an amount of bond paid on behalf of a
tenant by the Director of Housing or his or her agent.
Clause 13 makes a number of amendments to section 416 of the Principal
Act.
Clause 13(1) amends the heading to section 416 of the Principal
Act to refer to the Director of Housing. This is to take account of
the fact that the Director of Housing, instead of a tenant, may
make an application to the Victorian Civil and Administrative
Tribunal where an amount of bond has been paid on behalf of the
tenant by the Director of Housing or his or her agent.
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Clause 13(2) amends section 416(3) of the Principal Act to make
clear that this section applies to bonds paid on behalf of tenants
by the Director of Housing or his or her agent, whether in full or
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in part.
Clause 14 amends sections 421(1) and 421(3) of the Principal Act to clarify
that these provisions apply where the Director of Housing or his
or her agent has paid the bond on behalf of a tenant, whether in
full or in part.
Clause 15 inserts new paragraph (aa) in section 427(1) of the Principal Act
to require the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority, in relation
to a bond lodgment form that states that an amount of bond has
been paid by the Director of Housing or his or her agent on
behalf of a tenant, to register that the Director of Housing has
paid an amount of the bond, as well as the amount of the bond
that the Director of Housing has so paid.
Clause 16 inserts new paragraph (ca) in section 431 of the Principal Act to
provide that it is a function of the Residential Tenancies Bond
Authority to collect the information contained in bond lodgment
forms given to the Authority, as well as other information that is
kept by the Authority in relation to bonds it holds.
Furthermore, new paragraph (cb) provides that it is a function of
the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority to disclose to the
Director of Housing all information (with the exception of any
names) collected in relation to bonds, being the information
referred to in new paragraph (ca). This is to enable the Director
of Housing to use such information for research, compiling
statistics and public education.
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