‘Deceptive’: Inquiry hears barrage of SA renter complaints
Just one tenancy support service is receiving more than 700 monthly complaints from SA renters, with shocking claims over real estate professionals.
The state’s leading tenant advice and advocacy service has told a parliamentary committee it is under-resourced to deal with tenant complaints as calls to its hotline reach around 900 a month in SA.
Independent tenant advice and advocacy service RentRight SA, operated by the community organisation SYC, received constant reports from tenants claiming they were being slugged with sudden rent increases of up to $250 a week, with large rent increases becoming more prevalent since the Covid outbreak in 2020.
SYC CEO Jenny Hall told the parliamentary committee on the conduct of real estate professionals that the agency also had seen “recurring patterns” of “misleading, deceptive or unreasonable conduct” in the rental market.
“There is a fundamental power imbalance here at play. Undisclosed building faults and unresolved repairs, including leaks and mould, are evident,” Hall said.
“Rent increases are used as leverage when renters request repairs or assert their rights, they are some of the areas that we feel are worthy of investigation.
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“We have seen through our evidence and working with tenants that there is a lot of pressure if a tenant requires to have an urgent repair matter heard urgently, and if that isn’t urgent, it is delayed.”
It was the second hearing held by the parliamentary committee established to inquire into and report on the conduct of real estate agents, property managers and other real estate professionals in SA.
Its remit is to address misleading or deceptive conduct impacting property vendors, purchasers and renters, including the use of tactics such as underquoting, inaccurate appraisals, non-disclosure of building faults, rent bidding and unreasonable rental inspection reports.
RentRight manager of tenancy services Julie Nemet told the committee that the organisation was receiving 900 calls to its hotline a month, with 80 per cent of callers raising complaints.
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“Quite often our highest complaints are around repairs, especially urgent repairs needing attention,” Nemet said.
Nemet said the RentRight service was not adequately resourced to keep up with complaints saying “I would always love for more money spent on renters’ advocacy. I think education is important, as I said before, I do think there’s always room for improvement”.
Rental increase regulations in the Australian Capital Territory were flagged as potential models that could protect renters from exorbitant increases.
In ACT, landlords can only increase rent once every 12 months, and the increase is capped at 10 per cent above the Canberra rental Consumer Price Index.
“Cost and time” were cited as two of the biggest barriers deterring renters from taking rental disputes to the SA Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) which resolves housing and rental disputes between tenants, landlords, and agents.
Tenants who wish to dispute a matter to SACAT are required to pay an application fee of $90.
Greens SA leader Robert Simms the large number of complaints being issued was worrying.
“It’s shocking to hear that RentRight SA is receiving 900 complaints a month but it demonstrates the intensity of this rental crisis,” Simms said.
“It’s also concerning that renters are being slugged with a $90 fee for choosing to assert their rights at the tribunal. Why should they be punished for simply seeking action at a tribunal level?”
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