Host: Belinda Heit – Communication and Education – RTA 

Guest: Marc Fidler – Customer Experience – RTA 

Host: Welcome to the Talking Tenancies podcast, brought to you by the Residential Tenancies Authority. I’m your host, Belinda Heit. Join me as we explore everything you need to know about renting in Queensland, with experts from the RTA and industry. We're here to help make renting work for everyone. 

The Residential Tenancy Authority urges Queensland tenants to remain vigilant and be alert when it comes to searching for their next rental property. Common scams can include online classified ads or social media posts from people pretending to be real property managers or owners that mislead tenants into paying deposits or bonds for rental properties that are sometimes fake or unavailable addresses. These unfortunate situations leave prospective tenants in the challenging position of trying to recover their losses, which can be a long and drawn-out process. Today's expert from the RTA is Marc Fidler, welcome Marc. 

Guest: Morning, Belinda. 

Host: Now, can you tell us about your role at the RTA and what you're responsible for? 

Guest: Yeah, I'm one of the Senior Support Officers in the Contact Centre, so we look after and deal with escalations from our staff in the Contact Centre and obviously our customers that ring in. So that's my role and I've been here with the RTA for about 15 years. 

Host: Excellent! And you're back by popular demand of course. Now, today we’re talking about how to protect yourself from rental scams, and this is something that unfortunately is growing in popularity. In terms of legislation, what are the requirements that must be met by a managing party when renting out a property to a prospective tenant? 

Guest: Yeah, so first and foremost the manager or owner must provide a copy of the proposed tenancy agreement to a prospective tenant before anything is signed and bond money is paid. So, this gives the prospective tenant time or an opportunity to read through all the terms and conditions of the agreement, understand what they're committing to, and ask any questions they may have. The prospective tenant can also negotiate the terms regarding their rights and obligations for anything in the special terms section to be changed, or even added to. 

If both the tenant and the property manager or owner sign the agreement and the tenant pays the bond, then a receipt must be provided, and the bond must be lodged with the RTA within 10 days. We'll talk more about that process and a little bit more detail. 

It's important to note that tenancy laws in Queensland don't cover the rental application process, they only outline the rules for property managers or owners to advertise the property at a set price. And that they cannot request or solicit offers of higher rent from prospective tenants, which can result in a rent bidding situation. 

Host: We're hearing a lot about rental scams lately, and currently there's lots of people moving around because people want to be settled in before Christmas time. And at this time of recording, we're in November. What are some of the common rental scams that we need to be aware of? 

Guest: Yeah, look, obviously scammers are after your money. There's a number of ways that they'll try and do that. What they'll tend to do is try and pretend to be a property manager or a property owner associated with the property. It's obviously quite easy to do because there's so many different photos of rental properties and addresses online these days. 

Scammers can be advertising properties from a random street or a chosen property for a rental advert for something that isn't really for rent. They might also be advertising fake or made-up rental properties or addresses altogether. We've had situations in the Contact Centre where people have rung in, paid a bond for a property, and then turned up to find that that property doesn't exist at all. So these are the sorts of things that we're looking at. Once you know what they want, and generally it's money, then it's a little bit easier to look out for the traps. 

Host: Yeah, and I mean you've really got to just be very careful and do your research as well. So what are some tips to make sure a property that you're interested in, particularly if you're looking at it online and you want to rent it, is legitimate. 

Guest: Yeah, like this is a big one. There are a few checks you can do in the first instance to help establish credibility of a property. Cross check the details and the images associated with a rental property, make sure that they're consistent and professional across different websites and adverts. So usually, one property will be looked after by one organization, whether it's an individual or an agent. Check addresses on Google Maps to ensure that it is a legitimate rental. You may not know it's a rental address, but certainly check that it is a legitimate address. Make sure that the details match, the house number, garage space, those sorts of things.  

Make sure the property looks the same that it does in the photos from the advert. So, you can bring up your street search now and compare those sorts of things. As I said, the garage, the fence, the letter box, make sure that they're all there. Even reverse image searches for something that you know you might not be sure about, so also simple web searches to find the rental history of the property or history of advertisements relating to the same property or address.  

