Australian and international university students say they have been left to pay thousands of dollars in rent for accommodation they cannot live in after being forced to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key points:
- A Queensland tenant advisory body says students are within their rights to break leases during COVID-19
- Providers say they need proof of hardship, won’t end agreements for convenience
- RTA says new legislation should ease pandemic-related issues in the sector
Dozens of students, citing financial and medical hardship, said their providers were refusing to terminate agreements or return months worth of prepaid rent, while others were facing hefty fees.
A Queensland tenant advisory body said the accommodation providers were in the wrong, “unjustifiably” holding on to income and clogging up courts.
But the providers argue they are simply following government legislation and taking necessary steps to protect their own “mum and dad investors” — also victims of the pandemic.
Exchange students sent home, thousands in rent paid
American arts student Jeena Weber Langstaff only lived on the Sunshine Coast for five weeks before COVID-19 sent her packing back home to Rhode Island.
“The college said students should return because borders were closing. They didn’t want us getting stuck in a foreign country with all these uncertainties,” she said.
Upon returning home, Ms Weber Langstaff said she contacted her Queensland accommodation provider requesting to end her lease for financial reasons, hoping to be refunded part of forward paid rent.
Ms Weber Langstaff took the matter to the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT), and on April 9 Sunshine Coast provider Varsity Apartments were ordered to terminate the tenancy.
She said she is yet to receive any money back.
‘High risk’ illness not enough to waive fees
In the Northern Territory, 19-year-old animal ecology student Benjamin Jones experienced a similar ordeal after being forced to return home to Darwin due to the pandemic and suffering from a chronic respiratory illness.
He said doctors classified him as “high risk” and warned him against remaining in student accommodation, as catching coronavirus could prove fatal for him.
When he contacted his provider The Village on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast to end his remaining eight month lease, he said he was asked to provide medical and financial documentation.
He was then told he would have to pay a $1,000 fee.
“[It] seemed extreme to me. A medical certificate made sense, but when they asked for my financial details it didn’t sit right,” he said.
“QCAT said that was a breach of privacy, and QStars said I shouldn’t have to pay anything because of the pandemic.
Students ‘within their rights’
Queensland tenant advisory body Qstars said the students’ disputes were not isolated, and it was representing various others experiencing the same issues.
Team leader Christine Lepp said due to the unprecedented and uncontrollable nature of the pandemic, students were within their rights to end agreements without questioning, extensive documentation, and fees.
“Clearly tenancy cannot go ahead, the management are refusing to release them, and the only way for them to have some action is to take it to QCAT,” she said.
On May 6, a South Australian student who was unable to return to Queensland due to border restrictions also won a QCAT dispute against Varsity Apartments.
Ms Lepp said the student was originally told he had to pay rent until December 2020, but the magistrate terminated the tenancy.
Not fair on ‘mum and dad’ landlords
Despite the QCAT rulings, Varsity Apartments director Alan Netherwood said his business had simply been acting on current government legislation which, at the time, stated tenants wanting to break their leases early must compensate property owners.
He said his business managed hundreds of students living in accommodation owned by over 100 owners “and only a small portion have left due to COVID-19, and the majority amicably”.
“Many are retired and dependent on their rental incomes for their retirement funds.”
According to Mr Netherwood, as part of their visa requirements, international students must guarantee they can support themselves for 12 months.
He said he did not feel it was an “unreasonably expectation they fulfil the commitment they gave”.
He said while domestic students had access to “significant government assistance” to help them pay their rent via Youth Allowance and Austudy, landlords did not have such support and were “very likely to suffer excessive hardship”.
Proof needed to protect owners
The Village’s property manager Robbie Judge agreed, saying property owners should not have to bear the full cost of the pandemic as “they’ve also got mortgages to meet”, and tenants should aim to work with owners to come up with a fair outcome for both sides.
He said asking tenants for proof of hardship was necessary to ensure all requests were genuine.
“If they can show they’ve been impacted then we can go to the owners and make an informed decision about leases or rent reductions,” he said.
“Genuine people with circumstances beyond their control, sure. Unfortunately, some people just see it as an opportunity to break lease and move to another place without penalty.”
RTA says new regulations to help
The Rental Tenancies Authority (RTA) said it was aware of such issues within the sector and new COVID-19 emergency response legislation, introduced on April 24, aimed to address them.
It said tenancy terms and conditions remained unchanged, including early termination fees, unless a tenant was “significantly impacted by COVID-19” and the new arrangements were agreed on by both parties.
According to the RTA it was up to tenants what information they choose to provide to prove hardship, and dispute resolution was available for matters which could not be self-resolved.
Source: www.abc.net
