Did you get the full deposit for your rental? (photo by Sydney Morning Herald)
According to a survey conducted by the website Finder, 1 / 3 of Australian tenants said they had been withheld in full or in part from rental deposits, with 3 / 5 of them saying the landlord's reason for withholding the deposit was unfair, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Young tenants are more likely to be deducted from rental deposits, with about 2 / 5 of the 18-to 24-year-old group being held.
Compared with other developed countries, Australian tenants have fewer rights and protection rules. With the decline in home ownership and the rise in the number of tenants, renting deposits may become a politically sensitive issue.
Under state law, a deposit may not exceed a month's rent if the weekly rent is less than A $350; if the weekly rent exceeds A $350, a deposit may be charged in excess of a month's rent. The new state stipulated that the rental deposit should not exceed 4 weeks rent. Renting deposits must be handed over to an official agency for management.
Hill (Gerard Hill), head of the (Newtown) division in Sydney's new town of Raine & Horne, a real estate broker, said that in many cases it was tenants who had paid a few days less rent and then said they were deducted from the rental deposit. In some cases, the tenant did not clean up at the time of moving, allowing him to arrange to deduct cleaning fees from the rental deposit.
Hill believes there are few real estate deposit disputes, with the New Town branch representing 1500 properties, and the average deposit dispute is two per month. Hill revealed that most of the disputes were related to property damage, particularly the marks on polished floors and walls (abnormal wear and tear), and house cleaning.
According to the new state lease deposit committee (NSW Rental Bond Board) 2015 / 16 fiscal year report, 72% of the deposit return obtained the consent of the landlord and tenant, including in the case of non-full return of. 24%, Lease deposit committee has issued deductive deposit notice, the tenant did not dispute. The rate of deposit return cases determined by the arbitral tribunal due to disputes is less than 2%.