Scammers are quick to use photos and details from recent, legitimate rental properties advertised in their fake advert or even pictures from properties for sale and those sorts of things. So, another check that you could do is pay attention to the rent price advertised, now this is really important. The RTA has a median rent quick finder tool on it’s website which will give you an idea of how much it may cost to rent a type of property in a particular post code. And this data is updated every three months. Be cautious if the rent amount listed for a property seems low, especially in the rental market, as it is at the moment, with a lot of demand. 

Guest: If it's too good to be true... 

Host: ...It generally is! 

Guest: Exactly right. Yes, yeah that's it. 

Host: And just on that median rents finder as well Marc, it's really useful regardless of whether you're trying to avoid a scam or not, because if you want to check whether the rent price is actually on ballpark figure, it's a great measure for that just to make sure again, you're not getting ripped off. 

Guest: Yeah, exactly right. So whether it's not purely as we said for the scam aspect of things, but just as a tool to check where you're at and what you should be paying, or could be paying. 

Host: Exactly and in this tight market it's something that's a very handy tool. Now let me give you a scenario. If I'm Interstate or overseas, and I'd like to rent a property, what can I do to make sure the property is genuinely for rent? 

Guest: Look, we'd encourage you to do the same checks we mentioned before for the around the rental advertisement. If it looks legitimate after that, the next thing you should do is ask for an inspection of the property. If you can't expect in-person, a lot of property managers may offer virtual inspections via video these days, it’s a good option to check if they'll do that. The other option is to arrange a friend or a family member to inspect it on your behalf. Scammers will often provide excuses as to why you can't visit the property, especially if it doesn't exist. And access can usually be arranged with proper notice, if there's existing tenants in the property, around our rules of entry and those sorts of things. 

Inspecting the property is important, so you can assess whether firstly it exists, but secondly, whether the property meets your expectations and fits your lifestyle and needs, and if the conditions and inclusions of the property are as advertised. You can ask for more details on the rental application process to ensure that the rental property is genuinely for rent. 

Most property managers or owners will have a process for sifting through rental applications and doing background checks when choosing a tenant. It would be a big red flag if the property manager or owner doesn't seem to have a process for assessing applications or choosing a tenant. 

Or if they respond quickly to you, to say that you're the successful tenant and rush you to pay the bond money and/or a few weeks’ rent in advance without providing you with the proposed tenancy agreement. So again, if it is too good to be true, it probably is.  

Host: Yeah, yep. 

Guest: If you're moving from Interstate or overseas and you may not know the lay of the land or you don't have friends or family who are able to assist with the search, then it may be a safer option to go with a real estate agent or a property management company for the first time around, as opposed to seeing something off social media or privately. As we know, 75% of rental bonds in Queensland are managed by real estate agents or property managers. 

Host: Yeah, and I guess that's just it. You’ve just got to make sure that there is a proper agreement before you even think about paying any bond money or any rent and make sure you communicate and ask the questions because it can just mess up very easily. 

Guest: Yeah it can. And as we said right up front there's a couple of things that the agent is required to do, and one of those is provide that agreement before committing you to anything. So if you're getting a sense that you're being pressured into making a payment before you've seen any of the paperwork or those agreements, then I'd be taking a step back. 

Host: And yeah, trust your gut on that one. 

Guest: Yeah, exactly right. Yep. 

Host: Now I'm speaking of payments, payments upfront - what's the deal here? For example, what fees can be legally asked to be paid up front? 

Guest: So it's a really good question, and it's something to keep in mind when you are on your search. So, a property manager or owner can't charge a prospective tenant an application fee. Under our legislation and before the tenancy agreement is signed, they can only ask you to pay a refundable key deposit, and that's generally when you're going to do an inspection, so you pay a deposit. 

Host: And you should get that back. 

Guest: Yeah, that's exactly right. As soon as you come back. 

Host: As long as you give them [the keys] back! 

Guest: Yep! And then a holding deposit which is generally after the application process, when you've been successful and you need some time to decide. You may pay a holding deposit, in that situation. If the prospective tenant goes ahead with the property, then the holding deposit reverts and becomes the first week’s rent, or a part of the bond. If they choose not to take the property and they do it within the time frame stated on the holding deposit receipt, then that money should be returned to the tenant. 

