Complaints about rental providers and agents

If a landlord or agent fails to carry out (breaches) their duties under Victoria’s rental laws, the Residential Tenancies Act 1997, you can give them a ‘notice of breach of duty’. This tells them they must:

• Fix the problem and not commit the same, or similar, breach again, and/or
• Pay you compensation for any loss you have suffered because of their breach

For more information, see our page on landlord breaches and other notices.

Breaches of duty by landlords or agents are also sometimes offences against the law, which can be reported to Consumer Affairs Victoria. See the next section on this page for more information, including lists of offences in different circumstances.

If a landlord or agent commits an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act, you can report this to Consumer Affairs Victoria, which can issue a fine.

Consumer Affairs Victoria also has the power to start prosecutions in the Magistrates’ Court, which could result in a higher fine being ordered or a criminal conviction.

We recommend you report offences to Consumer Affairs Victoria as soon as possible. Depending on the offence, Consumer Affairs Victoria may only have 12 months from the date the offence was committed to begin prosecutions.

Licensed real estate agents and their representatives (including rental property managers) must also follow the laws under the Estate Agents Act 1980 and Estate Agent (Professional Conduct Regulations) 2018. You can also report offences under these laws to Consumer Affairs Victoria.

Listed below are some offences under the Residential Tenancies Act. There are similar sections of the Act for residents of rooming houses and caravan parks.

Note that on this page sections in brackets, such as [section 30F], refer to sections in the Residential Tenancies Act. See the Resources section at the end of this page for links to the laws.

Offences when letting a property

When a landlord or agent is letting out a property, these actions are offences:

• Advertising a property without a fixed rent price [section 30F]
• Advertising a property that does not meet minimum standards [section 65B]
• Engaging in rental bidding [section 30F]
• Making false or misleading statements about the rent [section 30G]
• Charging you to inspect a property [section 51]
• Refusing to refund a holding deposit [section 50]
• Asking you things the law says you cannot be asked about, such as your bond history, or asking for credit card or bank statements that show your daily transactions [section 30C]
• Inappropriately using your personal information, such as selling your contact details or using your details to send you promotional material [section 30B]
• Misusing, losing or disclosing your information [section 505BB]
• Not destroying or permanently de-identifying the information you provide in your application or lease within the prescribed times [section 505BC]
• Not telling you things about the property before you rent it, such as if they intend to sell it [section 30D]
• Refusing to rent to you because you have children [section 30]
• Not telling you if they search renter databases as part of the application process and not telling you of the results of those searches [sections 439C and 439D]

For more information about these offences, see our pages on applying for a rental, before you sign and tenant databases or ‘blacklists’.

Lease offences

Actions that are offences relating to leases (officially called rental agreements) include:

• Being deceptive or misleading to get you to enter a lease [Section 30E]
• Creating a lease that is not in Consumer Affairs Victoria’s standard form [section 26]
• Including prohibited terms in a lease, such requiring you to compensate the landlord or agent if something goes wrong [section 26A]
• Not giving you a copy of the lease before and after you sign [section 29]
• Charging you a fee for making, continuing or renewing a lease [section 51]

For more information, see our page on rental agreements (leases).

Offences at the start of a tenancy

It is an offence if the landlord or agent does not give you:

• The Consumer Affairs Victoria’s renters guide [section 66]
• A condition report [section 35]

It is also an offence if the property:

• Does not meet minimum standards by your move-in date [section 65A]
• Is not reasonably clean or vacant on your move-in date [section 65]

For more information, see our pages on starting a tenancy, condition reports and minimum standards.

Rent money offences

Actions that are offences relating to rent payments include:

• Asking you to pay too much rent in advance [sections 40 and 41]
• Not giving you rent receipts [section 43]
• Requiring you to pay rent in a way that results in you being charged extra fees [section 42]
• Charging you to pay rent by direct debit or with a rent payment card [section 51]
• Taking, or disposing of, any of your belongings because you owe unpaid rent [section 49]

For more information, see our page on starting a tenancy.

Bond money offences

Actions that are offences relating to bonds include:

• Asking you to pay too much bond [section 31]
• Not completing the bond lodgement form and giving it to you [section 405]
• Not lodging your bond with the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) [section 406]
• Asking you to sign a blank or incomplete bond claim form [section 411]
• Asking you to pay a second bond for a second lease [section 34]

For more information, see our pages on starting a tenancy and bonds.

Offences during a tenancy

Actions that are offences during a tenancy include:

• Not updating the landlord’s or agent’s contact details or details for urgent repairs, if they change [section 66]
• Asking you to pay more for utilities such as water usage costs than the utility company would charge [section 56]
• Coming into your home without giving you notice that meets the requirements of the law, such as being in writing, or having a reason for entering that is allowed under the law [section 91A]
• Asking you to pay a fee to get consent for you to assign (transfer) your lease to someone else so that they can move in [section 84]

For more information, see our pages on utility charges, privacy and entry and lease transfers and subletting.

Renter database offences

Renter databases are run by private companies that collect information about tenants and make it available to landlords, agents and renters, usually for a fee.

It is an offence for the landlord or agent to:

• List you on a database without giving you a copy of the information and an opportunity to object [section 439F]
• Not remove listings that relate to family or personal violence, or are out of date [section 439G]
• Not fix listings that are wrong, incomplete or ambiguous [section 439G]

For more information, see our page on tenant databases or ‘blacklists’.

Other offences

Other actions by landlords or agents that are offences include:

• Trying to illegally evict you – for example, by not first giving you a notice to vacate or applying to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) for a possession order to take back the property [section 91P]
• Giving you a notice to leave without reasonable grounds [section 368A] and not telling VCAT about the notice [section 373]
• Making false or fraudulent statements about your rights [section 501]
• Intimidating or threatening you to stop you exercising your rights [section 502]
• Helping or encouraging someone else to commit an offence [section 504]
• Giving false or misleading information to the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority (RTBA) or Consumer Affairs Victoria [section 504]
• Refusing to return personal documents left behind at the property [section 382]
• Not obeying an order made by VCAT [section 480]

For more information, see our pages on notice to vacate and eviction and goods left behind.

Use Consumer Affairs Victoria’s online Make a complaint form to make a complaint about your landlord or agent, or call 1300 55 81 81.

Note that Consumer Affairs Victoria will expect you to have attempted to resolve the dispute with the landlord or agent before they will take any action.

Before contacting Consumer Affairs Victoria, gather information about the offence and your lease, including:

• Your contact details
• Name and contact details for the landlord and/or agent
• The date of the offence
• Details of any lease in place
• Any payments made

Consumer Affairs Victoria compliance policy

When an offence is committed, Consumer Affairs Victoria generally starts by encouraging compliance with the law before issuing fines or taking legal action. For more information on this approach, see Consumer Affairs Victoria’s compliance policy.

Consumer Affairs Victoria has a rental provider database called the ‘Rental non-compliance register’. You can search this register to see if a landlord or agent has been:

• Given a compliance or compensation order by VCAT because they have breached a duty under the Residential Tenancies Act
• Convicted of an offence under the Residential Tenancies Act [section 439P]

Listings stay on the database for 3 years.

For more information, see our page on the rental provider database.

As well as Consumer Affairs Victoria, you can also make a complaint to:

• Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission about harassment or discrimination, call 1300 292 153
• Federal Privacy Commissioner about misuse of confidential information, call 1300 363 992
• Victoria Police about criminal acts or behaviour, call Triple Zero (000) for urgent matters or 131 444 for non-urgent matters

Landlord breaches and other notices
Starting a tenancy
Bonds
Privacy and entry
Notice to vacate and eviction