Div 2Discrimination against tenants with children

Division 2—Discrimination against tenants with children 52—Discrimination against tenants with children (1) A person must not refuse to grant a tenancy to another on the ground that it is intended that a child should live on the premises. (2) A person must not— (a) instruct a person not to grant; or (b) state an intention (by advertisement or in any other way) not to grant, a tenancy on the ground that it is intended that a child should live on the premises. (3) However, this section does not apply if the landlord, or an agent appointed by the landlord to manage the premises, resides in the premises to which the tenancy relates. Division 3—Rent 52A—Premises to be offered for rent at fixed amount (1) A landlord, or an agent of a landlord, must not advertise or otherwise offer premises for rent under a residential tenancy agreement unless the rent under the agreement is advertised or offered as a fixed amount. (2) Nothing in subsection (1) prevents a person from placing a sign at or near premises for rent that— (a) advertises or offers premises for rent; and (b) does not state an amount of rent for premises. (3) A landlord, or an agent of a landlord, must not solicit or otherwise invite an offer of an amount of rent under a residential tenancy agreement that is higher than the advertised amount of rent for the premises. (4) This section does not apply to— (a) the South Australian Housing Trust or a subsidiary of the South Australian Housing Trust; or (b) a registered community housing provider. 52B—Special provision relating to assessments etc of prospective tenants (1) A person acting in trade or commerce (other than an agent of a landlord) must not provide an assessment or rating of the suitability of a prospective tenant to enter into a residential tenancy agreement if a basis of the assessment or rating relates to— (a) in the case of premises advertised or otherwise offered for rent as a fixed amount under the residential tenancy agreement—the fact that the amount of rent that the prospective tenant is willing to pay under the residential tenancy agreement is higher than the fixed amount; or (b) in any other case—the amount of rent that the prospective tenant is willing to pay under the residential tenancy agreement. (2) A person must not, except in prescribed circumstances, require or receive from a prospective tenant a payment (however described) for the provision of an assessment or rating of the suitability of the prospective tenant to enter into a residential tenancy agreement. 53—Permissible consideration for residential tenancy (1) A person must not require or receive from a tenant or prospective tenant a payment, other than rent or a bond (or both), for a residential tenancy or the renewal or extension of a residential tenancy. (a) the landlord may lawfully require or receive consideration for an option to enter into a residential tenancy agreement but, in that case, the following condition applies: (i) if the prospective tenant enters into the residential tenancy agreement, the landlord must apply the consideration towards rent payable under the agreement; (ii) if the prospective tenant does not exercise the option to enter into the residential tenancy agreement, the landlord may retain the consideration; and (b) if the consumption of water at the premises is separately metered, the landlord may require the tenant to reimburse the landlord for rates and charges for water consumption that are based on the amount of water used at the premises pursuant to the residential tenancy agreement or a collateral agreement; and (c) the landlord may lawfully require or receive a payment of a class the landlord is authorised to require or receive by another provision of this Act or under the regulations. 54—Rent in advance (1) A person must not require1 the payment of more than two weeks' rent under a residential tenancy agreement before the end of the first two weeks of the tenancy. (2) If rent has been paid under a residential tenancy agreement, a person must not require1 a further payment of rent until the end of the last period for which rent has been paid. (3) A person must not require another to give a post-dated cheque or other post-dated negotiable instrument in payment of rent under a residential tenancy agreement. 1 The prohibition is against requiring payment of rent for more than two weeks in advance. Hence, if a tenant voluntarily elects to pay rent for more than two weeks in advance, the landlord (or the landlord's agent) may lawfully accept the payment. 55—Variation of rent (1) The landlord may increase the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement by giving written notice to the tenant specifying the date as from which the increase takes effect. (a) the right to increase the rent may be excluded or limited by the terms of the residential tenancy agreement; and (b) if the tenancy is for a fixed term, the residential tenancy agreement is taken to exclude an increase in rent during the term unless it specifically allows for an increase in rent; and (c) the date fixed for an increase of rent must be at least 12 months after the date of the agreement or, if there has been a previous increase of rent under this section, the last increase and at least 60 days after the notice is given but— (i) if a rent control notice that has applied in respect of the rented property ceases to be in force, the landlord may, by notice given under this section within 60 days after the rent control notice ceases to be in force, increase the rent for the premises from a date falling at least 14 days after the notice is given; and (ii) if the landlord is a registered community housing provider, and the residential tenancy agreement provides for variation of rent in accordance with the tenant's income, the landlord may increase the rent on the ground of a variation in the tenant's income from a date falling at least 14 days after the notice of the increased rent is given; and (iii) if the landlord is a registered community housing provider under a residential tenancy agreement that allows the landlord to change the basis of calculating the rent payable under the agreement, and the landlord gives the tenant written notice that there is to be a change in the basis of calculating rent as from a specified date (which must be at least 60 days after the notice is given and at least 12 months from the date of the agreement, or if there has been a previous change in the basis of rent calculation, at least 12 months from the date of the last such change), the