Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003

Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents i Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 Act No. 93/2003 TABLE OF PROVISIONS Section Page 1. Purpose 1 2. Commencement 2 3. Principal Act 2 4. Definition of "Director of Housing voucher" 2 5. Bond lodgment form 3 6. Receipt for bond 3 7. Payment of bond by cheque, Director of Housing voucher or money order 3 8. Payment out of bonds 3 9. New section 411A inserted 4 411A. Payment out of certain Director of Housing bonds held on 30 June 2003 4 10. Payment out by agreement 5 11. Payment to Director of Housing or landlord by agreement 5 12. New section 413A inserted 6 413A. Authority to notify Director of Housing on receipt of new bond 6 13. Application to Tribunal by tenant or Director of Housing 6 14. Bond paid by Director of Housing 6 15. Authority to record names 7 16. Functions of Authority 7 ═══════════════ ENDNOTES 8 -- 1 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents 1 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003† [Assented to 25 November 2003] The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows: 1. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1997— (a) to provide that the Director of Housing may pay amounts of bonds on behalf of tenants by means of Director of Housing vouchers; and Victoria No. 93 of 2003 -- 2 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 2 (b) to enable the Authority to refund amounts of certain bonds paid by the Director of Housing and held by the Authority on 30 June 2003 to the Director of Housing; and (c) to provide that it is a function of the Authority to collect certain information and to disclose that information to the Director of Housing. 2. Commencement (1) Subject to sub-section (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed. (2) If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 30 June 2004, it comes into operation on that day. 3. Principal Act In this Act, the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 is called the Principal Act. 4. Definition of "Director of Housing voucher" In section 404 of the Principal Act insert the following definition— ' "Director of Housing voucher" means a voucher issued by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing for payment of an amount of bond on behalf of a tenant;'. s. 2 See: Act No. 109/1997. Reprint No. 3 as at 1 July 2003. LawToday: www.dms. dpc.vic. gov.au -- 3 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 3 5. Bond lodgment form In section 405(2) of the Principal Act, for "paid the" substitute "paid an amount of". 6. Receipt for bond In section 407(1)(c) of the Principal Act, for "the bond" insert "an amount of bond". 7. Payment of bond by cheque, Director of Housing voucher or money order (1) In the heading to section 410A of the Principal Act, after "cheque" insert ", Director of Housing voucher". (2) For section 410A(1) of the Principal Act substitute— "(1) Without limiting any manner in which a bond may be paid, for the purposes of this Division, a landlord receives a bond from a tenant if the tenant gives the landlord the amount of the bond— (a) in the form of a cheque made payable to the Authority; or (b) in the form of a money order made payable to the Authority; or (c) in the form of a Director of Housing voucher; or (d) in a combination of 2 or more forms specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c).". 8. Payment out of bonds In section 411 of the Principal Act— (a) in paragraph (c), for "court." substitute "court; or"; s. 5 -- 4 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 4 (b) after paragraph (c) insert— "(d) in the case of an amount of bond paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant, in accordance with— (i) paragraph (b) or (c); or (ii) section 411A; or (iii) section 413(1) or (1A).". 9. New section 411A inserted After section 411 of the Principal Act insert— "411A. Payment out of certain Director of Housing bonds held on 30 June 2003 (1) This section applies if— (a) the Authority, on 30 June 2003, holds an amount of bond paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant; and (b) the Authority receives a new bond (whether before, on or after the commencement of section 9 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003) in relation to a tenancy agreement for the same premises to which the amount of bond referred to in paragraph (a) relates; and (c) no application for a refund of the amount of bond referred to in paragraph (a) is made in accordance with section 413(1) or 413(1A) within 12 months of the date on which the Authority receives the new bond referred to in paragraph (b). s. 9 -- 5 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 5 (2) The Authority may pay to the Director of Housing the amount of bond referred to in sub-section (1)(a). (3) If, after the Authority pays an amount under sub-section (2), the Authority holds a remaining amount of bond in relation to the tenancy agreement for which the amount of bond referred to in sub-section (1)(a) was paid, the Authority may pay to the tenant the remaining amount of bond.". 10. Payment out by agreement In section 412(6) of the Principal Act, before "bond" insert "amount of". 11. Payment to Director of Housing or landlord by agreement (1) After section 413(1) of the Principal Act insert— "(1A) A landlord and the Director of Housing may apply jointly to the Authority for a refund to the Director of Housing of the amount of bond paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant if the landlord is unable to obtain the tenant's agreement to make an application to the Authority under sub-section (1).". (2) After section 413(2) of the Principal Act insert— "(3) If any part of the amount of bond is to be paid to the landlord, the application must not be made earlier than 7 days before the termination date in respect of the tenancy agreement.". s. 10 -- 6 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 6 12. New section 413A inserted After section 413 of the Principal Act insert— "413A. Authority to notify Director of Housing on receipt of new bond As soon as practicable after receiving a new bond from a landlord in respect of a tenancy agreement for the same premises for which the Authority already holds an amount of bond paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant, the Authority must notify the Director of Housing that the Authority has received a new bond in respect of a tenancy agreement for those premises.". 13. Application to Tribunal by tenant or Director of Housing (1) Insert the following heading to section 416 of the Principal Act— "Application to Tribunal by tenant or Director of Housing". (2) In section 416(3) of the Principal Act, for "the bond" insert "an amount of bond". 14. Bond paid by Director of Housing (1) In section 421(1) of the Principal Act, for "a bond" substitute "an amount of bond". (2) In section 421(3)(a) of the Principal Act, for "bond was" substitute "amount of bond was". (3) In section 421(3)(b) of the Principal Act, before "bond" insert "amount of". s. 12 -- 7 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 7 15. Authority to record names After section 427(1)(a) of the Principal Act insert— "(aa) in the case of a bond lodgment form that states that an amount of bond has been paid by the Director of Housing or an agent of the Director of Housing on behalf of a tenant— (i) the fact that the amount of bond has been so paid; and (ii) the amount of the bond that has been so paid; and". 16. Functions of Authority After section 431(c) of the Principal Act insert— "(ca) to collect the information contained in bond lodgment forms given to the Authority and other information kept by the Authority in relation to bonds held by the Authority; (cb) to disclose the information (other than persons' names) referred to in paragraph (ca), whether it was collected before, on or after the commencement of section 16 of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003, to the Director of Housing for the purpose of the use of that information by the Director of Housing in research, compiling statistics and public education;". ═══════════════ s. 15 -- 8 of 9 -- Victorian Legislation and Parliamentary Documents Act No. 93/2003 Residential Tenancies (Amendment) Act 2003 8 ENDNOTES † Minister's second reading speech— Legislative Assembly: 9 October 2003 Legislative Council: 6 November 2003 The long title for the Bill for this Act was "to amend the Residential Tenancies Act 1997 to make provision for the Director of Housing to pay amounts of bonds on behalf of tenants by means of vouchers, to enable the refund of amounts of certain bonds to the Director of Housing, to provide that it is a function of the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority to collect certain information and to disclose that information to the Director of Housing and for other purposes." 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