So then a prospective tenant obviously should be given a copy of the tenancy agreement at the time that they pay the holding deposit so that that way they've got the opportunity. They still haven't committed, but they've got the opportunity to assess the terms and conditions before they make that commitment.

Host: Exactly.  

Guest: So, it's important to remember that you should get a receipt for any money that you pay, I can't stress this enough. The receipt should clearly state what the money was paid for, whether the money is refundable, the time frames and conditions that apply to the refund. For example, the decision is required by a certain date for refunding the holding deposit otherwise it's forfeited. And of course, the contact details of the person that you've paid the money to. The same applies to other payments that you make when you sign a tenancy agreement like your bond and rent. 

Host: Umm, that's a really important one, handing over money without a receipt. Just do not go anywhere until you get that receipt because it could be the last you see of them and the last you see of the money, so it's really important that you have an official receipt for what you've paid for, because again, they could come back to you and say, oh, you didn't pay us anything. 

Guest: Yeah, and that's as I mentioned earlier, the types of calls that we get into the Contact Centre about this, generally are at a point where it's all too late, the money’s been paid and there’s not a lot that we can do about it in those circumstances. So do your due diligence upfront, make sure that you've got proper receipts for anything that you make payments for and it might be a little bit easier to track down where things are at. 

Host: And stand your ground if they say no. 

Guest: Yeah. Or, see it as a red flag and step away from it. 

Host: Yeah, exactly. So when paying a bond, how can you safeguard yourself to ensure that it gets lodged with the RTA? 

Guest: So, under our laws, under Queensland tenancy law, rental bonds must be lodged with the RTA for safekeeping. As I mentioned earlier, it's important to get a receipt for any money that you pay. When you are asked to pay a bond at the start of the tenancy, there are a couple of options. You can choose to log your bond securely online and directly with the RTA using our web services. This option ensures that any bond money comes directly to the RTA for safekeeping. 

Once the money is lodged with us, you and your property manager or owner will both receive an acknowledgement from us with a bond number, which obviously will come in handy at the end of the tenancy. 

If your property manager or owner prefers that you pay the bond money to them and for them to lodge the bond with the RTA, then again make sure that they provide you with a receipt as evidence that they've received the money. 

And again, the receipt should clearly state what it was for and how much and the details. Under our tenancy law, they then have 10 days to lodge that bond with us. When they lodge the bond money with the RTA, all the parties again will receive an acknowledgement to say that the bond has been lodged and that will be in addition to the receipt that you were provided by the property manager or owner when you paid the bond monies to them. 

Host: Yeah, so you’ve just got to really look out in the mail for that receipt or for the bond lodgement from the RTA, once you've paid that. 

Guest: Yeah, the part of the bond lodgement process now is that you will receive an email. This gives you the opportunity to update your details online through our web services and part of that is that you can agree to receive notices by email. 

Host: Which is much quicker than waiting on the post. 

Guest: Exactly right. 

Host: So yeah, I think using that process online, it’s so quick and so easy, so if you can get in on that, that will really help you to make sure your money is secure.  

Guest: And security is the key aspect. If you follow and lodge that money yourself then you're cutting out the middleman and any risk of losing it, as the money comes to us and you know we've got it. It makes the refund process a whole lot easier.  

Host: That's right, and you can sort of control that process a little bit yourself, right? 

Guest: Yeah, exactly.  

Host: So what do you do if you've been impacted by a rental scam? Where can you go for help? 

Guest: Yeah, there's a couple of ways that we can seek help. You can report and make an official complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). They look into upfront payment scams. You could also make an official complaint to your local police station, so the police can investigate issues with buying and selling goods online and fraud. And you should also contact your bank as soon as possible, if you've made bank transfers or transferred money in regard to those things, because there may be some protections or opportunities that the bank can provide as well. 

Host: Well, there's so much to be mindful of when it comes to these rental scams, so thanks so much Marc, for helping us to get a greater understanding on how to protect ourselves from rental scams. 

Guest: No worries at all, Belinda. Cheers. 

Host: Thank you for listening to the Talking Tenancies podcast. For more information about the residential Tenancies authority, visit rta.qld.gov.au.