rent may be increased to accord with the new basis of rent calculation as from the specified date without further notice under this section. (2a) Despite subsections (1) and (2), the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement may be increased at any time by mutual agreement between the landlord and the tenant. (2b) However, an increase of rent under subsection (2a) must be at least 12 months after the date on which the residential tenancy agreement was entered into or, if there has been a previous increase of rent under this section, the last increase. (3) The rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement may be reduced by mutual agreement between the landlord and the tenant. (4) A reduction of rent may be made on a temporary basis so that the rent reverts to the level that would have been otherwise applicable at the end of a specified period. (5) If the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement is increased or reduced under this section, the terms of the agreement are varied accordingly. (7) For the purposes of this section, a series of residential tenancy agreements between the same parties (whether on the same terms or otherwise) and relating to the same premises is treated as a single residential tenancy agreement unless at least 12 months have elapsed since rent for the premises was fixed or last increased. 56—Excessive rent (1) The Tribunal may, on application by a tenant, declare that the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement is excessive. (1a) If an application under subsection (1) is made on the basis of an increase of rent under section 55, the application must be made within 90 days after the notice of increased rent is given. (2) In deciding whether the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement is excessive, the Tribunal must have regard to— (a) the general level of rents for comparable premises in the same or similar localities; and (b) the estimated capital value of the premises at the date of the application; and (c) the outgoings for which the landlord is liable under the agreement; and (d) the estimated cost of services provided by the landlord and the tenant under the agreement; and (e) the nature and value of furniture, equipment and other personal property provided by the landlord for the tenant's use; and (f) the state of repair and general condition of the premises; and (fa) the estimated cost of goods and services provided under any domestic services agreement collateral to the residential tenancy agreement; and (fb) if the rent was purportedly increased under section 55(2a)—whether the tenant was put under undue pressure to agree to the increase; and (fc) without limiting paragraph (fb), if the rent has been increased—whether the increase was disproportionate considering the amount of rent payable; and (g) other relevant matters. (3) If the Tribunal finds, on an application under this section, that the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement is excessive, the Tribunal may, by order— (a) fix the rent payable for the premises and vary the agreement by reducing the rent payable under the agreement accordingly; and (b) fix a date (which cannot be before the date of the application) from which the variation takes effect; and (c) fix a period (which cannot exceed one year) for which the order is to remain in force. (4) The Tribunal may, on application by the landlord, vary or revoke an order under this section if satisfied that it is just to do so. (5) If, while an order remains in force under this section, a landlord asks for or receives rent for the premises to which the order relates exceeding the amount fixed by the order, the landlord is guilty of an offence. 56A—Manner etc of payment of rent (1) A landlord under a residential tenancy agreement must ensure that rent may be paid by the tenant under the agreement in a reasonably convenient manner and, in particular, must permit the tenant to pay by at least 1 means that is electronic and does not involve the collection of rent from the tenant by a third party who charges a fee for the collection service. (2) A person must not charge or receive from a tenant a fee for the payment of rent by, or collection of rent from, the tenant. 57—Landlord's duty to keep proper records of rent and other payments (1) A landlord under a residential tenancy agreement must ensure that the following information is recorded in respect of payments received under the agreement: (a) the date on which the payment was received; (b) the name of the person making the payment; (c) the amount paid; (d) the address of the premises to which the payment relates; (e) if the payment is for rent—the period of the tenancy to which the payment relates; (f) if the payment is a bond—a statement of that fact; (g) if the payment is not for rent or a bond—a description of the purpose of the payment, including, if applicable, the period of time to which the payment relates. (2) A person must not— (a) make a false entry in a record of a payment received under a residential tenancy agreement; or (b) falsify the record in any other way. 58—Duty to provide statement or give receipt for rent (1) A landlord under a residential tenancy agreement must, at the written request of the tenant, give the tenant a statement of the information recorded by the landlord under section 57(1) in respect of the rent received during the period specified in the request (and such statement must be given to the tenant within 7 days of the making of the request). (2) If a tenant pays rent other than into an ADI account, the person who receives the rent must, within 48 hours after receiving the rent, give the tenant a receipt setting out the information required to be recorded by the landlord under section 57(1) in respect of the rent received. 58A—Payment of rent by electronic transaction If a tenant pays rent into an ADI account kept by the landlord or the landlord's agent, the payment will be taken to have been made when it is credited to the ADI account. 59—Accrual and apportionment of rent (1) The rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement accrues from day to day. (2) If rent is paid in advance, and the tenancy ends before the end of the period for which rent has been paid, the landlord must refund the appropriate proportion of the amount paid to the tenant or apply it towards other liabilities of the tenant to the landlord. 60—Abolition of distress for rent A landlord is not entitled to distrain goods of a tenant for non-payment of the rent payable under a residential tenancy agreement.