The Queensland Government have recently announced proposed reforms impacting renters with pets in Queensland and the RSPCA have welcomed the review.
The proposed changes look at ways tenants and owners would be supported to reach an agreement including:
- Encouraging information disclosure about pets by tenants (pet resumes) and property owners (suitability of rental property to keep a pet and any special conditions that may apply)
- Requiring property owners to have reasonable grounds for refusing a tenant’s request for a pet, such as unacceptable risks to health, safety or the condition of the property or the property is unsuitable for the proposed pet.
- Property owners could obtain a tribunal order to exclude pets (or a type of pet) from a rental property if a reasonable ground does not apply or the reason the property is unsuitable to keep pets or a type of pet is unlikely to change.
- Allowing property owners to require the tenant to pay a pet bond OR include a special condition in the tenancy agreement for professional pest control and carpet cleaning to be undertaken at the end of the tenancy.
- Property owners can claim against the rental bond for the costs to repair any damage caused by pets during the tenancy.
Find out more and have your say on these proposed reforms before the 28th December 2019 here: www.qld.gov.au/rentinginqld.
