The Real Estate Institute of Victoria has backflipped on its hard-line stance that members should refuse to negotiate rent reductions with tenants, after being slammed by industry bodies and social advocacy groups.
The direction to halt all rent reduction negotiations, forcing renters to “make their own inquiries with Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV)”, was retracted by REIV president Leah Calnan in a video sent to members via a private Facebook group today, seen by the Herald Sun.
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The REIV has backflipped on its stance on rent reduction negotiations. Picture: iStock
“We’re not saying to any member or any landlord don’t do any rent reductions,” Ms Calnan told REIV members.
“If you’ve got a tenant that presents all the information and they are showing all the details that are necessary to confirm they are in financial hardship, the landlord’s agreeable, the tenant’s agreeable, (then) do the deal. We’re not saying don’t do those.
“What we are saying is in examples where a tenant is just not providing information … push those through to Consumer Affairs.”
REIV President Leah Calnan has clarified the body’s advice.
In a letter to members on Sunday, REIV chief executive Gil King urged “every property manager to discuss with their landlord clients the option of refusing to negotiate any rent relief”.
“Many rent reduction agreements are coming up for renewal,” Mr King said.
“We understand that many will not want to do this but I am hopeful enough of you can decide not to negotiate in good faith and push the onus back onto the government.”
He referred to the action as a “rent moratorium strike” designed to “to logjam the halls of CAV, DSCV (Dispute Settlement Centre of Victoria) and VCAT (Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal) even further”.
Many renters are facing coronavirus-related hardship. Picture: Jason Edwards
Ms Calnan told the Herald Sun the update was not a backflip, but a clarification after a “misunderstanding within the industry”.
She said the action still remained “a strategy, not a policy” to lobby the Andrews Government into further consultation with the real estate industry following last week’s road map announcement, which extended a ban on physical inspections of Melbourne homes until at least October 26.
Ms Calnan also slammed the Victorian Council of Social Services, after the body’s chief executive Emma King labelled the body’s advice as “misguided, callous and dangerous”.
“Callous is when a landlord hasn’t received rental income since April, or is about to go into bankruptcy because their tenant hasn’t paid the rent,” Ms Calnan said.
“The forgotten people here are the landlords, who have not been receiving rental income from tenants who are blatantly not paying rent.”
Ms King welcomed the REIV’s update today.
VCOSS chief executive Emma King welcomed the update.
“It’s great agents and landlords with a moral compass have pushed back against the REIV and forced them to retract,” Ms King said.
Tenants Victoria chief executive Jennifer Beveridge said it was important REIV members continued engaging in “constructive talks about rent reductions”.
“There’s no doubt renters are facing hardship, they are over-represented in shut down sectors like retail, hospitality, tourism and the arts,” Ms Beveridge said.
“Struggling renters need rental protection in good faith – fair-go negotiations for rent reductions are critical to getting practical outcomes at a time when all of us are being told to stay at home for the sake of our health.”
Renters were over-represented in shutdown sectors of the economy, Ms Beveridge said. Source: iStock
She also noted landlords were being supported by the state government through land tax concessions and up to $3000 in rent relief grants.
Real Estate Industry Partners chief executive Sadhana Smiles also welcomed the update from the state’s peak real estate body.
The national industry group, which includes major agencies Ray White, Harcourts and Belle Property, previously advised members to ignore REIV advice and continue working with landlords and tenants to achieve fair rent reduction agreements.
“It’s great the REIV have changed their hard stance on this and joined the REIP in a collaborative approach, to lobby government while representing landlords and tenants who are in housing distress,” Ms Smiles said.
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